NFL: Patriots defeat Raiders amid Bill Belichick milestone

New England Patriots running back Rex Burkhead celebrates with quarterback Cam Newton.

Sept. 27, 2020 Updated 8:16 PM PT

FOXBOROUGH, Mass. — Rex Burkhead scored three touchdowns and Bill Belichick became the third coach in NFL history to reach 275 regular-season victories in the New England Patriots’ 36-20 win over the Las Vegas Raiders on Sunday.

Sony Michel finished with nine carries for 117 yards. Burkhead had two rushing scores and an 11-yard TD reception.

Cam Newton was 17 of 28 passing for 162 yards, a touchdown and an interception. Shilique Calhoun had two forced fumbles and a fumble recovery for a score.

The Patriots have won the last six meetings with the Raiders and improved to 47-9 in regular-season games following a loss. Raiders coach Jon Gruden dropped to 0-3 against Belichick.

Derek Carr finished 24 of 32 for 261 yards and a two TDs for Las Vegas. But he had two fumbles which led to a New England field goal and a late touchdown when he lost the ball in the end zone and it was recovered by Calhoun. Josh Jacobs also had a fumble.

Las Vegas opened the season by scoring at least 34 points in its first two games with six red zone touchdowns. The Raiders were also second in the NFL, converting on 57 percent of third downs.

They went just 2 for 5 in the red zone and 3 of 9 on third down Sunday.

The offenses were stagnant early as both teams struggled to get into a groove because of turnovers and poor performance on third down.

Things changed for the Patriots on their first drive of the third quarter when Michel, who struggled in the first two games, broke free for a 38-yard run.

A 15-yard pass from Newton to Burkhead got the Patriots into the red zone. Three plays later Burkhead capped the drive with a spinning 5-yard TD run to stretch New England’s lead to 20-10.

After both teams traded field goals, the Patriots took over with 11:22 remaining and ate up more than five minutes of clock with a 10-play, 86-yard drive that was capped with a 5-yard TD plunge by Burkhead.

Packers 37, Saints 30

NEW ORLEANS — Aaron Rodgers passed for 283 yards and three touchdowns, and Green Bay remained unbeaten with a win over New Orleans.

Allen Lazard caught six passes for 146 yards for Green Bay (3-0), including gains of 48 and 72 yards on throws deep downfield that each set up touchdowns.

Rodgers’ scoring passes went for 5 yards to Lazard, 18 yards to tight end Marcedes Lewis and 1 yard to tight end Robert Tonyan. Lazard’s longest catch set up Aaron Jones’ 1-yard TD run.

Saints running back Alvin Kamara built on a sensational start to the season, gaining 197 yards from scrimmage and scoring twice on short passes from Brees, with shifty, tackle-slipping runs after the catch.

Brees completed 29 of 36 passes for 288 yards and three TDs. Emmanuel Sanders caught a 10-yard scoring pass at the end of the first half that gave the Saints a 17-13 lead.

Wil Lutz kicked three field goals for the Sants (1-2).

Bears 30, Falcons 26

ATLANTA — The Falcons suffered their second straight fourth-quarter collapse after leading by two touchdowns, this time to backup quarterback Nick Foles and Chicago, which rallied from a 16-point deficit for a win that could spell the end for Atlanta coach Dan Quinn.

Foles replaced Mitchell Trubisky and threw three touchdown passes in the fourth quarter for the Bears, who improved to 3-0 for the first time since 2013.

The Falcons (0-3) became the first team in NFL history lose back-to-back games in which it led by 15 or more points in the final period, according to STATS.

“These last two weeks have been nothing short of crushing,” said Quinn, the sixth-year coach who desperately needed a good start after two straight losing seasons.

Seahawks 38, Cowboys 31

SEATTLE — DK Metcalf made up for a huge first-half blunder by catching a 29-yard touchdown pass from Russell Wilson with 1:47 remaining, and Seattle held off Dallas.

