Monday 22 October 2018 06:17, UK
The Minnesota Vikings earned a comfortable 37-17 win over the New York Jets on Sunday, with their defense stifling rookie quarterback Sam Darnold, intercepting him three times.
As well as being picked off on three occasions, Darnold completed only 17 off his 42 pass attempts for 206 yards, though he got little help from his wide receivers, who dropped numerous balls.
In stark contrast, Vikings wideout Adam Thielen returned his seventh-straight 100-yard receiving game, tying with former Houston Oiler Charley Hennigan for the NFL-record most consecutive 100-yard games to start a season.
Minnesota quarterback Kirk Cousins quickly found his favourite target on the opening drive, off the fourth play from scrimmage, as he and Thielen connected for a 34-yard score.
New York tied things up with a Darnold 12-yard touchdown strike to tight end Chris Herndon, but the Jets wouldn't find the endzone again until Darnold himself would run in from a yard out in the fourth quarter.
By then, the Vikings had opened up a sizeable lead, despite not being at their fluent best on offense either. Latavius Murray did the main damage, running for 69 yards and two TDs on his 15 carries.
Minnesota move to 4-2-1 on the season, leading the NFC North, while the Jets drop back to 3-4 in the AFC East.
FIRST QUARTER
Vikings 7-0 Jets: Kirk Cousins 34-yard touchdown pass to Adam Thielen (Dan Bailey extra point good)
Vikings 7-7 Jets: Sam Darnold 12-yard touchdown pass to Chris Herndon (Jason Myers extra point good)
SECOND QUARTER
Vikings 10-7 Jets: Bailey 26-yard field goal
THIRD QUARTER
Vikings 17-7 Jets: Latavius Murray 11-yard touchdown run (Bailey extra point good)
Vikings 20-7 Jets: Bailey 22-yard field goal
Vikings 20-10 Jets: Myers 55-yard field goal
FOURTH QUARTER
Vikings 27-10 Jets: Murray 38-yard touchdown run (Bailey extra point good)
Vikings 27-17 Jets: Darnold one-yard touchdown run (Myers extra point good)
Vikings 34-17 Jets: Cousins 34-yard touchdown pass to Aldrick Robinson (Bailey extra point good)
Vikings 37-17 Jets: Bailey 43-yard field goal
Panthers 21-17 Eagles
Cam Newton tossed a one-yard touchdown pass to Greg Olsen with one minute and 22 seconds left as Carolina (4-2) overcame a 17-point deficit in the fourth quarter to beat Philadelphia (3-4).
Browns 23-26 Buccaneers (OT)
Chandler Catanzaro kicked a 59-yard field goal, the longest ever in overtime, to win the game for Tampa Bay (3-3) in overtime.
Catanzaro redeemed himself after missing an extra point, as well as a 40-yard field goal - off the final play - in regulation. It handed the Browns (2-4-1) an NFL record-tying 24th consecutive road loss. Cleveland have also now played four overtime games this season, tied for second-most in NFL history.
Patriots 38-31 Bears
Tom Brady threw three touchdowns and the Patriots (5-2) hung on for victory when Kevin White got stopped at the one-yard line on a final-play Hail Mary pass from Mitchell Trubisky for the Bears (3-3).
New England's Cordarrelle Patterson ran a kickoff back 95 yards for his sixth career return TD.
Texans 20-7 Jaguars
Blake Bortles fumbled on Jacksonville's third play of each half, leading to 10 points and his benching as the Jaguars (3-4) suffered a divisional loss to the Texans (4-3), who claimed their fourth-straight win.
Lions 32-21 Dolphins
Kerryon Johnson rushed for 158 yards as the Lions (3-3) beat an injury-ravaged Dolphins (4-3) team. Detroit had 457 total yards of offense in the contest, with 248 on the ground.
Bills 5-37 Colts
Andrew Luck threw four touchdown passes and Marlon Mack had his first rushing scores of the season as the Colts (2-5) snapped a four-game losing streak with a hammering of the Bills (2-5).
Derek Anderson made his first start at QB since December 2016 and the 35-year-old veteran was 20 of 31 for 175 yards, three interceptions and lost a fumble for Buffalo.
