Saquon Barkley had 176 rushing yards and a touchdown in his return to New York to face the Giants, while Deshaun Watson suffered what is expected to be a season-ending injury for the Cleveland Browns and Amari Cooper scored on debut for the Buffalo Bills.
Monday 21 October 2024 01:17, UK
The Kansas City Chiefs extended their perfect start to the season, the Detroit Lions edged the Minnesota Vikings in an epic, and Saquon Barkley came back to haunt the New York Giants. Here's what happened on NFL Sunday in Week Seven of the 2024 season...
Patrick Mahomes overcame two interceptions as the Kansas City Chiefs beat the San Francisco 49ers 28-18 in a Super Bowl rematch to move to 6-0 as the NFL's only remaining undefeated team on Sunday.
Mahomes and the Chiefs had emerged victorious in overtime when the two sides met in February's Las Vegas season finale, where Kansas City clinched their second successive Super Bowl title and third in five years.
The Chiefs continued their fine form against Kyle Shanahan's side with a fifth straight victory over the Niners, who lost wide receiver Brandon Aiyuk to injury.
A miscommunication between backup receiver Ronnie Bell and Brock Purdy led to an interception by Chris Roland-Wallace, with the Chiefs turning that into a touchdown thanks in part to a spectacular 33-yard scramble by Mahomes late in the third quarter.
Mahomes subsequently scored on a one-yard scramble on fourth-and-goal for his first rushing touchdown since the 2022 season.
That was one of four rushing touchdowns on the day for Kansas City, with Kareem Hunt grabbing two in the first half and Mecole Hardman icing it with an 18-yarder in the fourth quarter.
Mahomes finished 16 for 27 for 154 yards and now has eight interceptions and six passing touchdowns this season. Purdy meanwhile went 17 for 31 for 212 yards with two touchdowns runs and three interceptions, his third pick coming in the end zone midway through the fourth quarter with San Francisco trying to mount a comeback.
Jake Bates kicked a 44-yard field goal with 15 seconds left as the Detroit Lions beat Minnesota 31-29, handing the Vikings their first loss in a back-and-forth game.
Jahmyr Gibbs rushed for 116 yards and two of Detroit's three second-quarter touchdowns. He also helped Jared Goff guide the Lions 48 yards in four plays to get in range for their rookie kicker while forcing the Vikings to burn their timeouts. Bates is 10 for 10 on field goals this season.
Goff went 22 for 25 for 280 yards with two touchdowns and no turnovers in his third straight game with a 140-plus passer rating, joining Aaron Rodgers (2011), Kurt Warner (1999) and Roger Staubach (1971) as the only quarterbacks in NFL history to accomplish the feat.
Gibbs had 150 total yards to spearhead a commanding performance by the Lions (5-1) at the line of scrimmage against the defense that entered the week with a rushing average per play (3.6) allowed that was the second-best in the league.
Ivan Pace Jr. returned David Montgomery's fumble 35 yards for a touchdown with 5:50 remaining to give the Vikings (5-1) a one-point lead after they trailed 21-10 at halftime, but Sam Darnold's crucial two-point conversion pass sailed past Justin Jefferson.
The Vikings neared midfield on their last-gasp possession, but they were too far away for their own perfect rookie Will Reichard to attempt a field goal. Darnold was sacked to end the game and give the Lions their fourth consecutive victory over the Vikings for their longest streak in the series since 1961-63.
Amari Cooper scored the go-ahead touchdown in his debut with Buffalo as Josh Allen overcame a sluggish first half to throw two touchdown passes in his 100th career start to help the Bills rally from a 10-point deficit and beat the Tennessee Titans 34-10.
Cooper's 12-yard touchdown catch was his first reception for the Bills and came five days after being acquired in a trade with the Cleveland Browns.
Ty Johnson also scored on a four-yard catch, and James Cook and Ray Davis rounded out the rout with touchdown runs.
After being limited to four of 11 for 65 yards in the first half, Allen finished 21 of 33 for 323 yards. It marked his 26th career 300-yard game and first this season.
Allen improved his career record to 68-32 as a starter, matching four players - Joe Montana, Terry Bradshaw, Brett Favre and Aaron Rodgers - for the sixth-most wins in a quarterback's first 100 starts.
The AFC East-leading Bills (5-2) broke it open by scoring points on each of their first four second-half possessions to overcome a 10-7 halftime deficit and after falling behind 10-0 to open the game.
Tyler Goodson ran for one touchdown and Anthony Richardson led the Indianapolis Colts on two fourth-quarter scoring drives to clinch a 16-10 victory over the Miami Dolphins.
Matt Gay's 22-yard field goal with 8:41 left in the game gave Indy its first lead, and a defensive stop at the Indianapolis 33-yard line in the final minute sealed the victory over the NFL's lowest-scoring team.
The Dolphins (2-4) had a chance to tie the score on a 54-yard field goal with 5:14 to go, but Jason Sanders' kick hit the left upright and bounced harmlessly into the end zone.
Indy (4-3) have won four of its past five and three straight home games since a loss to Houston in its opener. Miami have meanwhile dropped four of five and lost yet another quarterback, Tyler Huntley, to injury Sunday. Huntley left midway through the third quarter with a right shoulder injury and did not return, with Tim Boyle finishing the game.
Richardson was 10 of 24 with 129 yards and rushed 14 times for 56 yards while losing a fumble in his first action since Week 4. Goodson had 14 carries for 51 yards.
Huntley finished seven of 13 with 87 yards and one score and ran five times for 20 yards. Devon Achane had 15 carries for 77 yards.
Geno Smith passed for two touchdowns and Derick Hall returned a fumble 36 yards for a clinching score as the Seattle Seahawks snapped a three-game losing streak with a 34-14 victory over the Atlanta Falcons.
