NFL roundup:
Derrick Henry battered the NFL’s second-stingiest defense for 140 yards and three touchdowns in the first half, finished with 178 yards and led the Tennessee Titans to a crucial 45-26 rout of the Indianapolis Colts on Sunday.
The win gives Tennessee (8-3) sole possession of the AFC South lead, a split in the two-game season series and a tiebreaking edge based on current division records of the teams. Henry also padded his lead as he chases a second straight rushing crown.
He has three straight 100-yard games and eight consecutive road games with 100 or more yards, tying former Titans running back Chris Johnson for the second-longest streak since the 1970 merger. Only Hall of Famer Barry Sanders (10 in 1996-97) had a longer streak.
After the Colts (7-4) tied the score at 7 with an 11-yard pass from Philip Rivers to Trey Burton, Ryan Tannehill hooked up with A.J. Brown on a 69-yard scoring play. When the Colts tied it again on Jacoby Brissett’s 1-yard TD run, Henry went back to work.
He scored on a 1-yard run midway through the second quarter, added an 11-yard TD run to make it 28-14, and was used as a decoy on Tannehill’s 1-yard TD run that gave Tennessee an insurmountable 35-14 halftime lead.
New Orleans 31, Denver 3: Taysom Hill’s two touchdown runs led the New Orleans Saints to a 31-3 win over the Denver Broncos, who were thrust into a quarterback quandary when their passers failed to wear masks as mandated by the NFL’s COVID-19 protocols.
In a grind-it-out slugfest like from pro football’s early days, the Saints (9-2) won their second straight game with Hill subbing for the injured Drew Brees. Hill was 9 of 16 for 78 yards, no touchdowns, an interception and a paltry passer rating of 43.2.
And that was much better than Broncos QB Kendall Hinton, a rookie receiver and former Wake Forest quarterback from their practice squad who made a shaky NFL debut by going 1 for 9 for 13 yards, no touchdowns and two interceptions.
Minnesota 28, Carolina 27: Chad Beebe caught a 10-yard touchdown pass with 46 seconds left for Minnesota shortly after he muffed a punt that let Carolina pad its lead. Then Joey Slye missed a 54-yard field goal try with 1 second remaining that preserved a 28-27 victory by the Vikings over the Panthers.
Kirk Cousins went 34 for 45 for 307 yards and three scores for the Vikings (5-6), hitting Justin Jefferson his second touchdown grab with 5:38 to go and finding Beebe for the winner.
There were 38 points scored by both teams in a dizzying second half that started with Panthers rookie Jeremy Chinn turning fumble recoveries into touchdown returns on consecutive plays from scrimmage. Sixty-nine seconds into the third quarter, the Panthers (4-8) suddenly were up 21-10 after Dan Bailey’s 53-yard field goal sent the Vikings into the locker room with the lead.
Cleveland 27, jacksonville 25: Baker Mayfield took advantage of his best game-day weather in a month, throwing two touchdown passes in Cleveland’s 27-25 victory against Jacksonville that kept the Browns squarely in the AFC playoff picture.
Mayfield connected with Jarvis Landry and Austin Hooper for scores, ending a three-game drought without a passing TD. Mayfield nearly had two more, but he inexplicably missed wide-open Rashard Higgins in the end zone in the second quarter, then watched Harrison Bryant drop another early in the fourth.
New England 20, Arizona 17: Nick Folk kicked a 50-yard field goal as time expired, and the New England Patriots rallied in the second half to beat the Arizona Cardinals, 20-17.
James White rushed for two touchdowns for the Patriots (5-6), who earned seventh victory in their past eight meetings with the Cardinals. It was the second time this month that Folk hit a last-second game-winning field goal.
Atlanta 43, Las Vegas 6: Deion Jones returned an interception 67 yards for a touchdown, Matt Ryan threw a pair of short scoring passes, and the Atlanta Falcons thoroughly dominated Derek Carr and the bumbling Las Vegas Raiders 43-6.
The Raiders (6-5) lost their second in a row and looked very much like a pretender in the AFC playoff race, producing a listless, mistake-filled performance against an Atlanta team that’s playing out the season under an interim coach.
San Francisco 23, L.A. Rams 20: Robbie Gould made a 42-yard field goal as time expired, and the San Francisco 49ers snapped their three-game losing streak with a 23-20 victory over Los Angeles that completed a sweep of their season series for the second straight year.
Nick Mullens passed for 253 yards and led two late scoring drives in his first victory as a starter since September for the Niners (5-6).
Buffalo 27, L.A. Chargers 17: Tre’Davious White’s fourth-quarter interception set up Tyler Bass’ 43-yard field goal, helping the Buffalo Bills hold off the Los Angeles Chargers for a 27-17 win.
Josh Allen threw for a touchdown and ran for another score for the AFC East-leading Bills (8-3), who hung on after nearly blowing an 18-point third-quarter lead. Receiver Cole Beasley also completed a touchdown pass.
Miami 20, N.Y. Jets 3: Ryan Fitzpatrick threw two touchdown passes while starting in place of the injured Tua Tagovailoa and the Miami Dolphins kept the New York Jets winless with a 20-3 victory.
The veteran quarterback was 24 of 39 for 257 yards with TD throws to tight ends Mike Gesicki and Adam Shaheen, helping the Dolphins (7-4) bounce back after having a five-game winning streak end last week.
N.Y. Giants 19, Cincinnati 17: The New York Giants lost starting quarterback Daniel Jones to a hamstring injury in the second half, but they generated enough offense to beat the Cincinnati Bengals 19-17.
Wayne Gallman Jr. ran for a 2-yard touchdown on fourth-and-goal in the first quarter, and Graham Gano returned from the COVID-19 list to kick four field goals as the Giants (4-7) moved into a tie with Washington for first place in the woeful NFC East.