LIONS 31, COWBOYS 30
DETROIT — Matthew Stafford’s 1-yard lunge over a pile of linemen with 12 seconds left and Calvin Johnson’s 329 yards receiving lifted the Detroit Lions to a 31-30 comeback win over the Dallas Cowboys on Sunday.
Stafford threw a 22-yard pass to Johnson, who had the second-most yards receiving in NFL history, to set up his winning score. The quarterback seemed to catch his hometown Cowboys by surprise — some of them appeared to expect him to spike the ball.
Johnson’s total trails only the 336 yards receiving Flipper Anderson had for the Los Angeles Rams against New Orleans on Nov. 26, 1989, in a game that went into overtime.
The Lions (5-3) overcame four turnovers and a 10-point deficit in the fourth quarter against Dallas (4-4).
BRONCOS 45, REDSKINS 21
DENVER — Peyton Manning overcame four turnovers and Denver scored the last 38 points against former Broncos coach Mike Shanahan and his new team. Manning finished with 354 yards and four touchdown passes to offset his three interceptions and lost fumble.
His first two turnovers led to points that gave the Redskins (2-5) a 21-7 lead early in the third quarter. From there, Manning led the Broncos (7-1) on two long scoring drives, then the go-ahead score on a 35-yard touchdown pass to Knowshon Moreno.
Robert Griffin III finished with 132 yards passing, one score and two interceptions for Washington before hurting his left knee.
Griffin’s replacement, Kirk Cousins, threw an interception that Dominique Rodgers-Cromartie returned 75 yards for Denver’s final points.
PACKERS 44, VIKINGS 31
MINNEAPOLIS — Aaron Rodgers threw for 285 yards and two touchdowns to lead Green Bay over Minnesota.
Rodgers completed 24 of 29 passes and Jordy Nelson had 123 yards receiving for the Packers. Micah Hyde returned a punt 93 yards for a touchdown late in the second quarter, and Eddie Lacy rushed for 94 yards and a score for Green Bay (5-2).
Cordarrelle Patterson set an NFL record with a 109-yard return on the opening kickoff and Adrian Peterson rushed for 60 yards and a touchdown for the Vikings (1-6). But Christian Ponder struggled again in his return to the starting lineup and the Packers scored on every possession until they took a knee to end the game.
SAINTS 35, BILLS 17
NEW ORLEANS — Drew Brees passed for five touchdowns and 332 yards, and the New Orleans Saints pulled away for a victory over the Buffalo Bills.
Saints tight end Jimmy Graham played after missing practice most of the week with a left foot injury and scored on 13- and 15-yard passes over the middle, powering through tackles at the goal line both times.
Rookie Kenny Stills had touchdowns of 69 and 42 yards for the Saints (6-1) and Lance Moore snagged a 15-yard scoring pass in his return from a hand injury that sidelined him three games.
Thad Lewis was sacked four times, intercepted once, lost two fumbles and appeared shaken up at times, but stayed in the game for the Bills (3-5), finishing with 234 yards passing and one touchdown. Buffalo’s Fred Jackson scored on a 1-yard run.
BENGALS 49, JETS 9
CINCINNATI — Andy Dalton threw a career-high five touchdown passes, four of them to Marvin Jones.
Jones set a Bengals record for touchdown receptions, scoring on catches of 9, 6, 17 and 6 yards.
Dalton’s five touchdown passes gave him 11 in his last three games, his best such span. He’s the first quarterback to throw for five TDs against the Jets since Dan Marino in 1988.
The Bengals (6-2) won their fourth in a row and padded their AFC North lead.
New York (4-4) took its most lopsided loss since 2010. Rookie quarterback Geno Smith threw two interceptions that were returned for touchdowns.
RAIDERS 21, STEELERS 18
OAKLAND, Calif. — Terrelle Pryor ran 93 yards on the first play from scrimmage for the longest touchdown run by a quarterback, and the Raiders won following a bye week for the first time since 2002.
Darren McFadden added two touchdown runs and the defense did the rest for the Raiders (3-4), who had been outscored by more than 13 points a game in losing their last 10 games out of the bye.
Ben Roethlisberger struggled against heavy pressure from Oakland’s front, and Shaun Suisham missed two short field goals as Pittsburgh (2-5) squandered any momentum gained during back-to-back wins following an 0-4 start.
CARDINALS 27, FALCONS 13
GLENDALE, Ariz. — Rookie Andre Ellington rushed for 154 yards on 15 carries, including an 80-yard touchdown run, and the Cardinals intercepted Matt Ryan four times.
Ellington’s big run, tied for third longest in Cardinals history, was part of a 21-point second quarter that put the Cardinals (4-4) in control for good.
Arizona’s Larry Fitzgerald caught four passes for 48 yards and a touchdown, in the process becoming the youngest player — at 30 years, 57 days — in NFL history to reach 800 career receptions.
Ryan had thrown three interceptions total in the first six games of the season for the Falcons (2-5). Rashad Johnson had two of Arizona’s interceptions.
The Cardinals picked off Ryan five times when the teams played last season.
PATRIOTS 27, DOLPHINS 17
FOXBOROUGH, Mass. — The New England Patriots shook off a dismal first half and another mediocre performance by Tom Brady to beat the Miami Dolphins.
Trailing 17-3 after gaining just 59 yards in the half, the Patriots quickly turned the game around in the third quarter with two touchdowns in a span of seven plays.
The Patriots (6-2) outscored the Dolphins (3-4) in the third quarter 17-0. Miami lost its fourth straight game.
Brady completed 13 of 22 passes for just 116 yards, but threw a 14-yard touchdown pass to Aaron Dobson with 6:32 gone in the third quarter that began the comeback.
49ERS 42, JAGUARS 10
LONDON — Colin Kaepernick led the way with his arm and with his feet, throwing for one touchdown and running for two more to lead the San Francisco 49ers over the Jacksonville Jaguars at Wembley Stadium.
Kaepernick ended up with 164 yards passing and 54 yards rushing, and Frank Gore also ran for two scores for the 49ers (6-2).
The Jaguars (0-8) were the “home” team at London’s iconic soccer venue, playing in the British capital for the first of their four-year run of regular-season NFL games in London. It was the eighth regular-season NFL game at Wembley, the home of England’s national soccer team, and the second this year. The Minnesota Vikings beat the Pittsburgh Steelers 34-27 last month.
GIANTS 15, EAGLES 7
PHILADELPHIA — Josh Brown kicked a career-high five field goals, Eli Manning played error-free and the New York Giants beat the Philadelphia Eagles.
Michael Vick returned for the Eagles (3-5) after missing 2½ games with a hamstring injury, but clearly wasn’t healthy and was removed for rookie Matt Barkley late in the second quarter.
The Giants (2-6) snapped an eight-game road losing streak while extending Philadelphia’s home losing streak to 10 games. The Eagles’ last win at the Linc was over the Giants on Sept. 30, 2012.
Chip Kelly’s high-flying offense that racked up at least 425 yards in each of the first six games has been grounded. The Eagles followed a 17-3 loss to Dallas with another poor offensive effort. They had just 201 yards of offense and have totaled 479 the past two weeks.
