NFL roundup: Detroit comes back over Cowboys
DETROIT — Matthew Stafford’s 1-yard lunge over a pile of linemen with 12 seconds left and Calvin Johnson’s 329 yards receiving lifted the Detroit Lions to a 31-30 comeback win over the Dallas Cowboys on Sunday.
Stafford threw a 22-yard pass to Johnson, who had the second-most yards receiving in NFL history, to set up his winning score. The quarterback seemed to catch his hometown Cowboys by surprise — some of them appeared to expect him to spike the ball.
Johnson’s total trails only the 336 yards receiving Flipper Anderson had for the Los Angeles Rams against New Orleans on Nov. 26, 1989, in a game that went into overtime.
The Lions (5-3) overcame four turnovers and a 10-point deficit in the fourth quarter against Dallas (4-4).
CHIEFS 23, BROWNS 17
KANSAS CITY, Mo. (AP) — Alex Smith threw for 225 yards and two touchdowns, and the Kansas City Chiefs held off the scrappy Cleveland Browns late in the fourth quarter to preserve a victory and remain the NFL’s lone undefeated team.
The Chiefs (8-0), off to their best start since 2003, built a 20-7 lead late in the first half before the Browns (3-4) made it a game.
Jason Campbell, starting in place of the ineffective Brandon Weeden, threw for 293 yards and two touchdowns for the Browns.
The Chiefs kept stopping the Browns down the stretch. They forced a turnover on downs with just over 2 minutes left, and Ryan Succop kicked his third field goal in the closing seconds to help seal the victory.
SAINTS 35, BILLS 17
NEW ORLEANS (AP) — Drew Brees passed for five touchdowns and 332 yards, and the New Orleans Saints pulled away for a victory over the Buffalo Bills.
Saints tight end Jimmy Graham played after missing practice most of the week with a left foot injury and scored on 13- and 15-yard passes over the middle, powering through tackles at the goal line both times.
Rookie Kenny Stills had touchdowns of 69 and 42 yards for the Saints (6-1) and Lance Moore snagged a 15-yard scoring pass in his return from a hand injury that sidelined him three games.
Thad Lewis was sacked four times, intercepted once, lost two fumbles and appeared shaken up at times, but stayed in the game for the Bills (3-5), finishing with 234 yards passing and one touchdown. Buffalo’s Fred Jackson scored on a 1-yard run.
PATRIOTS 27, DOLPHINS 17
FOXBOROUGH, Mass. (AP) — The New England Patriots shook off a dismal first half and another mediocre performance by Tom Brady to beat the Miami Dolphins.
Trailing 17-3 after gaining just 59 yards in the half, the Patriots quickly turned the game around in the third quarter with two touchdowns in a span of seven plays.
The Patriots (6-2) outscored the Dolphins (3-4) in the third quarter 17-0. Miami lost its fourth straight game.
Brady completed 13 of 22 passes for just 116 yards, but threw a 14-yard touchdown pass to Aaron Dobson with 6:32 gone in the third quarter that began the comeback.
49ERS 42, JAGUARS 10
LONDON (AP) — Colin Kaepernick led the way with his arm and with his feet, throwing for one touchdown and running for two more to lead the San Francisco 49ers over the Jacksonville Jaguars at Wembley Stadium.
Kaepernick ended up with 164 yards passing and 54 yards rushing, and Frank Gore also ran for two scores for the 49ers (6-2).
The Jaguars (0-8) were the “home” team at London’s iconic soccer venue, playing in the British capital for the first of their four-year run of regular-season NFL games in London. It was the eighth regular-season NFL game at Wembley, the home of England’s national soccer team, and the second this year. The Minnesota Vikings beat the Pittsburgh Steelers 34-27 last month.
GIANTS 15, BENGALS 7
PHILADELPHIA (AP) — Josh Brown kicked a career-high five field goals, Eli Manning played error-free and the New York Giants beat the Philadelphia Eagles.
Michael Vick returned for the Eagles (3-5) after missing 2½ games with a hamstring injury, but clearly wasn’t healthy and was removed for rookie Matt Barkley late in the second quarter.
The Giants (2-6) snapped an eight-game road losing streak while extending Philadelphia’s home losing streak to 10 games. The Eagles’ last win at the Linc was over the Giants on Sept. 30, 2012.
Chip Kelly’s high-flying offense that racked up at least 425 yards in each of the first six games has been grounded. The Eagles followed a 17-3 loss to Dallas with another poor offensive effort. They had just 201 yards of offense and have totaled 479 the past two weeks.