Nov 12, 2017 6 min read

NASHVILLE, Tenn. – Vontaze Burfict pleaded his case to Cincinnati coach Marvin Lewis. Then the linebacker who has been among the NFL’s most suspended and penalized players finally headed to the locker room.

Burfict talked with some fans, raised both arms over his head and even jumped to high-five a fan at the tunnel.

Another week, another Cincinnati player ejected. This time in a game where the Bengals scratched three defensive starters before kickoff with Burfict’s ejection for pushing an official’s arm making it four. Add two turnovers and 12 penalties for 84 yards, the Bengals lost 24-20 to Tennessee Sunday in a loss they can blame on a lack of discipline.

“Not getting a ‘W’ really hurts,” Bengals wide receiver A.J. Green said. “We’ve got to continue to get better. You can’t have these penalties. You can’t turn the ball over. I know I sound like a broken record, but you can’t win like that.”

Lewis said curtly that the Bengals can’t have those penalties when asked about his frustration at the penalties and having a player ejected for a second straight game.

“We didn’t do a good enough job of getting separation from them and we’re getting calls and they’re draped on us, so just look at it,” Lewis said. “We’ve got to do better. We knew how they were going to play.”

Burfict’s ejection hurt an already depleted defense. The Bengals (3-6) deactivated tackle Pat Sims, linebacker Kevin Minter and safety Shawn Williams. Burfict slid over and started in Minter’s spot. The Bengals lost cornerback Adam Jones midway through the third quarter to a concussion.

Green was the Cincinnati player ejected last week in a loss at Jacksonville after he grabbed Jaguars cornerback Jalen Ramsey around the neck and threw punches. The NFL fined Green $42,541 for that incident, and Green said that was probably one of the worst times of his life.

“It’s tough on him (Burfict) being one of our best players and getting thrown out of a game is not a great feeling,” Green said. “You hurt your team. I did it last week, and I regret it. I’m embarrassed with what I did last week, but you can’t lose your cool. … He’s going to be fine and he’ll be back next week.”

Atlanta 27, Dallas 7: Adrian Clayborn set an Atlanta record with six sacks, Matt Ryan threw a pair of short touchdown passes and the Falcons romped to victory over Dallas.

The Cowboys looked anemic offensively in their first game without suspended running back Ezekiel Elliott.

L.A. Rams 33, Houston 7: Robert Woods caught two of Jared Goff’s three touchdown passes during a dominant third quarter, and surging Los Angeles returned after a month away from home for their fourth straight victory, 33-7 over depleted Houston.

After struggling to a 9-7 lead during a quiet first half for the NFL’s highest-scoring team, the Rams (7-2) ran away with a series of big throws by Goff, who passed for a career-high 355 yards.

New Orleans 47, Buffalo 10: Mark Ingram scored a career-best three touchdowns and New Orleans won its seventh straight game by plowing through a porous Buffalo defense.

Alvin Kamara also had a 3-yard touchdown rushing as the Saints blew the game open by scoring five times on their first six possessions, not including a one-play series to close the first half. Ingram finished with 131 yards rushing. He scored twice from 3 yards and again on a 1-yard plunge.

Minnesota 38, Washington 30: Case Keenum threw touchdowns to four different receivers to build a big lead, and the NFC North-leading Vikings won their fifth in a row.

With Teddy Bridgewater active for the first time since January 2016 after a devastating knee injury, Keenum was 21 of 29 for 304 yards and TD passes to Stefon Diggs, Adam Thielen, David Morgan and Jarius Wright. He was picked off on consecutive throws by D.J. Swearinger. Thielen had eight catches for a season-high 166 yards.

Green Bay 23, Chicago 16: Brett Hundley threw for 212 yards and a touchdown, Nick Perry had three sacks and the Packers snapped a three-game losing streak.

Hundley, starting his third game for an injured Aaron Rodgers, threw a 17-yard touchdown to Davante Adams to make it 23-13 with 5:29 to play, and the Packers (5-4) hung on to beat the Bears (3-6) for the eighth time in nine games.

It was the first victory for a Packers QB not named Rodgers or Brett Favre since 1989.

Jacksonville 20, L.A. Chargers 17, OT: Josh Lambo kicked a 30-yard field goal with 3:12 remaining in overtime, lifting the Jaguars in a wild game.

Lambo’s kick got tipped at the line of scrimmage and still cleared the crossbar. The former soccer player and one-time Charger ran the other way and slid on both knees near midfield before getting mobbed by teammates.

It gave Jacksonville its first three-game winning streak since 2013.

Detroit 38, Cleveland 24: Matthew Stafford lofted a 29-yard, tiebreaking touchdown to Eric Ebron early in the fourth quarter and the Lions went on to beat the winless Browns.

The Lions (5-4) rallied from first- and second-half deficits to earn consecutive victories for the first time since winning the first two games this season. The Browns, who fell to 0-9 on the season, led 10-0 early in the game for their first double-digit lead of the season, and were up 24-17 in the third after Deshone Kizer led two consecutive touchdown drives.

Detroit is the only franchise to have a 0-16 season in 2008.

Tampa Bay 15, N.Y. Jets 10: Ryan Fitzpatrick led two long scoring drives and Tampa Bay limited the Jets to less than 200 yards of offense until late in the fourth quarter to snap a five-game losing streak.

With Fitzpatrick filling in for injured quarterback Jameis Winston, the Buccaneers (3-6) used three field goals to build a 9-3 lead. Charles Sims put the game out of reach with a 6-yard touchdown reception with just over six minutes remaining.

San Francisco 31, N.Y. Giants 21: C.J. Beathard threw for 288 yards and two touchdowns and ran for a third score to lead the San Francisco 49ers to their first win of the season, 31-21 over the New York Giants on Sunday.

Beathard connected on an 83-yard TD to Marquise Goodwin and a 47-yarder to Garrett Celek in the second quarter as the 49ers (1-9) took advantage of another listless effort by the Giants (1-8) to win for the first time under coach Kyle Shanahan.