Trevor Siemian threw a touchdown pass in place of the injured Jameis Winston and PJ Williams made a clinching pick-six of Tom Brady as the host New Orleans Saints defeated the Tampa Bay Buccaneers 36-27 on Sunday.
Siemian replaced Winston in the second quarter, completed 16 of 29 for 159 yards and drove the Saints (5-2) 70 yards to Brian Johnson’s 23-yard field goal that gave them a 29-27 lead with 1:44 remaining.
On the second play of the ensuing possession Williams stepped in front of a Brady pass and ran 40 yards for a touchdown.
Brady, who threw a go-ahead 50-yard touchdown pass to Cyril Grayson with 5:44 left, completed 28 of 40 for 375 yards and four touchdowns with two interceptions as the Bucs (6-2) saw their lead over New Orleans in the NFC South slip to half a game.
Chris Godwin caught eight of Brady’s passes for 140 yards and a 12-yard touchdown that started the scoring in the first quarter.
Cooper Rush capped his first career start with a 5-yard touchdown pass to Amari Cooper with 51 seconds left, as Dallas recorded a 20-16 victory over Minnesota at Minneapolis.
Rush started in place of an injured Dak Prescott and completed 24 of 40 passes for 325 yards, two touchdowns and one interception. The 27-year-old had thrown three career passes, all in 2017, entering the contest before leading Dallas (6-1) to its sixth straight victory.
Kirk Cousins completed 23 of 35 passes for 184 yards and one touchdown for Minnesota (3-4). Adam Thielen caught six passes for 78 yards and one score. Xavier Woods forced two turnovers for the Vikings.
Shaq Lawson gave the Jets their first interception of the season and Mike White outdueled Joe Burrow as New York rallied late to upset visiting Cincinnati 34-31 in East Rutherford, New Jersey.
The Jets (2-5) snapped a two-game skid and won for the first time in the last four meetings against Cincinnati. White, in his first NFL start, completed 37 of 45 passes for 405 yards and three touchdowns with two interceptions. Michael Carter added 172 yards from scrimmage on 24 total touches with a touchdown.
Burrow completed 21 of 34 for 259 yards with three touchdowns and one interception. He’s the only QB in the NFL to throw multiple touchdowns in every game this season. Joe Mixon scored twice and gained 91 yards from scrimmage on 18 touches. Tee Higgins led all receivers with 97 yards on four catches.
Adrian Phillips intercepted Chargers quarterback Justin Herbert twice, including a 26-yard pick-six in the fourth quarter that put New England ahead for good in a 27-24 victory.
Mac Jones finished 18-of-35 passing for 218 yards, and Damien Harris rushed for 80 yards and a touchdown on 23 carries for New England (4-4), which has won back-to-back games and three of its past four to get back to .500.
Herbert was 18-of-35 passing for 223 yards, two touchdowns and two interceptions. Austin Ekeler rushed 11 times for 64 yards and a touchdown for Los Angeles (4-3), which suffered its second straight loss.
Matthew Stafford threw three touchdown passes in three quarters of work and Darrell Henderson scored twice to help Los Angeles take down host Houston in a comfortable 38-22 win.
The Rams (7-1) dominated the game to the tune of 300 yards of total offense in the first half, building a 31-0 advantage midway through the third quarter. The Texans (1-7) lost for their seventh consecutive game but went down fighting with three touchdowns in the fourth quarter -- all in the final eight minutes, eight seconds of the game.
Stafford kept wide receiver Cooper Kupp’s streak of 100-yard games with a TD catch alive. Kupp caught seven passes for 115 yards and raised his NFL-leading figures to receptions (63), yards (924) and touchdown catches (10).
Ben Roethlisberger went 22-of-34 passing for 266 yards and a touchdown as visiting Pittsburgh (4-3) held off Cleveland (4-4) 15-10.
Diontae Johnson caught six passes for 98 yards and Najee Harris rushed for 91 yards and a touchdown on 26 carries for the Steelers, who won their third straight game.
The Steelers scored the winning TD with 11:04 to play on a 2-yard pass from Roethlisberger to Pat Freiermuth, which came on fourth-and-goal and completed a 13-play, 83-yard drive.
