NFL Today, Week 9
SCOREBOARD
Monday, Nov. 9
New England at New York Jets, 8:15 p.m. EST, ESPN - The Patriots (2-5) have won each of the last eight meetings with the Jets but come into their Monday night meeting on a four-game losing streak, their longest skid since 2002. The Patriots will try to avoid losing five straight games for the first time since 1995. Meanwhile, the Jets are 0-8 for the first time since 1996 and a loss to the Patriots would mark New York's first 0-9 start in franchise history. Joe Flacco will start at quarterback in place of Sam Darnold, who's sidelined with a shoulder injury.
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STARS
Passing
- Josh Allen, Bills, regained his early-season groove by throwing three touchdown passes and scoring once rushing, while tying his career best with 415 yards passing as Buffalo beat Seattle 44-34.
- Patrick Mahomes, Chiefs, threw for 372 yards and four touchdowns and Kansas City held on to beat Carolina 33-31.
- Drew Brees, Saints, had four TD passes and finished 26 of 32 for 222 yards in New Orleans' 38-3 rout of Tampa Bay.
- Kirk Cousins, Vikings, passed for three touchdowns - two to Irv Smith Jr. - in his second straight turnover-free performance to help lead Minnesota past Detroit 34-20.
- Matt Ryan, Falcons, completed 25 of 35 passes for 284 yards with one interception in a 34-27 win over Denver, whose Drew Lock completed 25 of 48 passes for 313 yards with two touchdowns and one interception.
- Ben Roethlisberger, Steelers, threw all three of his touchdown passes after shrugging off a knee injury, rallying unbeaten Pittsburgh to a 24-19 victory over Dallas.
- Tua Tagovailoa, Dolphins, threw for 248 yards and two touchdowns in his second NFL start and helped Miami rally in the fourth quarter for a 34-31 victory over Arizona.
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Rushing
- Dalvin Cook, Vikings, rushed for a career-high 206 yards and two scores on 22 carries to lead Minnesota to a 34-20 victory over Detroit.
- James Robinson, Jaguars, ran 25 times for 99 yards and a score in Jacksonville's 27-25 loss to Houston.
- Kyler Murray, Cardinals, had 106 yards and a TD on 11 carries while also passing for 283 yards and three scores in Arizona's 34-31 loss to Miami.
- Josh Jacobs and Devontae Booker, Raiders, each ran for a touchdown to help Las Vegas top the Los Angeles Chargers 31-26.
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Receiving
- Tyreek Hill and Travis Kelce, Chiefs. Hill had nine catches for 113 yards and two touchdowns, and Kelce had 10 receptions for 159 yards in Kansas City's 33-31 victory over Carolina.
- DJ Chark, Jaguars, finished with seven catches for a season-high 146 yards in Jacksonville's 27-25 loss to Houston.
- Cam Sims, Washington, had three catches for 110 yards in a 23-20 loss to the New York Giants after entering with a total of 88 yards receiving in his first 15 NFL games.
- Stefon Diggs, Bills, caught nine passes for 118 yards to help Buffalo top Seattle 44-34.
- Christian McCaffrey, Panthers, caught 10 passes for 82 yards and a TD in his first game back from an ankle injury, and also had 18 carries for 69 yards and a score in Carolina's 33-31 loss at Kansas City.
- Irv Smith Jr., Vikings, had two touchdown receptions in Minnesota's 34-20 victory over Detroit.
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Special Teams
- Chris Boswell, Steelers, kicked a franchise-record 59-yard field goal, which helped make up for two missed PATs in Pittsburgh's 24-19 victory at Dallas.
- Graham Gano, Giants, made three field goals, from 38, 48 and 42 yards, to extend his streak to 18 in a row in a 23-20 win at Washington.
- Austin Bryant and Romeo Okwara, Lions, each blocked a punt in Detroit's 34-20 loss at Minnesota.
- Josh Lambo, Jaguars, tied a franchise record by making a 59-yard field goal at the end of the first half of Jacksonville's 27-25 loss to Houston, but injured his hip at the end of the game.
- Jason Sanders, Dolphins, made a career-best 56-yard field goal as time expired in the second quarter of Miami's 34-31 win at Arizona. He has made a franchise-record 20 consecutive field goals.
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Defense
- Logan Ryan, Giants, intercepted Alex Smith to seal a 23-20 victory against Washington and dedicated the game to his wife, Ashley, who went to the emergency room earlier in the week in Florida with abdominal pain on the advice of a Giants trainer and had surgery to stop the bleeding caused by an ectopic pregnancy.
