Game-winning field goal from 59 yards lifts Texans over Bills 23-20

HOUSTON (AP) — C.J. Stroud threw for 331 yards and a touchdown and Ka′imi Fairbairn’s tiebreaking 59-yard field goal as time expired lifted the Houston Texans to a 23-20 win over the Buffalo Bills on Sunday.

The Texans (4-1) led 20-3 after a field goal early in third quarter before the Bills scored 17 straight points to tie it with about 3½ minutes to go.

Stroud was called for intentional grounding to bring up fourth-and-15 and take the Texans out of field-goal range with less than a minute left.

A punt backed the Bills up to their 3 and they punted after three straight incomplete passes to give Houston one last chance.

Dare Ogunbowale had a 5-yard run to set up Fairbairn’s game winner.

RAVENS 41, BENGALS 38, OT

CINCINNATI (AP) — Justin Tucker kicked a 24-yard field goal to lift Baltimore to a wild overtime win over Cincinnati.

After Evan McPherson missed a 53-yard attempt for Cincinnati on a fumbled snap, Baltimore took over on its own 43. On the next play, Derrick Henry rumbled 51 yards down to the Bengals 6 to set up Tucker’s chip-shot kick for the win.

Tucker tied it with a 56-yarder with 1:35 left to force overtime.

The Ravens (3-2) and Bengals (1-4) traded punches on offense the entire afternoon with Lamar Jackson finally prevailing despite Joe Burrow throwing a career-high five touchdown passes.

VIKINGS 23, JETS 17

LONDON (AP) — Andrew Van Ginkel returned the first of Aaron Rodgers’ three interceptions 63 yards for a touchdown and Minnesota stayed undefeated by holding on for a win over New York at Tottenham Hotspur Stadium.

The Jets trailed 17-0 early, but had a chance to drive for a potential winning score in the final minutes. But Stephon Gilmore intercepted Rodgers’ pass intended for Mike Williams and the Vikings improved to 5-0 for the first time since 2016.

Van Ginkel snatched Rodgers’ quick slant before breaking a tackle and outrunning the Jets linemen down the sideline for a 63-yard score and a 10-0 lead. The linebacker also had a pick-6 in the season opener against Daniel Jones and the New York Giants.

Rodgers threw a 1-yard touchdown pass to Garrett Wilson to make it 20-17 with just over six minutes remaining before Vikings rookie kicker Will Reichard hit a 41-yard field goal — his third of the game.

A slow start ultimately doomed the Jets (2-3).

COMMANDERS 34, BROWNS 13

LANDOVER, Md. (AP) — Jayden Daniels bounced back from an early interception with the longest touchdown pass of his young NFL career and rushed for 82 yards, and Washington got their best defensive performance of the season to rout Cleveland for their fourth consecutive victory.

Washington is 4-1 for the first time since 2008. Cleveland has lost three in a row to drop to 1-4.

Daniels, Brian Robinson Jr., Austin Ekeler and Jeremy McNichols ran all over the Browns, combining for 211 yards on 31 carries. Robinson ran for two TDs, and McNichols had one in a game so lopsided that fans were doing the wave with four minutes left in the third quarter.

The Commanders defense had a ton to do with that, forcing Deshaun Watson to fumble, sacking him seven times and allowing a total of 212 yards. After Washington entered with the worst third-down defense in the league, Cleveland went 1 of 13 in a sloppy, disjointed effort, with its only touchdown coming in garbage time.

JAGUARS 37, COLTS 34

JACKSONVILLE, Fla. (AP) — Trevor Lawrence threw for 371 yards and two touchdowns on his 25th birthday and put Jacksonville in position for a 49-yard field goal with 17 seconds left that gave the Jaguars their first win of the season over the short-handed Colts.

Tank Bigsby ran for 101 yards and two scores for Jacksonville (1-4), which won for the first time since December and extended its home streak against division rival Indianapolis (2-3) to double digits. The Jaguars did so while wearing throwback uniforms on a day the franchise inducted retired coach Tom Coughlin into its ring of honor.

