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Patriots wallop Broncos, 43-21; Rams edge 49ers, 13-10

Patriots receiver Julian Edelman (11) is congratulated by quarterback Tom Brady after returning a punt for a touchdown in the second quarter Sunday.
(Jared Wickerham / Getty Images)
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Tom Brady outdueled Peyton Manning, throwing for four touchdowns, and Julian Edelman returned a punt 84 yards for a score in leading the New England Patriots past the Denver Broncos, 43-21, on Sunday in Foxborough, Mass.

The 16th matchup between the all-time great quarterbacks wasn’t particularly competitive after the first quarter.

New England (7-2) won its fifth straight, halting the four-game winning streak for Denver (6-2) in emphatic fashion. Brady has 18 TD passes and one interception in those five victories.

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Manning fell to 2-7 at Gillette Stadium and 5-11 overall against Brady, even though he threw for 438 yards and two touchdowns. He has at least two TD passes in 14 consecutive games, an NFL record.

In his 200th career start, Brady passed for 333 yards. He has won 155 of those, the most for any quarterback in that many starts.

Rams 13, 49ers 10

Colin Kaepernick fumbled at the goal line with 2 seconds left, and St. Louis sacked the San Francisco quarterback eight times on the way to the upset in Santa Clara.

The Rams recovered, and the play was reviewed and upheld. The 49ers (4-4) had first-and-goal the 1 but blew it in the red zone and failed to capitalize on consecutive penalties by Trumaine Johnson as he defended Michael Crabtree.

Greg Zuerlein kicked a go-ahead 39-yard field goal for the Rams (3-5) with 5:25 left.

San Francisco got the ball back with 3:11 remaining on its own the 12. Kaepernick completed long passes to Stevie Johnson and Anquan Boldin in the final drive.

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Seahawks 30, Raiders 24

Marshawn Lynch rushed for two first-half touchdowns, Bruce Irvin tipped and intercepted Derek Carr’s pass and returned it 35 yards for another score to help Seattle hold off visiting Oakland.

After a tumultuous previous month, the Seahawks (5-3) won their second straight behind a strong first half, three field goals from Steven Hauschka and a defense that made Carr look like a rookie much of the afternoon.

Not all was perfect for Seattle. Russell Wilson struggled through one of his worst passing games and the Seahawks failed to capitalize on numerous chances to rout the winless Raiders.

Seattle led 24-3 at halftime only to see the Raiders score on a blocked punt for a touchdown and two Mychal Rivera TD catches to pull within six in the final minutes.

Lynch finished with 67 yards rushing and another 76 receiving as the Seahawks handed Oakland (0-8) its 14th straight loss dating to last season.

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Dolphins 37, Chargers 0

Ryan Tannehill threw for 288 yards and three scores, and Miami forced four turnovers to rout the San Diego Chargers 37-0, on Sunday.

The Dolphins (5-3) earned their third consecutive victory as they began a stretch of four games in a row against playoff contenders.

The Chargers (5-4) lost their third game in a row and remain winless in South Florida since January 1982, a stretch that includes eight consecutive losses to the Dolphins.

Every Miami victory this season has been by double digits, and this was the most lopsided yet. San Diego was shut out for the first time since 1999, and the Dolphins earned their first shutout since 2006.

Tannehill had a career-high passer rating of 125.6 when he called it a day after three quarters. He went 24 for 34 with no turnovers and threw touchdown passes to Charles Clay, Rishard Matthews and Jarvis Landry. He also ran for 47 yards on four carries.

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Meanwhile, Miami’s front four dominated the Chargers’ line, harrying Philip Rivers into a lost fumble and three interceptions, two to Brent Grimes. Rivers passed for only 138 yards and had a quarterback rating of 31.0, his lowest since 2007.

Cardinals 28, Cowboys 17

Carson Palmer had three touchdown passes after an early interception the Cowboys returned for a score, and the Dallas offense struggled without the injured Tony Romo in the loss.

The Cardinals (7-1), who have sole possession of the best record in the NFC for the first time since 1974, won their fourth straight. They have beaten all five conference opponents.