- Chuck Clark, Ravens, scooped up a fumble caused by Marcus Peters and sprinted 65 yards for a touchdown, hurdling Indianapolis quarterback Philip Rivers, in Baltimore's 24-10 win.
- Jarran Reed and Jamal Adams, Seahawks. Reed had 2 1/2 sacks in Seattle's 44-34 loss at Buffalo, and Adams added 1 1/2.
- Desmond King, Titans, picked up a fumble and ran 63 yards for a TD in a 24-17 win over Chicago only days after Tennessee acquired the 2018 All-Pro from the Chargers for a sixth-round pick.
- Shaq Lawson, Dolphins, returned a fumble 36 yards for a score in Miami's 34-31 win at Arizona.
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MILESTONES
Kansas City's 33-31 win over Carolina was the 230th for Andy Reid, breaking a tie with Hall of Fame coach Curly Lambeau for fifth most in NFL history. ... The Chiefs have scored at least 23 points in 23 straight games, an NFL record. ... Kansas City's Patrick Mahomes threw four more TD passes to beat Hall of Famer Dan Marino's mark for fewest games to 100. Mahomes did it in 40 games, while Marino needed 44. ... Houston's J.J. Watt got the 100th sack of his career when he stripped Jacksonville's Jake Luton in the fourth quarter of a 27-25 win. Watt became the 35th player in NFL history to reach the century mark and the first to accomplish the feat for the Texans.
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STREAKS & STATS
Atlanta improved to 3-1 under interim coach Raheem Morris, who replaced the fired Dan Quinn. ... Both wins this season by the New York Giants (2-7) have come against Washington. The two victories for Houston (2-6) have come vs. Jacksonville. ... Buffalo's Josh Allen equaled a career best set earlier this season with 415 yards passing in a 44-34 win over Seattle, becoming the first Bills player to top 300 yards four times in one season since Drew Bledsoe did it seven times in 2002. ... The Seahawks' 44 points allowed in a 44-34 loss at Buffalo were the most in coach Pete Carroll's 11 seasons in Seattle and the most for the franchise since a 48-10 loss at Green Bay on Dec. 27, 2009. It was just the eighth time since Week 9 of the 2011 season the Carroll-led Seahawks have lost by 10 points or more. ... Detroit lost its ninth straight division game and fell to 2-13 against the NFC North under coach Matt Patricia. He's 0-5 against Minnesota. ... Baltimore's first win in Indianapolis helped extend their league-high road winning streak to 10 and ended a stretch of 20 consecutive losses when trailing at halftime. The Ravens also surpassed Denver for the most consecutive games with 20 or more points in NFL history with 31. The Ravens have hit the mark 31 straight times, one more than the Broncos from 2012-14.
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DESERT DUEL
Miami rookie quarterback Tua Tagovailoa threw for 248 yards and two touchdowns in his second NFL start and the Dolphins rallied in the fourth quarter for a 34-31 victory over the Arizona Cardinals. Miami (5-3) has won four straight games. The Cardinals (5-3) had their three-game winning streak snapped. The 22-year-old Tagovailoa was on the winning end of an action-packed duel with Arizona quarterback Kyler Murray, who finished with 283 yards and three touchdowns. He also had 106 yards rushing on 11 carries. Arizona's Zane Gonzalez was short on a 49-yard field goal attempt that would have tied the game with 1:53 left.
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BREES VS. BRADY
Drew Brees threw four TD passes and improved to 5-2 for his career against Tom Brady, including 2-0 this season, with New Orleans' 38-3 rout of Tampa Bay. The 41-year-old Brees regained the lead on the NFL's career TD passes list with 654, three more than the 43-year-old Brady. Brees was 26 of 32 passing for 222 yards in this one, including first-half TD throws of 14 yards to Tre'Quan Smith, 8 yards to Adam Trautman and 12 yards to Emmanuel Sanders. Brady was sacked three times and finished 22 of 38 for 209 yards, including three completions for 31 yards to Antonio Brown, who made his debut for Tampa Bay.