It was a much-needed victory for a team that was seemingly on the verge of unraveling. Lawrence and receiver Gabe Davis got into a sideline argument in the first quarter and had to be separated. That frustration followed a mid-week report that said coach Doug Pederson had lost the locker room.

Pederson and his players denied any discord and certainly will point to beating Indy as a potential turning point.

BEARS 36, PANTHERS 10

CHICAGO (AP) — Caleb Williams threw for 304 yards and two touchdowns in his best performance to date, DJ Moore caught both scoring passes and had 105 yards receiving against his former team as Chicago beats Carolina.

The Bears (3-2) won their second straight after dropping two in a row, with the two key pieces they acquired as a result of a blockbuster trade with Carolina in 2023 leading the way.

Chicago also got a big performance for the second straight week from D’Andre Swift. He had 120 yards from scrimmage and a TD.

Williams picked apart a banged-up defense that ranks among the NFL’s worst. The No. 1 overall draft pick completed 20 of 29 passes with no interceptions and a 126.2 rating that was his best.

DOLPHINS 15, PATRIOTS 10

FOXBOROUGH, Mass. (AP) — Alec Ingold scored the go-ahead touchdown on a 3-yard run with four minutes left, and Jason Sanders kicked three field goals to make up for three botched kicks by the Dolphins special teams as Miami beat New England.

In a game between two of the NFL’s worst teams that was pocked with penalties, missed kicks and clock management mistakes, each team managed just one touchdown, with Miami (2-3) taking the lead when Ingold plunged into the end zone on his only carry of the game.

The Patriots (1-4) still had two more chances to take the lead after the 2-point attempt failed, but the first ended after a replay review overturned a catch that was ruled a touchdown on the field, and the second fizzled at the Miami 11 when Jacoby Brissett hit Hunter Henry for 25 yards with 4 seconds left — but in the middle of the field, with no opportunity to stop the clock.

Making his second start as the latest quarterback to replace Tua Tagovailoa, Tyler Huntley completed 18 of 31 passes for 194 yards and one interception. Tyreek Hill caught six passes for 69 yards, Jaylen Wright ran for 86 and Raheem Mostert added 80 on the ground for the Dolphins, who had lost three in a row while shuffling through three backup quarterbacks since Tagovailoa sustained his third diagnosed concussion in Week 3.

BRONCOS 34, RAIDERS 18

DENVER (AP) — Pat Surtain II picked off a pair of passes and his 100-yard interception return for a touchdown powered Denver past injury-riddled Las Vegas, snapping an eight-game losing streak in the storied AFC West series.

Rookie Bo Nix had a breakout day with a pair of touchdown passes after coming into the game with just one. He also ran for a score as Denver scored 34 unanswered points after falling behind 10-0 in the first quarter.

Completing passes to a franchise-record 11 players, Nix finished 19 of 27 for 206 yards, two TDs and no interceptions as the Broncos (3-2) secured their first win over the Raiders (2-3) since Dec. 29, 2019, a confounding dry spell given how evenly matched the teams have been over the last several seasons.

First-year starter Riley Moss also intercepted Raiders quarterback Gardner Minshew, his first career interception coming one week after his first career fumble recovery and two weeks after the first forced fumble of his two-year career.

CARDINALS 24, 49ERS 23

SANTA CLARA, Calif. (AP) - Kyler Murray had a long touchdown run in the first quarter and rallied Arizona with two fourth-quarter scoring drives in the Cardinals’ victory over San Francisco.

Murray threw a 2-yard touchdown pass to Elijah Higgins early in the fourth quarter that cut the deficit to 23-21 and then set up Chad Ryland’s 35-yard field goal with 1:37 to play to give the Cardinals (2-3) the lead.

San Francisco’s Brock Purdy then threw his second interception of the game when he was hit by Jalen Thompson, and Kyzir White came up with the floater.

This marked the second time this season that San Francisco (2-3) blew a double-digit lead in the fourth quarter to a division rival, having done it in Week 3 against the Los Angeles Rams. The Niners lost just one division game the past two season when winning NFC West titles but are 0-2 already this year after the sixth blown double-digit lead in the fourth quarter in the regular season and playoffs under coach Kyle Shanahan.

Murray threw for 195 yards and a TD and added 82 yards rushing.

PACKERS 24, RAMS 19

INGLEWOOD, Calif. (AP) — Jordan Love bounced back from the first pick-6 of his career to throw a pair of touchdown passes to Tucker Kraft in the second half as Green Bay rallied for a victory over Los Angeles.

The Packers trailed 13-7 late in the second quarter after Jaylen McCollough intercepted Love’s off-balance attempt to throw the ball away and ran it in from 4 yards. But Green Bay (3-2) scored on its next three drives and benefited from a pair of turnovers to beat the Rams (1-4) for the ninth time in their last 10 regular-season meetings.

Love, a California native who grew up in Bakersfield, completed 15 of 26 for 224 yards in his second start since missing two games due to a knee injury.

Josh Jacobs had 19 carries for 73 yards and scored his first TD with the Packers.

GIANTS 29, SEAHAWKS 20

SEATTLE (AP) — Daniel Jones threw for 257 yards and two touchdowns, Bryce Ford-Wheaton returned a blocked field goal attempt 60 yards for a touchdown with 55 seconds left, and short-handed New York stunned Seattle.

Playing without two of its best offensive players, New York (2-3) put together a masterful game plan that built a 23-13 lead midway through the fourth quarter. The Giants then came up with one big special teams play with Seattle on the verge of potentially forcing overtime.

Seattle’s Jason Myers lined up for a 47-yard field goal attempt with 1:05 left that could have pulled even at 23-23. New York’s Isaiah Simmons cleanly jumped over the gap between the guard and long snapper in the offensive line and swatted the kick, which bounced into the arms of Ford-Wheaton for a clinching score that sent the home fans to the exits.

COWBOYS 20, STEELERS 17

PITTSBURGH (AP) — Dak Prescott threw a 4-yard touchdown pass to Jalen Tolbert with 20 seconds remaining and Dallas slipped past Pittsburgh.

The Cowboys (3-2) won their second straight after Prescott overcame a mistake-filled night to lead a 70-yard drive that ended with Prescott finding a lunging Tolbert just across the goal line on fourth down.

Pittsburgh (3-2) dropped its second consecutive game following a 3-0 start, this one a sluggish performance on a night the opening kickoff was delayed nearly 90 minutes due to severe weather. The game ended at 12:59 a.m.

The sky eventually cleared. The Steelers spent much of the night in a fog, particularly on offense, managing just 222 yards against a defense missing injured stars Micah Parsons and DeMarcus Lawrence.

Prescott, the NFL’s highest-paid player, threw for 352 yards and two scores to offset a night he had two interceptions and fumbled in Pittsburgh territory.

Houston Texans place kicker Ka'imi Fairbairn (15) celebrates with teammate Tommy Townsend after kicking a 59-yard field goal on the last play of an NFL football game against the Buffalo Bills, Sunday, Oct. 6, 2024, in Houston. The Texans won 23-20. (AP Photo/Eric Christian Smith)

The path for the NFL's Washington Commanders to return to the nation’s capital is clear after an on-again, off-again saga in Congress ended early Saturday with a postmidnight reprieve.

The U.S. Senate passed a resolution to transfer the land including old RFK Stadium from the federal government to the District of Columbia. The D.C. Robert F. Kennedy Memorial Stadium Campus Revitalization Act passed by voice vote at roughly 1:15 a.m. after more than a year of lobbying and support from Rep. James Comer, R-Ky., district Mayor Muriel Bowser, Commanders controlling owner Josh Harris and NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell.

“We are extremely grateful that our elected officials have come together on a bipartisan basis to give Washington, D.C., the opportunity to decide on the future of the RFK Stadium site," Harris said. "This bill will create an equal playing field so that all potential future locations for the home of the Washington Commanders can be fairly considered and give our franchise the opportunity to provide the best experience for all of our fans.”

