EAST RUTHERFORD, N.J. (AP) — Graham Gano came up well short on a 58-yard field goal attempt as time expired in overtime, leaving the New York Giants and the Washington Commanders tied at 20 Sunday in a deadlock between NFC playoff contenders.
Taylor Heinicke threw two touchdown passes for Washington and converted a crucial fourth-down pass during a tying 90-yard touchdown drive late in the fourth quarter.
The Giants (7-4-1) ended a two-game losing streak, while the Commanders (7-5-1) are unbeaten in four (3-0-1) and have only one loss in their last eight games.
Heinicke was 27 of 41 for 275 yards and threw touchdown passes of 19 yards to Terry McLaurin (8 catches, 105 yards) and 28 yards to Jahan Dotson that tied it with 1:45 to play. That drive featured Heinicke rolling to his left to hit Curtis Samuel for 20 yards on a fourth-and-4 play from his own 27 with less than three minutes to play.
Daniel Jones threw a 6-yard touchdown pass to Isaiah Hodgins, and Saquon Barkley scored on a 13-yard run. Gano kicked two field goals for the Giants.
New York's defense set up Hodgins' first NFL touchdown early in the second half for a 20-13 lead. Azeez Ojulari sacked Heinicke and forced a fumble. Oshane Ximines recovered but also fumbled, and Ojulari ultimately collected the ball at the Washington 20.
RAVENS 10, BRONCOS 9
BALTIMORE (AP) — Tyler Huntley capped a 91-yard drive with a 2-yard touchdown run with 28 seconds remaining, and Baltimore overcame Lamar Jackson's injury to beat Denver.
Jackson left after the first quarter with an injured knee, and the Broncos mostly shut down Baltimore after that. But on their final possession, the Ravens drove 16 plays, aided by a couple big Denver penalties. Huntley converted on fourth-and-2 from the Denver 18 with a short run, then Kenyan Drake caught a 13-yard pass.
Huntley scored on the next play for the Ravens (8-4), who stayed atop the AFC North.
Russell Wilson led the Broncos (3-9) back into Baltimore territory, but Brandon McManus came up short on a 63-yard field goal as time expired.
Denver’s offense couldn’t shake out of its season-long funk, and three field goals by McManus weren’t enough. The Broncos have lost four straight, scoring only 45 points in that span.
Jackson left after being sacked by Jonathon Cooper on the last play of the first quarter. The 2019 MVP exited the sideline tent, walked to the tunnel and didn't return. Huntley went 27 of 32 for 187 yards with an interception.
VIKINGS 27, JETS 22
MINNEAPOLIS (AP) — Justin Jefferson’s touchdown catch with 8:33 left gave Minnesota enough of a lead to hang on despite a relentless rally by New York.
Camryn Bynum’s interception at the 1-yard line with 10 seconds left finally sealed it for the Vikings (10-2), who completed a four-game sweep of the AFC East in their typical nail-biting fashion.
Mike White, who was picked off twice, was 31 of 57 for 369 yards in his second start this season for the Jets (7-5). He scored on a fourth-and-goal sneak from the 1 to pull within five points with 6:45 to go.
With 1:43 remaining, White’s fourth-and-goal pass from the 1 was incomplete when Braxton Berrios bobbled it and the ball hit the turf. The Jets had all three timeouts left and got the ball back at the Minnesota 43, but with White under plenty of pressure they stalled out at the 19.
Dalvin Cook and Alexander Mattison rushed for first-half touchdowns and Greg Joseph made two field goals for the Vikings, who took a 20-3 lead late in the second quarter.
But Minnesota netted 10 yards on three third-quarter possessions and ended up in its ninth one-score game of the season. The Vikings missed some crucial tackles and allowed three plays of 30-plus yards in the final 15 minutes to aid the rally.
BROWNS 27, TEXANS 14
HOUSTON (AP) — Deshaun Watson had a sloppy performance in his first game in 700 days, but a punt return for a touchdown by Donovan Peoples-Jones and two defensive TDs were enough for Cleveland to beat lowly Houston.
In the same stadium where he played his previous game, a rusty Watson threw for 131 yards with an interception in his debut for the Browns (5-7) against his former team in his return after serving an 11-game NFL suspension for sexual misconduct allegations.
