NFL ROUNDUP: Bill Belichick gets 300th regular-season win as Patriots beat Bills

Article content

FOXBOROUGH, Mass. — Mac Jones threw a 1-yard touchdown pass to Mike Gesicki with 12 seconds remaining to lift the New England Patriots to a 29-25 win over the Buffalo Bills on Sunday, making Bill Belichick the third coach in NFL history with 300 regular-season victories.

Article content

Belichick joins Pro Football Hall of Famers Don Shula (328) and George Halas (318) as the only coaches to reach the milestone.

Article content

Jones completed 25 of 30 passes for 272 yards and two touchdowns as the Patriots (2-5) snapped a three-game skid. Ezekiel Elliott rushed for a score and rookie Chad Ryland added three field goals to help the Patriots beat back a second-half rally by Buffalo (4-3), which briefly took the lead late in the fourth quarter.

Josh Allen was 27 of 41 for 265 yards with two TDs ran for a score. He also threw an interception that set up New England’s first touchdown. The Bills struggled on third down and scored touchdowns on only two of their four red-zone opportunities.

Allen led two touchdown drives late in the fourth quarter to turn a 22-10 deficit into a 25-10 lead for Buffalo.

Article content

Jones began the decisive drive with a short pass to Rhamondre Stevenson that turned into a 34-yard gain. He hit Hunter Harvey for 14 yards on a third-and-8, and the Patriots had a first-and-goal after six plays. A pass-interference penalty set them up at the Buffalo 1, and Jones connected with Gesicki on second down.

RAVENS 38, LIONS 6

BALTIMORE (AP) — Lamar Jackson guided Baltimore to touchdowns on its first four possessions of a dominant first half, and the Ravens trounced Detroit in a matchup of division leaders that was lopsided from the start.

Baltimore (5-2) was up 28-0 before the NFC North-leading Lions (5-2) even managed a first down. It was the most complete performance of the season by the Ravens, and a resurgent Detroit squad fell flat while facing a major test on the road.

Article content

Article content

Jackson went 21 of 27 for 357 yards and three touchdowns, finishing with a near-perfect passer rating of 155.8. He also ran for a TD. Jackson had great success with deep passes, often finding receivers open in the secondary with plenty of room to run. Baltimore protected Jackson well, and when that started to break down, his scrambling kept plays going.

Jackson opened the scoring with a 7-yard bootleg on fourth-and-1. On his team’s next possession, he escaped the pocket to the right and extended the play long enough to find Nelson Agholor for a 12-yard touchdown.

An 11-yard TD pass to Mark Andrews made it 21-0, and then Gus Edwards scored on a 2-yard run. At that point, the Lions had only managed three three-and-outs. Baltimore had a 28-0 lead, a 16-0 edge in first downs and a 325-13 advantage in total yards.

Article content

Baltimore has allowed a league-low seven touchdowns this season.

BROWNS 39, COLTS 38

INDIANAPOLIS (AP) — Kareem Hunt scored on a 1-yard touchdown plunge with 15 seconds left, capping an 80-yard touchdown drive that gave Cleveland a win over Indianapolis.

Backup quarterback P.J. Walker used all but 15 seconds of the final 2:35 to rally the Browns for the second consecutive week, this time taking advantage of debatable back-to-back defensive penalties against the Colts, an illegal contact and a defensive pass interference call — both on cornerback Darrell Baker Jr.

The first penalty nullified a fumble recovery by the Colts. The second put the ball at the 1-yard line, setting up Hunt’s fourth-down score. Hunt had 10 carries for 31 yards and two TDs.

Article content

Walker rallied Cleveland (4-2) for the second straight week. This time it was in relief of Deshaun Watson, who started his first game since Sept. 24 but left in the first quarter after taking a big hit. Watson was cleared after being evaluated for a head injury but did not return to avoid aggravating his already injured right shoulder.

The Colts (3-4) lost their second straight as Gardner Minshew committed four more turnovers — three of which Cleveland turned into scores. Minshew hooked up with Michael Pittman Jr. on a 75-yard TD pass to give the Colts a 38-33 lead, but they couldn’t hold it.

Browns defensive end Myles Garrett dominated the game. He had nine tackles, two strip-sacks and blocked a 60-yard field goal attempt.