The Seahawks (4-3) ended Atlanta's run of three straight victories, shutting down a Falcons offense that averaged 37 points the two previous weeks.
Smith completed 18 of 28 passes for 207 yards, his second-lowest output of the season but more than enough to throttle the Falcons. He connected with Kenneth Walker on a 17-yard touchdown and a huge 31-yard scoring play to DK Metcalf just before halftime.
After Walker's touchdown catch made it 24-14 late in the third quarter, Seattle's defense clinched the victory.
Kirk Cousins was hit by Boye Mafe as he attempted to throw, the ball squirting away from the Falcons quarterback before his arm went forward. Hall scooped it up in front of the Atlanta bench and rumbled all the way to the end zone with 12:46 remaining.
Cousins closed out a miserable day with interceptions on his final two possessions to go along with three sacks. Rookie Michael Penix Jr. finished up for the Falcons, marking his NFL debut.
Brandon McManus kicked a 45-yard field goal as time expired in his debut performance with Green Bay, lifting the Packers past the Houston Texans 24-22.
Green Bay (5-2) overcame three turnovers to win its third straight and snap the Texans' three-game winning streak.
Green Bay's Jordan Love was 23 of 31 for 214 yards with three touchdowns to Josh Jacobs, Dontayvion Wicks and Tucker Kraft as well as two interceptions.
The Packers released rookie Brayden Narveson and signed the 33-year-old McManus on Wednesday.
Houston's Joe Mixon rushed for 115 yards and two touchdowns, while Ka'imi Fairbairn was three of three on field-goal attempts and put the Texans (5-2) ahead by making a 35-yarder with 1:44 left.
C.J. Stroud was just 10 of 21 for a career-low 86 yards and was sacked four times
Saquon Barkley made a memorable return to MetLife Stadium, rushing for 176 yards and a touchdown to lead the Philadelphia Eagles to a 28-3 victory over the New York Giants.
Jalen Hurts scored on two tush-push quarterback sneaks and threw a 41-yard touchdown pass to A.J. Brown as the Eagles (4-2) beat the Giants (2-5) for the sixth time in seven games and 14th in 17. Philadelphia's defense was just as good, recording eight sacks and limiting New York to 119 yards.
The second overall pick by New York in 2018, Barkley left as a free agent after last season and signed a three-year, $37.5m contract in March. He was greeted by boos but they didn't last.
Barkley was worth every penny on Sunday, waking up the Eagles with a 55-yard run to set up his three-yard TD that put Philadelphia ahead 7-0 in the second quarter. Hurts then connected with Brown on a go route on fourth down to increase the margin to 14-0.
Barkley's 38-yard scamper up the middle set up Hurts' first tush push in the third quarter and his 41-yarder in the fourth quarter led to the second.
Kam Curl returned a fumble 33 yards for a touchdown and Kyren Williams rushed for 76 yards and two scores in the Los Angeles Rams ' 20-15 victory over the Las Vegas Raiders.
Cobie Durant had an interception and later caused the fumble returned for a touchdown by Curl for the Rams (2-4), who forced four turnovers by Gardner Minshew. The Raiders' backup quarterback was forced into action by an early hand injury for Aidan O'Connell.
Jaylen McCollough had two more interceptions for Los Angeles, including the game-clinching pick with 1:18 to play.
Matthew Stafford passed for 154 yards for the Rams (2-4), who snapped a two-game skid during their worst start to a season in coach Sean McVay's eight years in charge.
Minshew passed for 154 yards for the Raiders (2-5) after replacing O'Connell, who didn't return after a hand-to-hand collision with Curl during the Raiders' second offensive series.
Daniel Carlson kicked five field goals for the struggling Raiders, who fell behind 20-6 midway through the third quarter.
Browns quarterback Deshaun Watson suffered a possible season-ending Achilles tendon injury in the first half of Cleveland's 21-14 loss to Cincinnati as Joe Burrow got his first road win against the Bengals' in-state AFC North rival.
Watson's leg crumpled on a non-contact play as he dropped back to pass with 1:26 left before halftime. As he planted, Watson's calf appeared to quiver before he gave himself up and dropped to the turf. He left the field in tears.
Burrow threw two touchdown passes in the third quarter as the Bengals (3-4) ended a six-game losing streak at Cleveland.
He connected with Ja'Marr Chase for an 18-yard touchdown and Tee Higgins for a 25-yard score six minutes later, completing 15 of 25 passes for 181 yards.
Marcus Mariota threw two touchdowns passes after replacing injured rookie quarterback Jayden Daniels early in the second quarter, Dante Fowler returned an interception 67 yards for a touchdown and the Washington Commanders routed the Carolina Panthers 40-7.
Concern over Daniels' status overshadowed the victory after the No. 2 pick and offensive rookie of the year favourite left with a rib injury.
The Commanders (5-2) did just fine without him for a vast majority of the game after he had a 46-yard run and completed a couple of passes on their opening possession.
They already led at that point thanks to Fowler's pick-six - Andy Dalton's first of two interceptions - the second by Emmanuel Forbes, who returned from being a healthy scratch last week.
The defense dominated, allowing 180 yards, stopping seven of 10 third-down chances and sacking Dalton twice.
Brian Robinson Jr carried the ball 12 times for 71 yards and a touchdown, while Terry McLaurin had six catches for 98 yards.
Week Seven continues with a Monday Night Football double-header as the Baltimore Ravens face the Tampa Bay Buccaneers while the Los Angeles Chargers visit the Arizona Cardinals, both live on Sky Sports NFL in the early hours of Tuesday; Also stream with NOW.
