NFL roundup: Ravens defeat 49ers for franchise record eighth consecutive win
Neither rain, wind nor the San Francisco 49ers’ top-ranked defense could prevent Lamar Jackson from guiding the Baltimore Ravens to their franchise-record eighth straight win.
Jackson weathered miserable conditions to run for 101 yards and Justin Tucker kicked a tiebreaking 49-yard field goal as time expired to give the Ravens a 20-17 victory Sunday in a possible Super Bowl preview.
The combination of driving rain, a stiff wind and San Francisco’s rugged defense was difficult for Jackson to handle. He completed only 14 of 23 passes for 105 yards and lost a fumble.
But the double-threat quarterback was solid when it counted. Not only did he fuel the NFL’s top-ranked rushing attack, but he directed a clutch drive that lasted nearly 6{ minutes before Tucker ended it with a kick that tore through the raindrops and between the uprights.
Baltimore (10-2) improved to 16-3 with Jackson as a starter and 12-0 when he rushes for at least 70 yards. In addition, Jackson became the first quarterback in NFL history to have four 100-yard rushing games in a season.
Raheem Mostert ran for a career-high 146 yards and a touchdown for the 49ers (10-2), now tied with New Orleans for the best record in the NFC.
Jimmy Garoppolo went 15 of 21 for 165 yards for San Francisco.
Jackson lost a fumble for the first time this season when Marcell Harris yanked the wet ball from his grasp at the San Francisco 20 in the third quarter.
Jared Goff delivers a ‘better’ performance, passing for 424 yards and two touchdowns in the Rams’ 34-7 victory over the Arizona Cardinals.
The 49ers subsequently got a game-tying 32-yard field goal from Robbie Gould, who missed the previous three games with a quad injury.
In the fourth quarter, both teams failed to convert a fourth-down try before the Ravens faced a fourth-and-1 from their 44 with 4:39 left. Jackson ran off right guard for 3 yards to extend the drive.
A 12-yard pass to tight end Mark Andrews gave Baltimore a first down at the San Francisco 39, and the Ravens soon summoned Tucker to end it.
Mostert ran for 89 yards before halftime — surpassing his previous career high in a game — but Gould missed a 51-yard field-goal attempt as time expired in a second quarter that ended with the Ravens ahead 17-14.
A 33-yard touchdown pass from Garoppolo to Deebo Samuel concluded San Francisco’s first drive and made the 49ers the first team to score in the first quarter against Baltimore since the Bengals on Oct. 13.
It was also the first time the Ravens trailed since the second quarter of their game at Seattle on Oct. 20.
Baltimore tied it with a 20-yard pass from Jackson to Andrews after Garoppolo lost the ball while being sacked. It was the Ravens’ 48th touchdown of the season, breaking the franchise mark set by the 2009 team.
Jackson scored on a 1-yard run before the 49ers pulled even on Mostert’s 40-yard sprint to the end zone.
Houston Texans 28, New England Patriots 22
Deshaun Watson threw three touchdown passes and had the first TD reception of his career, and the host Texans frustrated Tom Brady and the Patriots.
Texans coach and former Patriots assistant Bill O’Brien got his first win in six tries against New England coach Bill Belichick. It was Houston’s second win over the Patriots and first since Jan. 3, 2010.
Watson had 234 yards passing and threw touchdown passes of 14, 13, and 35 yards as Houston (8-4) built a 21-3 lead against New England’s vaunted defense. His TD catch came on a short flip from receiver DeAndre Hopkins on a trick play from the 6-yard line.
Brady completed two of his three TD passes in the final 4 minutes to pull within six. A Patriots (10-2) player got a hand on Jake Bailey’s onside kick attempt with 50 seconds remaining, but the ball bounced out of bounds.
Pittsburgh Steelers 20, Cleveland Browns 13
The Pittsburgh Steelers and Cleveland Browns kept things civil in their highly anticipated rematch, which ended the way they always seem to end at Heinz Field: the Steelers walking off in triumph, leaving the Browns to ponder how another one got away.
Devlin “Duck” Hodges threw for 212 yards with a touchdown and an interception in his second career start. Rookie Benny Snell ran for 63 yards and his first NFL touchdown, and the banged-up Steelers exacted revenge for their whipping at the hands of the Browns two weeks ago with a victory.
Pittsburgh (7-5) boosted its postseason chances by rallying from 10 points down thanks in large part to Hodges, a rookie undrafted free agent who happens to be a champion duck caller in his down time. He was aided by the emergence of wide receiver James Washington, who caught four passes for 111 yards and a juggling 30-yard score late in the first half.
The Browns (5-7) saw their three-game winning streak come to a crashing halt when they failed to handle a Pittsburgh offense riddled with injuries and inexperience at the skill positions. Baker Mayfield completed 18 of 32 passes for 196 yards with a touchdown and an interception; he played the entire second half with his right hand in a protective glove after smacking it against the face mask of Pittsburgh linebacker Bud Dupree.
Kansas City Chiefs 40, Oakland Raiders 9
Patrick Mahomes threw for a touchdown and ran for a touchdown, Juan Thornhill returned a pick 46 yards for another score, and the host Chiefs beat the bumbling Raiders to seize control of the AFC West.
LeSean McCoy and Darwin Thompson also had TD runs for the Chiefs (8-4), who took a two-game lead over the Raiders by finishing off a season sweep. That means Kansas City can clinch a fourth straight division title with a win over New England and an Oakland loss to Tennessee next weekend.
Oakland (6-6) sure didn’t play like a team fighting for a piece of the division lead.
