NFL Capsules

 

EAST RUTHERFORD, N.J. (AP) – No record this week for Peyton Manning. Just three more touchdown passes, plenty good enough for the Denver Broncos.
Manning connected with Julius Thomas twice and Demaryius Thomas once, leaving him two shy of Brett Favre’s career mark for passing TDs, and the Broncos held on to beat the New York Jets 31-17 on Sunday.
Manning has 506 touchdown passes, and could tie or break Favre’s record next Sunday at home against San Francisco. Manning finished 22 of 33 for 237 yards – a far cry from last week’s performance against Arizona, when he passed for a career-high 479 yards with four TDs.
But Manning displayed his methodical best at times in his return to MetLife Stadium, where he and the Broncos (4-1) were blown out by the Seattle Seahawks in the Super Bowl last February.
Demaryius Thomas had 10 catches for 134 yards, and Ronnie Hillman ran for 100 yards on 24 carries.
The Jets (1-5) had a chance to tie when they got the ball deep in their own territory with less than a minute left. But after a sack put the ball at the 1, Geno Smith’s pass was intercepted by Aqib Talib, who returned it 22 yards for a sealing touchdown that sent New York to its fifth straight loss.
The struggling Smith, looking to keep his starting job, was 23 of 43 for 190 yards and touchdown passes to Jace Amaro and Eric Decker, with the one interception.
PATRIOTS 37, BILLS 22
ORCHARD PARK, N.Y. (AP) – Tom Brady threw four touchdown passes and had his 60th 300-yard game to lead New England past Buffalo.
Brandon LaFell had two touchdown catches, including a 56-yarder, and the Patriots forced three turnovers that resulted in 13 points in the second quarter. Brady finished 26 of 36 for 352 yards to spoil the Bills’ first game under new owners Terry and Kim Pegula.
Brady is 23-2 against AFC East rival Buffalo with the Patriots (4-2).
Kyle Orton went 24 of 38 for 299 yards with two touchdowns, an interception and a lost fumble in his second start for Buffalo (3-3) since replacing EJ Manuel.
PACKERS 27, DOLPHINS 24
MIAMI GARDENS, Fla. (AP) – Aaron Rodgers threw a 4-yard touchdown pass to Andrew Quarless with 3 seconds left to lift Green Bay past Miami.
Green Bay twice gave up leads and trailed 24-17 before Rodgers directed a 68-yard drive for a field goal with 4:09 to go. The Packers (4-2) quickly forced a punt to start at their 40 with 2:04 left, and Rodgers hit Jordy Nelson on fourth-and-10 for 18 yards to keep the winning drive alive.
Rodgers finished with three touchdown passes and 264 yards while committing no turnovers.
The Packers earned their third consecutive victory and won in Miami for only the second time ever. The Dolphins (2-3) lost despite the return of six starters who had missed playing time.
PANTHERS 37, BENGALS 37 TIE
CINCINNATI (AP) – Cincinnati’s Mike Nugent missed a 36-yard field goal attempt on the final play of overtime, and the Bengals and Carolina played to the NFL’s first tie this season.
Nothing new about the Bengals tying at home. They finished 13-13 with Philadelphia in their last overtime game at Paul Brown Stadium in 2008.
Nugent made a 42-yard field goal that put Cincinnati (3-1-1) up after the opening drive of overtime. Carolina (3-2-1) tied it on Graham Gano’s 36-yarder with 2:19 left.
Andy Dalton was nearly perfect in overtime, going 8 for 9 for 87 yards with one throwaway. He led the Bengals into range to win it, but Nugent sliced the kick wide right.
TITANS 16, JAGUARS 14
NASHVILLE, Tenn. (AP) – Sammie Hill blocked a field goal attempt in the final seconds, and Tennessee held off winless Jacksonville to snap a four-game losing streak.
Jackie Battle ran for a touchdown, and Ryan Succop kicked three field goals to help the Titans (2-4) bounce back after blowing the biggest lead ever by a home team in the regular season in a loss to Cleveland.
Jurrell Casey had two of Tennessee’s six sacks. The Titans forced two turnovers as they won their first game at home this season – only their second here in nine games.
The Jaguars (0-6) scored with 37 seconds left when Blake Bortles found Clay Harbor for a 20-yard TD strike. They recovered the onside kick, but Hill got his right fingers on Josh Scobee’s 55-yard field goal attempt.
BROWNS 31, STEELERS 10
CLEVELAND (AP) – Brian Hoyer passed for 217 yards and pulled off a rarity for a Cleveland quarterback, leading the Browns to rout over Ben Roethlisberger and rival Pittsburgh.
Hoyer threw a 51-yard touchdown pass to Jordan Cameron and improved to 6-2 as Cleveland’s starter as the surprising Browns (3-2) beat the Steelers for the third time in 23 games. Cleveland hadn’t beaten Pittsburgh so badly since a 51-0 victory in 1989.
Ben Tate had two rushing TDs and rookie Isaiah Crowell added another one as the Browns opened a 21-3 lead in the first half and rolled to the easy win a week after staging the largest comeback in NFL history by a road team against Tennessee.
LIONS 17, VIKINGS 3
MINNEAPOLIS (AP) – Tahir Whitehead intercepted two of Teddy Bridgewater’s passes, and Joique Bell put the game away with a fourth-quarter touchdown run in Detroit’s victory over Minnesota.
With Calvin Johnson and Reggie Bush missing, the Lions played a low-risk game. But their defense made another case for top billing in the league. Ziggy Ansah had 2 1/2 of Detroit’s eight sacks,
Bridgewater threw three interceptions in his second career start for the Vikings (2-4).
The biggest problem for Detroit (4-2) was two more missed field goal attempts, through Matt Prater did make one from 52 yards in his Lions debut. Detroit won at Minnesota for only the second time in its last 17 trips.
RAVENS 48, BUCCANEERS 17
TAMPA, Fla. (AP) – Joe Flacco threw for 306 yards and five touchdowns to help Baltimore beat Tampa Bay.
Baltimore (4-2) scored on six straight possessions to begin the game, with Flacco throwing touchdown passes on the first five. Torrey Smith caught the first two, and Kamar Aiken, Michael Campanaro and Steve Smith had the others as the Ravens rebounded from a road loss to Indianapolis.
Tampa Bay (1-5) was embarrassed for the second time in six games under first-year coach Lovie Smith. The Bucs fell 56-14 at Atlanta on Sept. 18.
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