Wilson threw five touchdown passes, setting a record for most scoring passes in the first three games of a season with 14. Patrick Mahomes threw for 13 TDs in his MVP season of 2018. Wilson became the first QB to have at least four TD passes in each of the first three games.

Metcalf appeared to have a walk-in touchdown after hauling in a deep pass from Wilson late in the first quarter. But he was careless with the ball in the final few steps before the goal line, and Dallas cornerback Trevon Diggs came up from behind and knocked the ball free. It went out of the end zone for a touchback.

But when Seattle needed a big play late, Wilson floated a pass into the end zone and allowed Metcalf to run underneath it for the deciding touchdown.

Wilson was 27 of 40 for 315 yards. His latest bit of fourth-quarter magic ruined Dak Prescott’s attempt at a second straight major comeback.

Dallas trailed 30-15 after Prescott fumbled on the first play of the second half and Wilson subsequently threw his fourth TD pass. But Prescott threw TD passes of 42 yards to Cedrick Wilson and 43 yards to Michael Gallup, and Greg Zuerlein’s 42-yard field goal with 4:03 left gave Dallas a 31-30 lead.

Steelers 28, Texans 21

PITTSBURGH — James Conner ran for 109 yards and the go-ahead touchdown midway through the fourth quarter as Pittsburgh stayed perfect by rallying past Houston.

The Steelers improved to 3-0 for the first time in a decade by putting the clamps on the Texans in the second half. Houston managed just 51 yards and two first downs after halftime as an early 11-point lead vanished. The Texans dropped to 0-3.

Houston started with the same mark in 2018 and rallied to win the AFC South. The going might be tougher this season if the defense can’t find a way to keep opposing running games in check. The NFL’s 31st-ranked run defense wore down in the second half as the Steelers methodically pulled away.

Titans 31, Vikings 30

MINNEAPOLIS — Stephen Gostkowski made his career-high sixth field goal of game, a 55-yarder with 1:48 left that lifted undefeated Tennessee to a victory over Minnesota after Derrick Henry and Ryan Tannehill carried the Titans on another comeback.

Henry rushed for 119 yards and two third-quarter touchdowns for the Titans, who improved to 3-0 for the first time since 2008 after trailing for most of the game. Tannehill passed for 321 yards, guiding the Titans on a go-ahead drive in the fourth quarter or overtime for the sixth time in 16 games since becoming the starter. The Titans are 12-4 behind Tannehill, including the playoffs, and they’re 15-0 when Henry hits the 100-yard mark.

Dalvin Cook rushed for a career-high 181 yards and a score for the Vikings, who are 0-3 for the first time since 2013. Kirk Cousins threw for 251 yards and three touchdowns, hitting Kyle Rudolph for a one-handed, toe-tapping grab in the back of the end zone for a 30-25 lead with 10:22 left. The depleted Vikings defense didn’t do enough to hold it, though, as Tannehill moved the Titans just close enough for Gostkowski to go to work. The last three of his makes were all from 50-plus yards.

Buccaneers 28, Broncos 10

DENVER — Tom Brady threw three touchdown passes and Shaq Barrett celebrated his homecoming with a pair of sacks, one for a safety, in Tampa Bay’s 28-10 victory over Denver.

With his first road win for the Bucs (2-1), Brady evened his career record against the Broncos at 9-9 with just his fifth win in a dozen trips to Denver.

The Broncos (0-3) completed a second straight winless September under head coach Vic Fangio, who donned a face shield after getting fined $100,000 for failing to wear a mask last week.

Barrett, who led the league last year with 19{ sacks in his first season in Tampa, picked up his first sacks of this season in the city where he played from 2014-18 after starring at Colorado State.

His second sack of Jeff Driskel, who started in place of Drew Lock, came in the end zone for a safety that pushed the Bucs’ lead to 25-10.

With his full complement of receivers finally available, Brady looked like the methodical QB he was for two decades in New England, driving the Buccaneers to scores on four of five first-half possessions.

Bengals 23, Eagles 23

PHILADELPHIA — Joe Burrow kept his team from losing again. So did Carson Wentz after several mistakes.