Derek Carr dropped to 0-6 at Arrowhead Stadium with another miserable outing, throwing for 222 yards with a touchdown and two interceptions. The Raiders failed to score twice in the red zone, were penalized 12 times for 99 yards, and seemingly quit when Kansas City put together a 9 1/2-minute drive almost entirely on the ground that soaked up most of the fourth quarter.
Tennessee Titans 31, Indianapolis Colts 17
Tye Smith returned a blocked field goal 63 yards for the go-ahead touchdown with 5:02 left to play, helping Tennessee turn the tables at Indianapolis.
The Titans (7-5) snapped a three-game losing streak in the series, winning for only the third time in the past 17 meetings. It also allowed Tennessee to leapfrog the Colts in the AFC South.
Adam Vinatieri missed three field goals for Indy (6-6), with two being blocked including the decisive kick that Dane Cruikshank got his hand on. Vinatieri has missed 14 kicks this season — eight field goals and six extra points.
But Vinatieri’s misses weren’t the Colts’ only problem.
Jacoby Brissett was picked off twice with the first resulting in a 31-yard field goal that tied the score at 17 late in the third quarter and the second resulting in Ryan Tannehill’s 40-yard TD pass to Kalif Raymond with 3:02 left that sealed the victory.
Green Bay Packers 31, New York Giants 13
Aaron Rodgers threw four touchdown passes in the snow and the Packers rebounded from a dismal West Coast performance to beat New York at East Rutherford, N.J.
The Packers sent the Giants to their eighth straight loss, their worst skid since 2004.
Rodgers finished 21 of 33 for 243 yards with no interceptions on a slippery, snowy day at MetLife Stadium. Rodgers hit Davante Adams on touchdown passes of 8 and 17 yards, found a wide-open Allen Lazard for 37 yards and capped the performance with a 1-yarder to Marcedes Lewis.
The Packers (9-3) also intercepted Giants rookie Daniel Jones three times, with the picks setting up 10 points.
Jones, who had not thrown an interception in the last two games, finished 20 of 37 for 240 yards, including an 18-yard touchdown pass to Sterling Shepard. Aldrick Rosas added field goals of 27 and 45 yards for New York (2-10), which has a 7-21 mark since Pat Shurmur took over last season.
Cincinnati Bengals 22, New York Jets 6
Andy Dalton returned from his three-week exile and got a long-awaited win for the coach who benched him, throwing a touchdown pass during a victory over visiting New York that ended the longest losing streak in Bengals history.
The Bengals (1-11) had lost 13 in a row since the end of last season, with newcomer Zac Taylor waiting until December to get his first head coaching win. Taylor benched Dalton after the eighth loss, deciding to see whether Ryan Finley fit into the team’s long-term plans.
With the rookie struggling and the season careening toward 0-16, Taylor reversed course and went back to Dalton, who made the difference in front of the smallest crowd in Paul Brown Stadium history. Carlos Dunlap and Sam Hubbard dunked Taylor with ice water in the final seconds.
The Jets (4-8) had their three-game winning streak snapped, unable to extend their high-scoring momentum behind Sam Darnold. An improving Bengals defense limited the Jets to their fewest points since a 33-0 loss to New England on Oct. 21.
Miami Dolphins 37, Philadelphia Eagles 31
DeVante Parker made two acrobatic touchdown receptions and kicker Jason Sanders also had a circus-like scoring catch to help the Dolphins rally past the slumping Eagles in Miami Gardens, Fla.
Miami overcame a 14-point deficit in the second half with three touchdowns in less than 13 minutes — a remarkable achievement for one of the NFL’s lowest-scoring teams.
The Dolphins (3-9) won for the third time in their past five games, a surprising and perhaps costly turnaround for a team that will be shopping for a franchise quarterback in the 2020 draft.
The Eagles (5-7) lost their third game in a row and missed a chance to pull into a tie with Dallas atop the NFC East.
Tampa Bay Buccaneers 28, Jacksonville Jaguars 11
Nick Foles ended his first three drives with turnovers that Tampa Bay turned into touchdowns, costly mistakes that propelled the Buccaneers to victory over the host Jaguars.
It was Jacksonville’s fourth consecutive loss by at least 17 points and could mean the end of Doug Marrone’s tenure with the team. At the very least, the skid will have owner Shad Khan considering changes over the final month of the season.
Marrone, meanwhile, has to decide what to do at quarterback. He benched Foles at halftime, switching back to rookie sensation Gardner Minshew.
Minshew rallied the Jags (4-8) and had a chance to make it a seven-point game in the fourth quarter. But his hot pass slipped through Dede Westbrook’s hands and into Sean Murphy-Bunting’s arms for Jacksonville’s fourth turnover of the day.
Jameis Winston was 21 of 33 for 268 yards and didn’t throw an interception for the first time in a month for the Buccaneers (5-7), who have won two straight for the first time in coach Bruce Arians’ first season.
Washington Redskins 29, Carolina Panthers 21
Derrius Guice ran for 129 yards and two touchdowns and the Redskins made a late goal-line stand to secure a victory over the host Panthers for their second straight victory.
Adrian Peterson added 99 yards and a score as the Redskins (3-9) piled up 248 yards on the ground and scored their most points this season.
The Panthers’ (5-7) fourth straight loss could put coach Ron Rivera’s job in jeopardy.
The Redskins spotted the Panthers a 14-0 lead after quarterback Kyle Allen opened the game 8 of 8 passing for 106 yards with touchdown passes to wide receivers Curtis Samuel and D.J. Moore on Carolina’s first two possessions.
A late pass interference penalty sets up a game-winning field goal by the Broncos’ Brandon McManus in a 23-20 loss that annihilates the Chargers’ playoff hopes.
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