Article content

Cleveland’s Dustin Hopkins broke the NFL record by making a field goal of 50 or more yards in a fifth straight game. He converted two 54-yarders and a 58-yarder.

Minshew was 15 of 23 for 305 yards with two touchdowns and an interception. He also ran for a career-high two scores.

FALCONS 16, BUCCANEERS 13

TAMPA, Fla. (AP) — Younghoe Koo’s third field goal of the game, a 51-yarder as time expired, bailed out quarterback Desmond Ridder and gave mistake-prone Atlanta a win over Tampa Bay.

The Falcons (4-3) snapped an eight-game road losing streak and moved atop the NFC South ahead of the Bucs (3-3) despite Ridder losing three fumbles inside Tampa Bay’s red zone, including one that cost him a 12-yard touchdown run that would have put Atlanta up 10 points with less than four minutes to go.

Article content

Ridder’s fumble on a sack stopped the Falcons from breaking a 10-10 tie just before halftime. The young quarterback lost another fumble in the third quarter, one play after Drake London’s 13-yard reception gave the Falcons a first down inside the Bucs 1.

Ridder, who threw for 250 yards, moved the Falcons into position for Koo’s winning kick after the Bucs pulled even on Chase McLaughin’s 36-yard field goal with less than a minute remaining.

Kyle Pitts’ 39-yard reception was the biggest play on the winning drive.

Baker Mayfield threw for 275 yards, one touchdown and one interception for Tampa Bay, which scored on Mike Evans’ 40-yard TD reception in the first quarter and field goals of 24 and 36 yards by McLaughlin.

Article content

BEARS 30, RAIDERS 12

CHICAGO (AP) — Undrafted rookie Tyson Bagent led three touchdown drives with Justin Fields sidelined, D’Onta Foreman ran for two scores and caught a TD pass, and Chicago beat Las Vegas.

The Bears (2-5) won for the second time in three games after dropping 14 in a row. They won a showdown of backup quarterbacks after both teams’ starters were injured the previous week.

Brian Hoyer threw for 129 yards and two interceptions in place of Jimmy Garoppolo for the Raiders (3-4), whose two-game winning streak ended.

The Bears relied on short throws and handoffs with Bagent — who played last year for Division II Shepherd University in West Virginia — behind center. He completed 21 of 29 passes for 162 yards and a TD, helping Chicago stop a 10-game home losing streak.

Article content

Foreman ran for 89 yards on 16 attempts and his first two touchdowns since signing with Chicago in March. He scored from the 2 in the first quarter and from the 3 early in the second as the Bears grabbed a 14-0 lead, then caught a 5-yard TD in the third to make it 21-3.

Jaylon Johnson had two late interceptions. He returned one against Hoyer 39 yards for a touchdown to make it 30-6 and then picked off Chicago-area product Aidan O’Connell.

Hoyer completed 17 of 32 passes and posted a 37.1 passer rating. O’Connell was 10 of 13 for 75 yards with a touchdown and the interception.

GIANTS 14, COMMANDERS 7

EAST RUTHERFORD, N.J. (AP) — Tyrod Taylor threw two second-quarter touchdown passes and New York’s defense had six sacks and made a last-minute stand to beat Washington, snapping a four-game skid.

Article content

Taylor, starting for the second straight week with Daniel Jones sidelined with a neck injury, hit Darren Waller from 15 yards and added a 32-yard TD pass to Saquon Barkley as New York (2-5) scored its first offensive first-half touchdowns of the season. He finished 18 of 29 for 279 yards.

Dexter Lawrence had two sacks for New York and Kayvon Thibodeaux added 1 1/2. Chase Young had two sacks for the Commanders.

Brian Robinson Jr. scored on a 4-yard run for Washington (3-4) early in the third quarter after Giants veteran Sterling Shepard muffed a punt and the Commanders, who were limited to 46 yards in the first half, recovered at the 21.

The Giants had to make one more stand after Saquon Barkley lost a fumble inside the Washington 5 and the Commanders recovered. Sam Howell (22 of 42 for 249 yards) led Washington to a first-and-10 at the New York 12. His pass on fourth-and-5 to Jahan Dotson was incomplete.

Article content