INDIANAPOLIS — Spencer Shrader fought through a groin injury to make four field goals, including a 43-yarder with 16 seconds to go, and the Indianapolis Colts' beleaguered defence barely held up long enough to close out a 19-17 victory over the Houston Texans on Sunday.
The Colts (1-2) snapped a nine-game losing streak, the longest active skid in the NFL, and won its first game since Nov. 2 at Berlin. It was the Colts' first victory on American soil since Oct. 26, 2025.
Daniel Jones was 24 of 36 for 235 yards and one touchdown, but also fumbled three times and lost two. The second set up Houston's late go-ahead touchdown.
Jonathan Taylor had 23 carries for 68 yards for Indianapolis. Keenan Allen hauled in six passes for 63 yards and his first TD with the Colts, while Josh Downs caught five passes for 77 yards.
Houston is off to its second straight 0-3 start and it was a rugged day for the offence. C.J. Stroud was 16 of 27 for 167 yards with one TD as the Texans finished with just 70 yards on 21 carries and had 223 total yards against a defence that allowed more than 500 yards in each of its first two games. The loss was Houston's first in the last six games of this series.
Read more.
JAGUARS 35, PATRIOTS 6
JACKSONVILLE, Fla. — Trevor Lawrence threw three touchdown passes, including one on which Parker Washington made a fingertip catch in the end zone, and the Jacksonville Jaguars bounced back from their worst offensive performance in nearly a year to dominate New England 35-6 on Sunday.
Lawrence also strangely gave himself up at the one-yard line with nearly nine minutes to play. It created countless laughs on the sideline. Bhayshul Tuten scored on the next play, which surely will cause angst in the fantasy football world.
Regardless, the Jaguars (2-1) won their sixth consecutive regular-season game at home and raised more questions about Drake Maye’s regression for the Patriots.
Maye fumbled twice, losing one, and threw two more interceptions before getting pulled in the fourth quarter with the game out of reach. He now has one TD pass and six INTs in three games. He threw 31 touchdowns and eight picks last season for the AFC champion Patriots (1-2).
Read more.
BILLS 24, CHARGERS 16
ORCHARD PARK, N.Y. — Josh Allen scored two touchdowns rushing and the Buffalo Bills overcame a five-turnover outing to pull out a 24-16 victory over the winless Los Angeles Chargers on Sunday.
Allen’s second score, a one-yard plunge with 7:35 left, gave Buffalo its first lead. The Bills then sealed the win on James Cook’s three-yard run four minutes later, and after Buffalo’s defence forced Justin Herbert's incompletion on fourth down at the Chargers 45.
Buffalo improved to 3-0 despite Allen's two interceptions and lost fumble. Cook and tight end Dalton Kincaid also lost fumbles.
The problem for the Chargers was their inability to take advantage — with three of Buffalo’s turnovers occurring in Bills’ territory.
Read more.
COMMANDERS 33, SEAHAWKS 31
LANDOVER, Md. — Marcus Mariota threw three touchdown passes, and Kain Medrano returned an interception 50 yards for a touchdown to help the Washington Commanders hand Seattle its first loss since November, 33-31 on Sunday.
The Seahawks (2-1) had won 12 straight, including their post-season run to last season's Super Bowl title, but Mariota was solid in place of the injured Jayden Daniels, and three crucial turnovers enabled Washington (1-2) to win its home opener.
Jaxon Smith-Njigba caught 10 passes for 128 yards and two touchdowns for the Seahawks, and he even completed a short throw on a trick play in the final quarter, but Sam Darnold was intercepted twice in his return from his Week 1 glute injury.
After Washington had taken a 27-24 lead, Medrano picked off Darnold's pass over the middle and ran it back all the way to put the Commanders two scores ahead with 3:57 to play. However, a penalty during the celebration moved the extra point back 15 yards, and Drew Stevens missed it.
Darnold immediately found Smith-Njigba for three straight completions, and his 7-yard scoring pass to Cooper Kupp cut the lead to two with 2:51 to go.
Read more.
STEELERS 30, BENGALS 27
PITTSBURGH — Aaron Rodgers passed for 292 yards and three touchdowns to out-duel Joe Burrow as the Pittsburgh Steelers beat the Cincinnati Bengals 30-27 on Sunday.
Pittsburgh (2-1) bounced back from a miserable performance last week at New England to blunt some of Cincinnati's early momentum.
Rodgers completed 19 of 34 passes, including a 47-yard catch-and-run to massive tight end Darnell Washington that helped set up Chris Boswell's go-ahead, 33-yard field goal with 2:18 remaining.
