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It was a statement Sunday for Jalen Hurts and the Philadelphia Eagles, Josh Allen and the Buffalo Bills, and Jayden Daniels and the Washington Commanders.
The Eagles (5-2) and Bills (6-2) cruised to double-digit road wins. The Commanders (6-2) needed a miracle on the final play.
Each team proved something in a tough game.
The Eagles had won two in a row since coming off a bye that followed an embarrassing loss to Tampa Bay in Week 4 but the feeling in Philadelphia was overwhelmingly negative. Critics questioned Hurts, blasted coach Nick Sirianni and talked like the team was going into Cincinnati 2-4 instead of 4-2.
After Joe Burrow led the Bengals on an opening touchdown drive that lasted 10:04, the boos resonated from Eagles fans sitting on their couches and watching in sports bars.
But Vic Fangio’s defense settled down. Then Hurts, Saquon Barkley, A.J. Brown and DeVonta Smith took over.
Hurts tossed a perfect 45-yard TD pass to Smith and ran for three scores to help Philadelphia rout Cincinnati 37-17. He finished with 236 yards and a 132.5 passer rating, the third straight game he’s topped 119.
Folks weren’t giving the Eagles much credit for beating the Browns and routing the Giants the past two weeks. Even though the Bengals (3-5) have a losing record, this was a convincing victory.
“I think today was a great team win, a great showing as a team,” Hurts said. “When you play like that on defense and you’re able to stop an offense capable of playing at a high level and with the star players that they have, that’s a great job.”
The Eagles host Jacksonville (2-6) and former coach Doug Pederson next week before an NFC East showdown against Washington (6-2) in Philadelphia on Thursday night Nov. 14.
The Bills also hadn’t received much credit for their wins this season because of the quality of their opponents. Entering the game in Seattle, Buffalo’s five wins came against teams that had a combined record of 10-23 while the two losses were to clubs that were 10-4.
Facing a Seahawks team that was coming off an impressive road win in Atlanta and was sitting in first place in the NFC West, the Bills came out fast and didn’t let up on the way to a 31-10 win.
Allen threw for 283 yards and two scores, overcoming his first interception of the season. He tossed a 2-yard TD pass to rookie Keon Coleman on the first drive and the Bills dominated the Seahawks (4-4) from start to finish.
“I think you look at it from all three phases, I think everybody went out there, knew their job and executed at a high level — offense, defense, special teams,” Allen said. “Still got a lot to clean up.”
The Bills have a comfortable 3 1/2-game lead in the AFC East. They’ll host Miami (2-5) next week and visit Indianapolis (4-4) before facing the two-time defending Super Bowl champion Chiefs (7-0) on Nov. 17. The playoff rematch against Kansas City will be another opportunity to silence any doubters.
Daniels was uncertain to start against Chicago because of a rib injury. He played through it and threw a 52-yard Hail Mary touchdown on the final play to beat the Bears 18-15.
Daniels scrambled around for almost 13 seconds before launching a deep pass that was tipped backward into the waiting arms of Noah Brown for the victory.
In the NFL’s sixth matchup of rookie quarterbacks taken 1-2 in the draft, Daniels outshined top overall pick Caleb Williams. He threw for 326 yards and a score and ran for 52.
Williams was just 10 of 24 for 131 yards for the Bears (5-3) while Daniels displayed why he’s the favorite for the AP Offensive Rookie of the Year award.
“We’re blessed to have 5 leading this team,” Brown said of Daniels. “The things he can do are special — just even that last play. Keeping his composure, fighting like hell to get the ball off and throwing a hell of a ball. I wouldn’t want to play with any other quarterback. I’m glad to have him.”
Another team again failed to make a positive statement in Week 8.
Aaron Rodgers is in New York but these are the same old Jets (2-6). The defense blew a 22-17 lead in the final three minutes of a 25-22 loss to the lowly Patriots.
The Jets have dropped five straight games, including three in a row after coach Robert Saleh was fired and replaced by Jeff Ulbrich.
“This is a moment of darkness, and we understand that the outside world is going to get really loud right now,” Ulbrich said. “But the only thing I know in life is that when it gets dark and it gets hard, that you work and you point the finger at yourself and you look inward and you figure out what can I do better from an individual standpoint. If we do that collectively, which I believe we will, that’s your only opportunity to dig yourself out of this.”
For the Jets, the hole might be too deep.
The Eagles, Bills and Commanders are in a far better spot. So are many other clubs.
AP NFL: https://apnews.com/hub/nfl
Washington Commanders quarterback Jayden Daniels (5) leaves the field after an 18-15 win over the Chicago Bears in an NFL football game Sunday, Oct. 27, 2024, in Landover, Md. (AP Photo/Nick Wass)
Buffalo Bills quarterback Josh Allen (17) waves to fans after an NFL football game against the Seattle Seahawks, Sunday, Oct. 27, 2024, in Seattle. The Bills won 31-10. (AP Photo/Lindsey Wasson)
Philadelphia Eagles quarterback Jalen Hurts reacts following an NFL football game against the Cincinnati Bengals, Sunday, Oct. 27, 2024, in Cincinnati. The Eagles won 37-17. (AP Photo/Jeff Dean)
The social platform X has suspended a new account on behalf of Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei that posted messages in Hebrew.
The account was suspended early Monday with a brief note appended to it saying: “X suspends accounts which violate the X Rules.” It wasn’t immediately clear what the violation was. The Elon Musk-owned social media company did not respond to a request for comment from The Associated Press.
