After Jalen Hurts left with a concussion, Jayden Daniels threw five touchdown passes while running at will in the rookie quarterback’s latest masterful performance, and the Washington Commanders ended the Philadelphia Eagles’ winning streak at 10 by rallying to defeat the NFC East leaders 36-33 on Sunday.
Daniels’ heroics culminated with a 57-yard touchdown drive in the final 1:58, finding Jamison Crowder in the end zone with 6 seconds left. He bounced back from throwing an interception on the previous possession and led the Commanders (10-5) back after they fell behind by 14 points seven minutes into the game and trailed by 14 going into the fourth quarter.
They are now on the verge of making the playoffs after handing Philadelphia (12-3) its first loss since 29 September. The Eagles played without Hurts for the vast majority of the game and failed to clinch the division and one of the conference’s top two seeds despite Saquon Barkley running for 109 yards and two touchdowns in the first quarter alone.
Daniels was the primary reason for that, beating the Eagles a month after losing to them on the road. He was 24 of 39 for 258 yards with a pair of TDs to Crowder and Olamide Zaccheaus and one to Terry McLaurin – and Daniels was Washington’s leading rusher with 81 yards on nine carries.
That was enough to overcome Brian Robinson Jr losing two fumbles in the first half and Dyami Brown another early in the third quarter and Marshon Lattimore getting flagged three times for pass interference.
The Commanders also found a solution for Barkley, who was held to 41 yards after the first. Philadelphia’s offense stagnated with the drop-off from Hurts to backup Kenny Pickett, who threw an interception to Frankie Luvu in his first meaningful NFL action in more than a year.
Luvu leveled the hit on Hurts that knocked Philadelphia’s starting QB out of the game just a few minutes in. Hurts’ head also bounced off the ground at the end of his previous run, and he was ruled out after two trips to the medical tent on the sideline and the concussion evaluation that followed.
Hurts’ status is a question that will linger for the Eagles into their final two games of the regular season as the Super Bowl contenders eye a long playoff run. Pickett was 14 of 24 for 143 yards in relief, throwing a touchdown pass to AJ Brown and the interception.
New York Giants 7-34 Atlanta Falcons
Michael Penix Jr won his debut as Atlanta’s starting quarterback, thanks largely to a defense that returned a pair of interceptions for touchdowns, and the Falcons bolstered their playoff hopes by handing the hapless New York Giants their franchise-record 10th straight loss, 34-7 on Sunday.
Jessie Bates and Matthew Judon each had a pick-six to carry Atlanta (8-7) to its second straight win after a four-game losing streak put its postseason hopes in jeopardy. The Falcons came into the week a game behind Tampa Bay in the NFC South and holding the tiebreaker edge over the Buccaneers, who were playing Sunday night at Dallas.
Penix, the No 8 overall pick in this year’s draft, got his first NFL start against the Giants (2-13) after the Falcons decided to bench turnover-prone Kirk Cousins, just nine months after signing him to a four-year, $180m contract that included $100 million in guaranteed money.
The left-handed rookie was not overwhelmed by the moment, completing 18 of 27 passes for 202 yards – numbers that would’ve been better if not for at least three dropped passes, one of which Kyle Pitts bobbled right into the hands of a New York defender for Penix’s lone interception.
The defense made things even easier for the new starter, throttling a New York team that struggled to put anything together with Drew Lock returning as the starting QB after missing the previous week with a heel injury.
Detroit Lions 34-17 Chicago Bears
Jared Goff threw for 336 yards and three touchdowns, and the Detroit Lions remained on top of the NFC with their franchise-record 13th win, 34-17 over the Chicago Bears on Sunday.
Jameson Williams had a career-high 143 yards receiving on five catches, including an 82-yard touchdown in the second quarter. Jahmyr Gibbs ran for 109 yards and a score, and Detroit (13-2) broke a tie with the 1991 and 2023 teams for the most wins in franchise history. The Lions also set a single-season record for scoring with 493 points.
The Lions took control early against the Bears (4-11), and they even flexed their dominance by executing a trick play in which Goff intentionally stumbled while dropping back. With Detroit players yelling “Fumble!” and Gibbs pretending to dive for the ball, Goff threw to Sam LaPorta for a 21-yard touchdown that made it 34-14.
It was just the sort of performance Detroit was looking for coming off a 48-42 loss to Josh Allen and the Buffalo Bills. That stopped a franchise-best win streak at 11 games and dropped the Lions into a tie atop the conference with Philadelphia and NFC North rival Minnesota.
Caleb Williams threw for 334 yards and two touchdowns following a string of shaky performances for the Bears, who lost their ninth in a row and drew more boos from their frustrated fans.
Los Angeles Rams 19-9 New York Jets
Matthew Stafford threw a go-ahead 11-yard touchdown pass to Tyler Higbee early in the fourth quarter after a turnover by Aaron Rodgers and the Los Angeles Rams beat the New York Jets 19-9 on Sunday for their fourth consecutive victory.
The Rams (9-6), who have won five of six, maintained their spot atop the NFC West standings with the victory after a slow start against the Jets (4-11) on a day when it was a frosty 23F (minus-5C) at kickoff.
But Los Angeles’ defense, which struggled most of the game against Rodgers and New York’s offense, came up with a momentum-turning play.
With the game tied at 9 early in the fourth quarter, Kam Curl sacked Rodgers on a blitz and forced a fumble that Jared Verse recovered at the Jets 21.
Three plays later, Stafford found Higbee – making his season debut after missing the first 14 games with a knee injury – for a go-ahead 11-yard touchdown that made it 16-9.
Cleveland Browns 6-24 Cincinnati Bengals
Joe Burrow threw three touchdown passes, including one as he was falling to the turf, and the Cincinnati Bengals kept their slim playoff hopes alive with a 24-6 victory over the Cleveland Browns on Sunday.
The Bengals (7-8) need to win their last two games and get some help to reach the postseason.
Burrow passed for three or more TDs for the seventh consecutive game and finished 23 of 30 for 252 yards. Ja’Marr Chase had six catches for 97 yards and a garbage-time touchdown for Cincinnati to reach 1,510 yards this season and break his own franchise record of 1,455 yards set in 2021.
Myles Garrett, who said this week the Browns franchise should be focused on winning and not rebuilding, recorded the 100th sack of his career in the second quarter.
With Dorian Thompson-Robinson replacing Jameis Winston at quarterback, Cleveland (3-12) missed some chances in the red zone.
Tennessee Titans 30-38 Indianapolis Colts
Jonathan Taylor rebounded from perhaps the most embarrassing moment of his career by rushing for 218 yards and scoring three times including runs of 65 and 70 yards Sunday, leading the Indianapolis Colts past the Tennessee Titans 38-30.
Indy rushed for a franchise-record 335 yards as Taylor posted the second-highest single-game rushing total in the league this season and also of his five-year career. The three rushing scores were the most since he scored four TDs against Buffalo in 2021.
Taylor’s big day came one week after he dropped the ball before the goal line, and it bounced out of bounds for a touchback in a crushing loss at Denver.
This time, Taylor made sure that didn’t happen again this week by holding onto the ball all the way through the end zone. Indy (7-8) won its fourth straight in this AFC South series.
Tennessee (3-12) lost its fourth in a row on an abysmal day for what had been a pretty stingy defense. The Titans allowed their most yards rushing since moving from Houston to Nashville in the late 1990s, and it was the second time in four games an opponent topped the 200-yard mark.
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