Cincinnati (2-1) had a chance late. The Bengals reached Pittsburgh territory, but Burrow fumbled after being sacked by defensive tackle Derrick Harmon. Pittsburgh rookie defensive lineman Sebastian Joseph-Day fell on the ball near midfield and the Steelers escaped.
Jaylen Warren had 176 total yards (127 rushing, 49 receiving) for Pittsburgh, which matched the high-powered Bengals score-for-score as Cincinnati watched a chance for its first 3-0 start since 2015 disappear.
Read more.
LIONS 31, JETS 24
DETROIT — Jahmyr Gibbs had a go-ahead 11-yard reception with 2:25 left for his third touchdown of the game and the Detroit Lions held on to beat the New York Jets 31-24 on Sunday.
The Lions (2-1) leaned on Gibbs a lot — on the ground and through the year — and he delivered another fantastic performance. The dynamic running back had 20 carries for 99 yards with 17- and one-yard touchdown runs in the second half, along with seven receptions for 65 yards and score.
The Jets (1-2) overcame a 14-point deficit in the fourth quarter with Geno Smith's four-yard touchdown pass to Jeremy Ruckert, a 23-yard throw to Garrett Wilson and a two-point conversion pass to Sterling Shepard to make it 24-all.
New York's defence — led by head coach Aaron Glenn, Detroit's former defensive coordinator — then had two blown coverages as Goff and Gibbs marched the Lions down the field to quickly regain the lead.
With a chance to tie or perhaps go for the win, the Jets were on the Detroit 28 when Smith lost a fumble after blitzing safety Chuck Clark sacked him. That sealed it for the Lions.
Read more.
CHIEFS 24, DOLPHINS 10
MIAMI GARDENS, Fla. — Kenneth Walker III had a touchdown catch and rushed for a score, Patrick Mahomes threw for 246 yards and two TDs, and the Kansas City Chiefs beat the Miami Dolphins 24-10 on Sunday.
The Chiefs (3-0) entered averaging more than 450 yards and 32 points but struggled to pull away from the winless Dolphins, who were missing arguably their best player for much of the game after Pro Bowler De'Von Achane left with a knee injury on the opening drive.
Mahomes completed 20 of 24 passes with an interception. He threw a five-yard touchdown pass to Walker, and his 11-yard TD pass to Travis Kelce put the game out of reach.
Mahomes found Kelce in the end zone with 2:55 left to put the Chiefs up by two scores after Kansas City stopped the Dolphins on fourth down at Miami's 48. The Chiefs intercepted Malik Willis on the ensuing drive, and Mahomes moved Kansas City into scoring position before Harrison Butker missed a 50-yard field-goal attempt.
Read more.
BROWNS 21, PANTHERS 18
CLEVELAND — Deshaun Watson threw two touchdown passes to Harold Fannin Jr., including a 14-yard strike with 1:48 remaining, and the Cleveland Browns rallied for a 21-18 victory over the Carolina Panthers on Sunday.
The Panthers went in front 18-13 with 4:25 remaining when John Metchie III hauled in an eight-yard touchdown pass from Bryce Young. But the Browns (2-1) went 65 yards in eight plays for their second straight comeback win.
Watson was 10 of 21 for 67 yards during the first three quarters but was 6-of-9 for 77 yards over the final 15 minutes.
Watson and teammates feared that the 10-year veteran would be showered with boos after he got a negative reception during a preseason game against Buffalo on Aug. 22. But Watson was cheered by most of the fans during the fourth quarter when he came back into the game after taking a hard hit.
Read more.
GIANTS 12, TITANS 7
EAST RUTHERFORD, N.J. — Relying on running the ball in their first game without quarterback Jaxson Dart, the New York Giants held on to beat the Tennessee Titans 12-7 on Sunday but lost their most important defensive player, Brian Burns, to a knee injury.
Burns went down grabbing at his right knee midway through the fourth quarter and had to be helped off the field by offensive linemen Andrew Thomas and Aaron Stinnie. Burns played six days after spraining his left ankle in a defeat at the Los Angeles Rams, despite not practicing all week.
If it is significant like Dart's injury, which has him out for at least the remainder of the regular season, it is another blow to the Giants (2-1) after John Harbaugh's tenure as coach got off to a promising start. Burns ranked second in the NFL in sacks last season behind record-setter Myles Garrett.
In his first start in place of Dart, Jameis Winston did what he needed to do, completing 12 of 18 passes for 117 yards and scrambling 15 yards for a first down. With a nor’easter pounding the region, Harbaugh and offensive coordinator Matt Nagy kept the ball on the ground on a rainy, windy afternoon, piling up 141 yards rushing and getting four field goals from rookie kicker Dominic Zvada.
Read more.