The move came after Israel openly attacked Iran for the first time this weekend. Khamenei said in a speech on Sunday that Israel’s strikes — in response to Iran’s ballistic missile attack this month — “should not be exaggerated nor downplayed,” while stopping short of calling for retaliation.
The X account opened Sunday with a message in Hebrew reading: “In the name of God, the most merciful,” a standard Islamic greeting.
Khamenei’s office has maintained multiple accounts for the 85-year-old supreme leader on X for years and has sent messages in a variety of languages in the past.
A second message corresponded to a speech Khamenei gave on Sunday and was sent on his English account as: “Zionists are making a miscalculation with respect to Iran. They don’t know Iran. They still haven’t been able to correctly understand the power, initiative, and determination of the Iranian people.” The message referred to Israel’s attack Saturday on Iran.
This isn’t the first time Khamenei has seen a suspension or removal from social media. In February, Meta removed Facebook and Instagram accounts for the supreme leader over his support of the militant group Hamas after its Oct. 7, 2023, attack on Israel.
Social media platforms like X and Facebook have been blocked in Iran for years, requiring Iranians to use virtual private networks to access them.
Here’s the latest:
DUBAI, United Arab Emirates — The head of Iran’s paramilitary Revolutionary Guard made his first public comments Monday after Israel’s weekend attack on the country.
Gen. Hossein Salami, in a condolence message to Iran’s regular military, called Israel’s strike “illegitimate and illegal.” Four soldiers in Iran’s air defense network were killed in the attack on Saturday, as was one civilian, Iranian state media say.
The attack was “a sign of miscalculation and the inability” of Israel on the battlefield with Iranian-backed militants “particularly in Gaza and Lebanon.”
The “bitter consequences will be beyond the imagination of the occupiers,” Salami added, referring to Israel.
BAGHDAD, Iraq — Iraq has submitted a memorandum of protest to the Secretary-General of the United Nations and the U.N. Security Council saying Israel violated its airspace in carrying out its attack on Iran over the weekend, the Iraqi prime minister’s office said in a statement.
The statement said that Israeli “aggressor aircraft violated Iraq’s airspace and sovereignty and used Iraqi airspace to carry out the attack on the Islamic Republic of Iran on Oct. 26.”
It added that Iraqi Prime Minister Mohammed Shia al-Sudani had directed Iraq’s foreign minister to discuss the matter with the United States. The two countries recently reached an agreement to begin winding down the mission of a U.S.-led coalition formed to fight the Islamic State militant group and to withdraw many of the U.S. troops who remain in the country.
On Sunday, the Iran-backed Iraqi militia Kataib Hezbollah issued a statement accusing the U.S. of coordinating with Israel to use Iraqi airspace to launch the attack on Iran and threatening retaliation against U.S. forces.
UNITED NATIONS — The U.N. Security Council scheduled an emergency meeting Monday afternoon at Iran’s request on Israel’s air strikes against the country.
Switzerland, which holds the council’s rotating presidency, announced the meeting on Sunday and said the Iranian request was supported by Russia, China and Algeria, the Arab representative on the council.
TEHRAN, Iran — Iran’s President Masoud Pezeshkian says his country will respond to Israel “appropriately," after Israel openly attacked Iranian military sites for the first time this weekend.
“We are not seeking war, but we will defend the rights of our nation and country and will respond appropriately to the Zionist regime’s aggression,” Pezeshkian was quoted by state TV on Sunday as saying.
Pezeshkian also said the U.S. had promised Iran to stop the war in Gaza and Lebanon if Iran restrained. “They had promised to end the war in response to our restraint, but they did not keep their word,” he said.
The Iranian president also warned tensions will escalate if Israel’s aggression continues, adding, “We know that the United States is encouraging Israel to commit these atrocities.”
DUBAI, United Arab Emirates — Iran announced Sunday that a civilian had been killed in Israel’s attack on the country, without offering any details on the circumstances of his death.
The state-run IRNA news agency identified the dead man as Allahverdi Rahimpour and said he lived in a suburban area of southwestern Tehran.
While offering no details on what he was doing or where he was killed, IRNA made a point to say he was not a member of Iran’s armed forces.
Iran has offered few details on the attack and the damage caused by them so far.
In this photo provided by the Israeli army, armed Israeli Air Force planes depart from an unknown location to attack Iran, Saturday, Oct. 26, 2024. (Israeli Army via AP)
In this photo provided by the Israeli army, armed Israeli Air Force planes depart from an unknown location to attack Iran, Saturday, Oct. 26, 2024. (Israeli Army via AP)
In this photo released by an official website of the office of the Iranian supreme leader, Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei sits in a meeting in Tehran, Iran, Sunday, Oct. 27, 2024. (Office of the Iranian Supreme Leader via AP)
This satellite photo from Planet Labs PBC shows damaged buildings at Iran's Khojir military base outside of Tehran, Iran, Saturday, Oct. 26, 2024. An Israeli attack on Iran damaged facilities at a secretive military base southeast of the Iranian capital that experts in the past have linked to Tehran's onetime nuclear weapons program and at another base tied to its ballistic missile program, satellite photos analyzed Sunday by The Associated Press show. The damaged structures are in the bottom center of the image. (Planet Labs PBC via AP)
In this photo released by an official website of the office of the Iranian supreme leader, Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei waves to the crowd in a meeting in Tehran, Iran, Sunday, Oct. 27, 2024. (Office of the Iranian Supreme Leader via AP)
