BALTIMORE — Tyler Shough scored on a fourth-down sneak with 1:28 remaining, and the New Orleans Saints rallied to a 24-17 win over the Baltimore Ravens on Sunday.
New Orleans (1-1) had first down from the two before a penalty and a costly incomplete pass allowed Baltimore — with only two timeouts left — to stop the clock after the next two plays. On fourth-and-goal, the Saints decided against a short field goal, and Shough was ruled to have scored on a one-yard sneak. The play was upheld after a review.
The Ravens, who didn’t have a first down on either of their previous two drives, made it to the New Orleans 37, but Lamar Jackson’s deep pass was intercepted by Julian Blackmon with 13 seconds left.
Baltimore had a 17-9 lead and forced a three-and-out with sacks by Trey Hendrickson and Mike Green. That gave the Ravens the ball at the New Orleans 49 late in the third quarter with a chance to make it a two-score game.
But Baltimore went backwards 16 yards and punted, then the Saints drove to tie it with 9:42 remaining on a 21-yard touchdown pass from Shough to Chris Olave. After a penalty on the Ravens (1-1) moved thetwo2-point conversion to the 1-yard line, and Travis Etienne Jr. ran the ball in to make it 17-all.
After another Baltimore three-and-out — Jackson curiously threw long on third-and-one and his pass to Chris Moore was broken up by Kool-Aid McKinstry — the Saints took over at their own 32 with 8:06 remaining. They drove about as methodically as possible, converting two third downs and two fourth downs to seize the lead.
Baltimore beat Indianapolis 41-23 in Jesse Minter’s debut as coach, but in Week 2 the Ravens did many of the things that got John Harbaugh’s staff fired, collapsing in the fourth quarter and dropping yet another home game. Baltimore was 3-6 at M&T Bank Stadium last season.
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NASHVILLE, Tenn. — Jalen Hurts threw a three-yard touchdown pass to Darius Cooper with nine seconds left, and the Philadelphia Eagles beat the Tennessee Titans 24-20 on a hot and steamy Sunday.
The Eagles (2-0) appeared ready to dominate Tennessee. They opened the game by stringing together three straight drives of at least 11 plays.
The Titans (0-2) sacked Hurts three times and picked him off twice, turning those into 10 points. The second interception set up Joey Slye’s 33-yard field goal with 1:56 left, putting Tennessee up 20-17.
Hurts had 1:56 to drive the Eagles 65 yards for the win. He finished with 264 yards passing and two TDs. DeVonta Smith had 10 catches for 117 yards, Tank Bigsby ran for a TD, and Jake Elliott kicked a 58-yard field goal.
Cam Ward got the Titans (0-2) to midfield, but his final pass under pressure hit the turf harmlessly as time expired.
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FOXBOROUGH, Mass. — TreVeyon Henderson ran for a 39-yard touchdown in his season debut, Eli Ponder added a 19-yard fumble recovery for a score and the New England Patriots’ defense smothered Aaron Rodgers on the way to a 20-3 victory over the Pittsburgh Steelers on Sunday.
With the victory, Patriots coach Mike Vrabel avoided just the second 0-2 start of his eight-year coaching career.
Drake Maye finished 14 of 22 for 208 yards and an interception. Romeo Doubs, who had no catches in his Patriots debut last week, had a 63-yard catch in the third quarter to set up Andy Borregales’ second field goal of the game.
But it was the New England defense that set the tone. A year after leading the Steelers to a win in New England, Rodgers struggled to deal with the Patriots’ pressure. The 42-year-old quarterback fumbled twice, including the one that led to Ponder’s score.
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ATLANTA — Bryce Young threw for 287 yards and three touchdowns, including two to Darren Waller, Carolina’s Devin Lloyd returned one of his two interceptions for a touchdown and the Panthers routed the short-handed Atlanta Falcons 34-3 on Sunday.
The Panthers (1-1) earned their fourth straight win in the NFC South rivalry. Young completed 23 of 36 passes as he improved to 5-1 against the Falcons. He set a franchise record with 448 yards passing in a 30-27 overtime win to cap last season’s sweep.
With fill-in starter Cooper Rush at quarterback, the Falcons (0-2) had more offensive woes following their 20-13 opening loss at Pittsburgh last week. Michael Penix Jr. (knee) and Tua Tagovailoa (oblique) again were inactive.
Rush completed 10 of 17 passes for 86 yards with two interceptions and also lost a fumble.
Rush’s struggles from his very first snap were so dramatic that some Falcons fans were booing six minutes into the game. He lost a fumble on a nine-yard run to open the game. Atlanta’s second possession ended when Rush’s pass intended for Bijan Robinson was intercepted by linebacker Bobby Okereke.
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CHICAGO — Isaiah Rodgers recovered a fumble and blocked a late field-goal attempt, and the Minnesota Vikings shut down Caleb Williams and the Chicago Bears for a 9-3 victory on a rainy Sunday.
Aaron Jones rushed for 105 yards as Minnesota improved to 2-0 for the first time since it opened the 2024 season with five consecutive wins. Will Reichard kicked three field goals, including a 39-yarder with 1:09 left.
Williams departed with a right hamstring injury midway through the fourth quarter, silencing a drenched crowd of 58,914 at Soldier Field. The No. 1 pick in the 2024 draft was 15 for 26 for 138 yards, and he also had five carries for 42 yards.
Led by Dallas Turner, Minnesota limited Chicago to 297 yards of offense. Turner had two of the Vikings’ four sacks, and Byron Murphy Jr. intercepted an ill-advised throw by Williams in the first quarter.
The Bears (1-1) rolled to 291 yards rushing and 552 yards overall in their 59-37 victory at Carolina in Week 1. It was the highest-scoring season opener in NFL history.
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HOUSTON — Joe Burrow threw two touchdown passes to Ja’Marr Chase to lead the Cincinnati Bengals to a 20-6 win over the Houston Texans on Sunday.
The big day by Chase came a week after the five-time Pro Bowler had just two receptions for 12 yards in a win over Tampa Bay. That prompted Burrow, coach Zac Taylor and offensive coordinator Dan Pitcher to say that getting him the ball more had to be a priority against the Texans.
They showed they meant that early as Chase eclipsed last week’s performance with 14 yards receiving on Cincinnati’s first drive and didn’t slow down after that.
He put the Bengals (2-0) on top 7-0 when he managed to drag his toe inbounds on a spectacular 32-yard TD catch over Derek Stingley with about three minutes left in the first half.
The Bengals were up by seven when Burrow found Chase again. This time, he grabbed an 18-yard pass in the end zone in front of a diving Reed Blankenship to make it 17-3 with about three minutes left in the third.
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EAST RUTHERFORD, N.J. — Trey Smack kicked a 26-yard field goal in overtime and Green Bay overcame a 10-point fourth-quarter deficit and a sloppy, penalty-filled performance to snap a six-game skid with a victory over New York.
Jordan Love threw two touchdown passes for the Packers (1-1), who had 14 accepted penalties and appeared on their way to another ugly loss after a fourth-quarter collapse at Minnesota last week.
But it was the Jets (1-1) who couldn’t hold on in the end after mostly outplaying the Packers and stifling Love and the offense for much of the game.
The Packers also overcame a scary start when wide receiver Jayden Reed and right tackle Zach Bako-Bewele were carted off the field with injuries on consecutive plays on the opening drive. Reed has a neck injury, while Bako-Bewele hurt a knee.
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