Neither quarterback earned a win, however.

Burrow tossed a pair of touchdown passes to Tee Higgins in regulation and Wentz dove into the end zone for the tying score in the final minute as Cincinnati and Philadelphia played to a tie.

Philadelphia’s Jake Elliott lined up for a 59-yard field goal with 19 seconds left in overtime, but a false start on Matt Pryor forced the Eagles to punt it away and play for the tie.

Both teams are 0-2-1.

Browns 34, Washington 20

CLEVELAND — Baker Mayfield threw two touchdown passes, Nick Chubb ran for two more and Cleveland moved over .500 for the first time since 2014 with a win over the Washington Football Team, which lost rookie defensive end Chase Young to a groin injury.

With their second straight win under first-year coach Kevin Stefanski, the Browns are 2-1 for the first time since 2011.

It’s also the first time they’ve had a winning record since Week 14 in 2014, when they were 7-6 before dropping their last three and costing Mike Pettine his job.

Young, the No. 2 overall pick in this year’s draft, left in the second quarter with his injury. The former Ohio State All-American had an early pressure on Mayfield, but otherwise had little impact before he went out.

Led by Myles Garrett, the Browns’ defense, which spent the week hearing about Young and Washington’s sack-hungry front, intercepted Dwayne Haskins three times.

49ers 36, Giants 9

EAST RUTHERFORD, N.J. — The San Francisco 49ers didn’t need quarterback Jimmy Garoppolo and a slew of missing starters on the dreaded MetLife Stadium turf.

They controlled the ball on offense, took it away from the winless New York Giants on defense and had another easy day on the East Coast.

Nick Mullens threw for 343 yards and a touchdown to lead the 49ers to their second win at MetLife in as many weeks with a victory over the error-prone and winless Giants.

Jerick McKinnon, Brandon Aiyuk and Jeff Wilson scored on runs on a near flawless day for the Niners (2-1), who stayed in West Virginia to prep for the game. Robbie Gould added three field goals for San Francisco, which last week beat the Jets 31-13 here and denied Giants coach Joe Judge a chance for his first win this week.

The Niners had Garoppolo (ankle), defensive linemen Nick Bosa and Solomon Thomas (knees) and running backs Raheem Mostert and Tevin Coleman hurt against the Jets. They complained about the new turf after the game, saying it was “sticky” and led to injuries.

Lions 26, Cardinals 23

GLENDALE, Ariz. — Matt Prater made a 39-yard field goal as time expired, Matthew Stafford threw two touchdown passes and Detroit beat Arizona to snap an 11-game losing streak dating to last season.

Stafford had a deep completion called back by a holding penalty before he calmly led the Lions downfield, Prater connected on his fourth field goal of the afternoon and the Lions finally got to celebrate a victory.

Arizona’s Kyler Murray threw for 270 yards and two touchdowns and ran for a score, but he also had three interceptions. DeAndre Hopkins caught 10 passes for 137 yards and Andy Isabella had two TD receptions.

Arizona (2-1) pushed ahead 23-20 near the end of the third quarter when Murray connected with Isabella from 4 yards out for the pair’s second score.

Duron Harmon, Jamie Collins and rookie Jeff Okudah had Detroit’s three interceptions.

Colts 36, Jets 7

INDIANAPOLIS — Xavier Rhodes and T.J. Carrie each returned an interception for a touchdown, Indianapolis recorded its second safety in as many weeks and Philip Rivers added his 400th career TD pass as Indianapolis routed New York.

Rivers played like his old self, getting rid of the ball quickly while avoiding mistakes on a milestone day.

The 38-year-old was 17 of 21 with 217 yards and played his first turnover-free game since joining Indy (2-1). He became the sixth player in league history to throw 400 career TD passes and the sixth to top 60,000 yards.

And with the help of a suddenly high-scoring defense, Rivers & Co. made it look easy against the winless Jets. New York is 0-3 for the second consecutive season under coach Adam Gase.

Darnold was 17 of 27 with 168 yards, one TD and three interceptions.