Jimmy Garoppolo passed for 322 yards and ran for two touchdowns and Elijah Mitchell rushed for a career-best 137 yards and a score to help visiting San Francisco defeat Chicago to snap a four-game losing streak with a 33-22 win.
San Francisco (3-4) used an 18-point fourth quarter to surge ahead of Chicago (3-5), which has lost three straight. Deebo Samuel had six receptions for 171 yards for San Francisco, including an 83-yard catch and run that set up a third-quarter touchdown. Joey Slye kicked field goals of 48, 52, 22 and 32 yards for the 49ers.
Bears rookie quarterback Justin Fields passed for a touchdown and ran for another - a brilliant, 22-yard scamper on a fourth-quarter fourth-and-one - but defensive lapses ultimately doomed Chicago before a late Fields interception. Fields was 19-for-27 passing for 175 yards and an interception and also ran for a career-high 103 yards on 10 carries.
Carolina finally scored another touchdown and used four Zane Gonzalez field goals to beat host Atlanta 19-13 and snap a four-game losing streak despite losing quarterback Sam Darnold late in the game.
Darnold exited midway through the fourth quarter after landing hard on the field at the end of an 8-yard run that took the ball to the Atlanta 3-yard line. Darnold was placed in the concussion protocol. Three plays later, rookie Chuba Hubbard ran in from 6 yards out for the first touchdown in a two-game span for Carolina (4-4).
Matt Ryan was 20-for-27 for 146 yards with a touchdown and two interceptions for Atlanta (3-4), which saw its two-game winning streak come to an end.
Boston Scott and Jordan Howard scored two rushing touchdowns apiece and visiting Philadelphia crushed winless Detroit 44-6.
The running back duo combined for 117 yards on 24 carries. Quarterback Jalen Hurts completed 9 of 14 passes for 103 yards and rushed for 71 yards on seven carries. Dallas Goedert caught six passes for 72 yards, and ex-Lion Darius Slay returned a fumble 33 yards for a touchdown.
Quarterback Jared Goff completed 25 of 34 passes for 222 yards for the Lions. TJ Hockenson caught 10 passes for 89 yards.
Randy Bullock converted a 44-yard field goal with 4:03 left in overtime, lifting Tennessee (6-2) to a 34-31 win over host Indianapolis (3-5).
Bullock’s kick came four plays after Kevin Byard intercepted a Carson Wentz pass and returned it to the Colts’ 32 with 5:48 remaining.
Titans quarterback Ryan Tannehill hit 23 of 33 passes for 265 yards with three touchdowns and two interceptions. NFL rushing leader Derrick Henry was held to 68 yards on 28 carries.
Josh Allen tossed a go-ahead touchdown pass to Gabriel Davis to lift host Buffalo to a 26-11 win over Miami.
Davis’ score was the first touchdown of the game for Buffalo. Allen added a fourth-quarter touchdown pass to Stefon Diggs, and the Bills’ ferocious defence held on for the win. Allen completed 29-of-42 passes for 249 yards and two touchdowns. He also ran for 55 yards and one score.
Miami lost its seventh straight game overall and seventh consecutive contest in the series against Buffalo. The Bills have outscored Miami 61-11 in two games this season.
Melvin Gordon III rushed for 47 yards and scored two touchdowns, Teddy Bridgewater was 19-for-26 passing for 213 yards and a score, and host Denver beat Washington 17-10.
Tim Patrick had three receptions for 64 yards and Justin Simmons had two interceptions for Denver (4-4), which snapped a four-game losing streak.
Taylor Heinicke was 24-for-39 passing for 270 yards, one touchdown and two interceptions, JD McKissic had eight receptions for 83 yards and DeAndre Carter caught a touchdown pass for the Washington Football Team (2-6), which dropped its fourth straight game.
Geno Smith, filling in for the injured Russell Wilson, threw for two touchdowns and rushed for another as Seattle (3-5) defeated visiting Jacksonville (1-6)in a 31-7 blowout.
Smith completed 20 of 24 passes for 195 yards as the Seahawks snapped a three-game losing streak and won for the first time in four home games this season to gain some momentum heading into their bye week.
Wilson, who had surgery on the middle finger of his right hand after being injured on October 7th against the Los Angeles Rams, is expected to return after the bye.