Romo was out with his third back injury in 18 months, and backup Brandon Weeden threw two interceptions as the Cowboys (6-3) dropped their second straight after a six-game winning streak.

NFL rushing leader DeMarco Murray’s record streak of eight straight 100-yard games to start the season for Dallas ended against a defense that didn’t allow a back over the century mark for the 18th consecutive time. He rushed for 79 yards on 19 carries.

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Eagles 31, Texans 21

Mark Sanchez replaced the injured Nick Foles and threw for 202 yards and two touchdowns to lead Philadelphia to a win.

Foles injured his left shoulder late in the first quarter, forcing Sanchez into his first action since 2012 with the Jets. He threw two interceptions in three quarters, but made throws when he had to.

The Eagles (6-2) led by 3 when Jeremy Maclin grabbed a low throw from Sanchez for an 8-yard touchdown to make it 31-21 with about four minutes remaining.

Maclin finished with two touchdowns and 158 yards receiving and LeSean McCoy had 117 yards rushing.

Ryan Fitzpatrick threw for 203 yards with two touchdowns and an interception for Houston (4-5).

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Vikings 29, Redskins 26

Teddy Bridgewater outplayed Robert Griffin III down the stretch after a rough start, Matt Asiata ran for three scores and the Vikings spoiled Griffin’s return from injury.

Bridgewater completed 26 of 42 passes for 268 yards for the Vikings (4-5), who sacked Griffin five times.

Griffin went 18 for 28 for 251 yards, one touchdown and one interception for the Redskins (3-6), who lost three leads despite 92 yards and two touchdowns rushing by Alfred Morris and 120 yards receiving from DeSean Jackson.

This was a rough day for the Redskins, starting with a crash between their two buses on the way to the stadium.

Chiefs 24, Jets 10

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Alex Smith threw for 199 yards and two touchdowns, Jamaal Charles ran for another score, and Kansas City sent New York to its eighth straight loss.

Tight ends Travis Kelce and Anthony Fasano each caught touchdown passes, and the Chiefs (5-3) won their third straight and fifth in six games on the same day former running back Priest Holmes was inducted into their ring of honor.

Making his first start with the Jets (1-8), Michael Vick was 21 of 27 for 196 yards and a touchdown. He briefly left in the fourth quarter after taking a massive hit from the Chiefs’ Josh Mauga and walking unsteadily off the field, but eventually returned later in the quarter.

Browns 22, Buccaneers 17

Brian Hoyer threw a 34-yard TD pass to Taylor Gabriel with 8:59 remaining, helping the Cleveland Browns complete a favorable stretch of their schedule with a win.

Cleveland was trailing 17-16 when Hoyer completed his second TD pass. Hoyer finished 21 of 34 for 300 yards, two TDs and two interceptions. He improved to 8-3 as Cleveland’s starter.

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The Browns (5-3) have their best record at the midway point since 2007 when they won 10 and barely missed the playoffs. Cleveland went 2-1 the past three weeks against Jacksonville, Oakland and Tampa Bay, who entered a combined 2-19.

Tampa Bay’s Mike Glennon threw a pair of 24-yard TDs to rookie Mike Evans for the Buccaneers (1-7), who have lost four in a row and five this season by six points or less.

Bengals 33, Jaguars 23

Jeremy Hill ran for a career-high 154 yards and a pair of touchdowns, including a 60-yarder in the fourth quarter that helped Cincinnati stay ahead.

Andy Dalton threw a pair of touchdown passes, one of them to A.J. Green in the Pro Bowl receiver’s return from a toe injury, but also had a pair of interceptions that kept it close.

The Jaguars (1-8) turned Dalton’s second interception into Denard Robinson’s 5-yard touchdown run, cutting it to 26-23. Hill broke his 60-yard touchdown run on Cincinnati’s next play from scrimmage.

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Rookie Blake Bortles, who leads the NFL in interceptions, helped the Bengals (5-2-1) seal it by throwing an interception to George Iloka in the end zone with 3:55 left.

Bortles was 22 of 33 for 247 yards with a pair of touchdown passes to Allen Hurns.

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