Jefferson, Vikings reach for the sky
Confetti from an NFL weekend.
Minnesota 33, Buffalo 30 (OT)
— Whether it was Justin Jefferson making the mother of all one-hand catches or Dalvin Cook streaking for an 81-yard touchdown when all seemed lost at 27-10, the Vikings (8-1) showed they’ll go to any lengths to win a game, even on the road. Last week at Washington they trailed 17-7 in the fourth quarter and won 20-17. Here they wre down 17 with 1:51 left in the third.
— Jefferson cemented his identity as the league’s best receiver by catching 10 balls for 193 yards, including his indescribable grab on a fourth and 18 that kept a fourth quarter drive alive. The Bills stopped the Vikings at the one yard line, but Josh Allen fumbled the snap and Eric Kendricks recovered it in the end zone for a go-ahead touchdown. Then the Bills tied it with a field goal, but Patrick Peterson, 32, intercepted Allen in the end zone after Minnesota had gone ahead 33-30.
— This would be quite a Super Bowl, involving franchises that are 0-8 in the Ultimate Game. But the Bills (6-3) fell into third place in the AFC East, and back-to-back losses have exposed Allen’s turnover problems. He has thrown 10 interceptions and lost three fumbles.
San Francisco 22, L.A. Chargers 16
— The 49ers are feeling all right, but the Chargers aren’ t feeling so good themselves. As the injury bug settled in on the defensive line, L.A. couldn’t hold up offensively in the second half aainst Nick Bosa & Co.
— Missing Mike Williams, Rashawn Slater and Keenan Allen on offense, the Chargers managed only 12 first downs and held onto the ball for just 23 minutes, one second.
— San Francisco assembled Deebo Samuel, Eric Mitchell and Christian McCaffrey on offense and got two touchdowns out of it. Both teams are 5-4 in their Western Divisions.
Detroit 31, Chicago 30
— Another week of unrewarded brilliance by second-year quarterback Justin Fields of Chiago. Over the past five games he has averaged 111 rushing yards, and on Sunday he sprinted for a 67-yard touhdown and rampaged for 147 yards on 13 carries.
— Fields also flipped a 50-yard touchdown to tight end Cole Kmet that put the Bears ahead 24-10, at home. But a pick-6 by Jeff Okudah led Detroit’s rally, and a missed PAT by Cairo Santos opened the door for a 91-yard TD drive by the Lions that recaptured the lead with 2:24 left.
— In the battle of the St. Browns, Amon-Ra caught 10 passes on 11 targets for 119 yards on Detroit’s half, and Equanimeous ran twice for nine yards and didn’t have any footballs thown his way by Fields.
Green Bay 31, