NFL ROUNDUP: Andy Dalton and Jeremy Hill help Bengals beat Chiefs
Cincinnati off to 4-0 start
The Sports Xchange
CINCINNATI — Andy Dalton completed his first 10 pass attempts and finished with 321 yards, and running back Jeremy Hill scored three touchdowns as the Cincinnati Bengals improved to 4-0 for the third time in a franchise history with a 36-21 victory over the Kansas City Chiefs on Sunday.
Bengals wide receiver A.J. Green had seven catches for 82 yards. Dalton finished 17-for-24 with one touchdown.
Quarterback Alex Smith was sacked five times but was 31 of 45 for 376 yards passing for Kansas City (1-3), which managed only seven field goals by Cairo Santos. Chiefs running back Jamaal Charles had 145 all-purpose yards, and receiver Jeremy Maclin had 11 catches for 148 yards.
Cincinnati led by two points in the third quarter when it began to pull away.
Panthers 37, Buccaneers 23
Carolina converted five turnovers from rookie quarterback Jameis Winston into 27 points, cruising to a 4-0 record with a win over Tampa Bay.
Cam Newton threw two touchdown passes to wide receiver Ted Ginn, and cornerback Josh Norman intercepted two Winston passes, returning one for a touchdown. Just as the Bucs (1-3) looked to get close before halftime, rookie kicker Kyle Brindza missed two straight field goals before the Panthers pulled away.
For the second straight home game, Winston’s first pass attempt was intercepted and returned for a touchdown, this one 46 yards by Norman, who has four INTs and two pick-sixes in a dominant first four games of the season.
Giants 24, Bills 10
Eli Manning passed for 212 yards and three touchdowns as New York beat Buffalo.
Receivers Dwayne Harris and Ruben Randle and running back Rashad Jennings caught touchdowns for the Giants (2-2), who have won two in a row.
Bills quarterback Tyrod Taylor passed for 274 yards and a touchdown. Rookie running back Karlos Williams scored a touchdown for the fourth straight game, but was held to 40 yards rushing. Buffalo (2-2) was penalized 16 times for 125 yards, including twice on plays that appeared to be touchdowns.
Redskins 23, Eagles 20
Kirk Cousins threw a 4-yard touchdown pass to wide receiver Pierre Garcon with 26 seconds left, lifting Washington over Philadelphia.
Starting on their own 10-yard line with 6:05 left, the Redskins (2-2) used a mix of passes and runs to get to the Eagles 34 at the two minute warning. On third-and-6, Cousins hit Garcon for 14 yards to the 16, and the pair connected again for 12 yards, setting up the game-winner. Cousins finished 31-of-46 for 290 yards and a touchdown.
Philadelphia quarterback Sam Bradford threw three second-half touchdown passes as the Eagles rallied from a 13-0 halftime deficit. He finished 15-of-29 for 269 yards for the 1-3 Eagles.
Bears 22, Raiders 20
Robbie Gould’s third field goal of the game, a 49-yarder with two seconds remaining, lifted Chicago (1-3) over Oakland (2-2) in a back-and-forth, error-filled game.
Quarterback Jay Cutler, returning after missing one game due to a hamstring injury, led a magnificent late drive with the help of receivers making nifty catches on the sideline. He completed five of eight passes on the winning drive and 28 of 43 for 281 yards overall.
Cutler also lost a fumble on a snap and threw an interception, leading directly to 10 of Oakland’s points. Raiders quarterback Derek Carr threw two touchdown passes but also an interception that set up one of Gould’s field goals.
Colts 16, Jaguars 13 (OT)
With franchise quarterback Andrew Luck sidelined by a shoulder injury, Indianapolis turned to their two oldest players to salvage an overtime victory over Jacksonville (1-3).
Adam Vinatieri’s 27-yard field goal with 4:36 remaining in overtime gave the Colts (2-2) a much-needed victory. At 42, Vinatieri is the Colts’ oldest player.
Backup quarterback Matt Hasselbeck, 40, started in place of Luck and completed 30 of 47 passes for 282 yards, a touchdown and no interceptions.
Broncos 23, Vikings 20
Brandon McManus kicked three field goals, including a 39-yarder with 1:51 remaining, and the Denver Broncos hung on to beat the Minnesota Vikings to remain undefeated.
Peyton Manning, shaking off two interceptions, led the Broncos into position for the tie-breaking score with C.J. Anderson and Ronnie Hillman also contributing key runs. Hillman had 103 yards rushing, including a 72-yard touchdown run.
Denver, off to a 4-0 start for the seventh time in franchise history and the second time in the last three years, sealed the win when blitzing safety T.J. Ward ended the last-ditch possession of Minnesota (2-2) at midfield by sacking quarterback Teddy Bridgewater and forcing a fumble that linebacker Von Miller recovered. Bridgewater previously extended the drive with an 11-yard run on third-and-10.
Packers 17, 49ers 3
Quarterback Aaron Rodgers threw for 224 yards and one touchdown, and the Green Bay Packers remained undefeated.
Green Bay’s defense dominated quarterback Colin Kaepernick and a struggling 49ers offense. Kaepernick was sacked six times. Linebacker Nick Peters had two sacks, while linebackers Clay Matthews, Jayrone Elliott, Julius Peppers and Mike Neal each had one.
The 49ers (1-3) lost their third straight game and have been outscored 107-28 during that stretch.
The Packers (4-0) had lost four straight games to San Francisco, including playoff defeats in the 2012 and 2013 seasons.
Rodgers completed 22 of 32 passes with no interceptions. Wide receiver James Jones caught five passes for 98 yards, and running back Eddie Lacy carried 18 times for 90 yards.
Chargers 30, Browns 27
Rookie Josh Lambo’s 34-yard field goal with no time remaining lifted the San Diego Chargers past the Cleveland Browns.
Lambo was wide right from 39 yards with two second left, but defensive back Tramon Williams was called offside, giving Lambo another chance.
The Browns pulled to within 27-25 on tight end Gary Barnidge’s 1-yard scoring catch with two minutes to play. Wide receiver Taylor Gabriel caught Josh McCown’s pass for a 2-point conversion to tie the game, 27-27.
Philip Rivers threw this third touchdown pass, a 1-yarder to tight end John Phillips, with 7:26 remaining. That gave the Chargers an eight-point lead, their biggest of the afternoon.
Rivers completed 23 of 38 for three touchdowns and 358 yards.
McCown was 32 of 41 for two touchdowns and 356 yards.
Rams 24, Cardinals 22
The red zone had been like a gold mine for the Arizona Cardinals during their 3-0 start. They had scored touchdowns on 11 of their first 12 trips inside opponents’ 20-yard line — the second most such scores in the NFL.
On Sunday against the St. Louis Rams at University of Phoenix Stadium, the red zone was more like a dead zone for Arizona.
The St. Louis defense forced the Cardinals to settle for five field goals and the Rams offense got three touchdown passes from quarterback Nick Foles, two of which went to wide receiver Tavon Austin, as the Rams held on for a 24-22 victory.
The win snapped a two-game slide by the Rams (2-2). The loss was just the fourth at home for the Cardinals under third-year coach Bruce Arians.