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STEEL UNBEATEN
Ben Roethlisberger threw all three of his touchdown passes after shrugging off a knee injury, rallying Pittsburgh to a 24-19 victory over the Dallas Cowboys and keeping the Steelers as the NFL's only unbeaten team. Pittsburgh is 8-0 for the first time in the storied franchise's history despite an upset bid from the Cowboys. The Steelers erased a 10-point deficit in the fourth quarter with three scoring drives, the last two aided by Dallas penalties that kept drives alive. The go-ahead score was an 8-yarder to Eric Ebron with 2:14 remaining.
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BIG MAC IS BACK
Christian McCaffrey, just back from an ankle injury that sidelined him for six weeks, scored from 1 yard with 1:26 to go in Carolina's 33-31 loss at Kansas City. McCaffrey finished with 18 carries for 69 yards and a touchdown, while catching 10 passes for 82 yards and another score. He has 10 career games with at least 10 receptions, the most by a running back in NFL history. McCaffrey also has nine career games with both a TD run and catch, breaking a tie with Chuck Foreman for the most such games in a player's first four seasons.
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COMEBACK CONTINUES
Alex Smith replaced injured Washington quarterback Kyle Allen and connected with Terry McLaurin on a 68-yard score, his first TD pass in 728 days, to cut the New York' Giants' lead to 23-20 in the fourth quarter. But Smith threw two interceptions in the final 2:18 to end the threat for Washington. Allen injured his left ankle late in the first quarter, forcing Smith into just his second NFL game since gruesomely breaking his right leg in November 2018. Allen's left leg bent the wrong way on a sack by Jabrill Peppers, who was flagged for unnecessary roughness, and there was an air cast on it as he was carted off. Smith was 24 of 32 for 325 yards, the TD and three interceptions.
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PATRICK THE PLAY CALLER
Patrick Mahomes was just goofing around during a special teams segment of practice when he dreamed up this audacious play in which he'd put himself in motion, then take the snap and look downfield for a wide receiver. Chiefs coach Andy Reid liked it so much that he put it in the game plan. The play, which Mahomes called 'œFerrari right,'ť wound up going for a first-half touchdown in a 33-31 win over Carolina on Sunday. 'œThe last three weeks Pat's been messing around with it,'ť Reid said, 'œso I told him, '~We're going to put it in.' He looked at me like I was crazy. He'd been doing it and it looked good, so let's try it. So we tried it.'ť
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DALVIN COOK-ING
Minnesota's Dalvin Cook ran for a career-best 206 yards in a 34-20 win over Detroit, and finished with a personal-high 252 yards from scrimmage and two touchdowns. He had 226 yards from scrimmage and four TDs last week, making him the third player in NFL history - joining Jim Brown (1963) and Deuce McAllister (2003) - with at least 225 yards from scrimmage and two scores in consecutive games. Cook is also the sixth player, and first since Emmitt Smith in 1994, to run for a score in each of his first seven games of a season.
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RUNNING IN PLACE
Tampa Bay set an NFL record with just five rushing attempts in a 38-3 loss to New Orleans, and that includes backup quarterback Blaine Gabbert's kneel-down on the final snap of the night. Ronald Jones ran three times for 9 yards, Leonard Fournette had one carry for no gain, and Gabbert lost a yard to give Tampa Bay 8 yards rushing for the game. The previous record for fewest runs was six, set four times previously and most recently by Minnesota against Buffalo in 2018.
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SIDELINED
Detroit quarterback Matthew Stafford left in the fourth quarter Sunday against Minnesota to undergo concussion protocol after being struck in the head during a sack. After the game, Stafford was cleared of concussion protocol. The frustrating exit ended a week in which Stafford wasn't allowed to practice before coming off the COVID-19 reserve list on Saturday. ... Washington's Kyle Allen dislocated his left ankle late in the first quarter against the New York Giants, forcing Alex Smith into just his second NFL game since gruesomely breaking his right leg in November 2018. ... In Indianapolis, the Baltimore Ravens lost five-time Pro Bowl defensive end Calais Campbell to a left calf injury in the first quarter of a 24-10 win over the Colts. ... Indianapolis Pro Bowl tight end Jack Doyle left in the first half with a concussion.
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SPEAKING
'œThat was awesome. It was fun for the fans as well, not just us competing. You know what you're going to get when it comes to Kyler. You know the kind of explosive player he is. He might be the fastest player in the NFL right now. Oh my gosh, he's faster than me.'ť - Miami's Tua Tagovailoa after leading Miami past Kyler Murray and the Arizona Cardinals 34-31.
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'œWe came out here and laid an egg.'ť - A disappointed Murray after Arizona's loss to Miami.
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