The RFK Stadium land provision was part of Congress’ initial short-term spending bill Tuesday before it was torpedoed by President-elect Donald Trump and Elon Musk, the latter of whom amplified misinformation about the site on his social media platform X. Two versions of the House's slimmed-down bill, including the one that passed Friday night to avoid a government shutdown, did not include it.

Giving the local government control of the land for the next 99 years allows for the decaying husk of the old stadium to be torn down and the site redeveloped for any number of things. One of the possibilities is a football stadium and surrounding entertainment options at the franchise's former home.

“We appreciate the bipartisan group of Congressional leaders who made this important breakthrough possible,” the NFL said in a statement. “Washington, D.C., will now have a long-overdue seat at the table when it comes to the location of a new Commanders stadium.”

Bowser called it “a win for D.C., for our region and for America.”

“Everybody loves a good comeback story — and that’s D.C.’s story,” she said.

All that awaits is President Joe Biden's signature to become law, which could come as soon as Saturday. Comer went as far as saying that Senate passage of the bill is “a historic moment for our nation's capital.”

“If Congress failed to act today, this decaying land in Washington would continue to cost taxpayers a fortune to maintain,” he said. “Revitalizing this RFK Memorial Stadium site has been a top economic priority for the city. ... This bipartisan success is a testament to the House Oversight Committee’s unwavering effort to protect taxpayers and our full commitment to ensuring a capital that is prosperous for residents and visitors for generations to come.”

Playing in Washington again is no sure thing. The Commanders are also considering other places in the district, Maryland and Virginia to build a stadium in the coming years.

Their lease at Northwest Stadium in Landover, Maryland, runs through 2027. Harris called 2030 a “reasonable target” for a new stadium.

The team played at RFK Stadium 2 miles (3.22 kilometers) east of the Capitol from 1961-96 before moving to Maryland. Harris and several co-owners, including Mitch Rales and Mark Ein, grew up as Washington football fans during that era, which included the glory days of three Super Bowl championships from 1982-91.

Ein said on social media, “Still many steps to go and even bigger than a possible stadium last night’s bill was an extraordinary moment of bi-partisan and regional cooperation to do something big and important and get 174 acres of unused, blighted and critical land to DC so they can bring it back to life.”

Part of the way the provision got into the bill initially involved an agreement between the team and Maryland to tear down the current stadium in a timely fashion and redevelop the site with a project of equal economic impact, a person with knowledge of the situation told The Associated Press earlier this week on condition of anonymity because the deal was not being publicized.

After the Senate greenlit the RFK Stadium land transfer, Maryland Sens. Ben Cardin and Chris Van Hollen, both Democrats, said they continued to believe their state's partnership with the team should continue long into the future.

“After working to level the financial playing field, and receiving assurances that should the team move they will redevelop the existing site in a manner that meets the needs of the community, tonight we supported the proposed land transfer legislation,” Cardin and Van Hollen said. "We have always supported the District’s effort to control its own land, and through regional discussions and cooperation, our concerns with this proposal have been addressed.”

The team has played games in Maryland since 1997 and practices in Ashburn, Virginia, not far from Dulles International Airport.

A return to the district would be another victory for Bowser, who on Thursday celebrated the start of an $800 million downtown arena renovation that is keeping the NBA's Wizards and NHL's Capitals in town. At that news conference, she took aim at Musk for sharing incorrect information on X, formerly Twitter, about taxpayers footing the bill for a new stadium.

The bill specifically prohibits the use of federal funds for a stadium on the site, “including training facilities, offices, and other structures necessary to support a stadium.”

AP NFL: https://apnews.com/hub/nfl

FILE - A vehicle pushes up pikes of snow after trucks dump their loads of snow in the parking lots of RFK Stadium in Washington, Monday, Jan. 25, 2016. (AP Photo/Susan Walsh, File)