The Browns trailed 5-0 early but a 76-yard punt return by Peoples-Jones put them on top in the second quarter and Denzel Ward’s 4-yard fumble return for a score pushed the lead to 14-5 early in the third quarter.
Cleveland didn’t score on offense until a 43-yard field goal made it 17-8 with about 10 minutes remaining. The Browns added a second defensive score when Tony Fields intercepted Kyle Allen and returned it 16 yards on the next play. The Texans (1-10-1) lost their seventh straight.
Allen had a terrible day in his second start since Davis Mills was benched. He threw for 201 yards with a fumble that was returned for a touchdown and two interceptions.
Watson was 12 of 22 and finished with a 53.4 QB rating, the lowest of his career.
EAGLES 35, TITANS 10
PHILADELPHIA (AP) — Jalen Hurts strengthened his MVP bid by throwing for 380 yards and three touchdowns and running for another score, and A.J Brown caught two touchdown passes against his former team as Philadelphia beat Tennessee.
Hurts has led the Eagles to an 11-1 start, their first time with that record since 2004 and the fourth time in franchise history. The 1949 Eagles won the NFL championship. The 1980 and 2004 teams lost in the Super Bowl.
The speedy, sure-armed QB set a career high with 29 total touchdowns and had his third career game with four total TDs. His first half alone was a pretty good game for most quarterbacks: 268 yards passing and two touchdowns with one rushing score.
The Eagles’ defense was first-rate, too, bottling up Derrick Henry — who had 11 carries for 30 yards — and limiting Ryan Tannehill to 141 yards passing and a touchdown. The Titans (7-5) lost their second straight but still have a comfortable lead in the AFC South.
After a field goal got Tennessee within 14-10 late in the second quarter, the Titans punted on five straight possessions before turning it over on downs.
PACKERS 28, BEARS 19
CHICAGO (AP) — Aaron Rodgers led three fourth-quarter scoring drives, receiver Christian Watson took an end-around 46 yards for a touchdown in the closing minutes, and Green Bay rallied to beat Chicago.
The Packers (5-8) looked like they were on their way to another loss after dropping seven of eight, trailing 19-10 through three quarters. But they made enough plays down the stretch to come away with their eighth straight win over the Bears (3-10), who lost their sixth straight.
AJ Dillon ran for a 21-yard touchdown in the opening minute of the fourth and Mason Crosby kicked a 32-yard field goal to give Green Bay a 20-19 lead with just under five minutes left.
The Bears drove to the Packers 33 before Jaire Alexander stepped in front of Justin Fields' pass intended for Equanimeous St. Brown and picked it off. Three plays later, Watson sprinted untouched to the end zone, and Rodgers completed a 2-point conversion pass to Mercedes Lewis. That made it 28-19 with 1:51 remaining.
Rodgers improved to 25-5 against Chicago counting the playoffs. The four-time MVP completed 18 of 31 passes for 182 yards and a touchdown.
Fields had a 55-yard touchdown run and finished with 71 rushing yards on six attempts, his sixth straight game with at least 50 rushing yards and a TD. He was 20 of 25 passing for 254 yards but threw two interceptions.
LIONS 40, JAGUARS 14
DETROIT (AP) — Jamaal Williams ran for his 14th touchdown this season and Detroit routed Jacksonville.
The Lions (5-7) scored on all five of their drives in the first half to take a 17-point lead, and then on their first three possessions of the second half to pull away.
The Jaguars (4-8) had a scare on the last play of the second quarter when quarterback Trevor Lawrence was sacked and grabbed his left knee, but their defense made his return moot.
Lawrence was taken out in the fourth quarter with his team trailing by 26 points. He finished 17 of 31 for 179 yards with a touchdown.
STEELERS 19, FALCONS 16
ATLANTA (AP) — Kenny Pickett tossed a 17-yard touchdown pass to Connor Heyward, Matthew Wright kicked four field goals and Pittsburgh held off Atlanta.
Coming off a Monday night victory at Indianapolis, the Steelers (5-7) won two straight games for the first time during what's been a tough rebuilding year.
The Falcons (5-8) had first-and goal from the Steelers 10 with a chance for a go-ahead touchdown. But a holding penalty on Parker Hesse wiped out Cordarrelle Patterson’s apparent TD run around left end, and the Falcons wound up settling for Younghoe Koo’s third field goal of the day from 28 yards with 5:27 remaining.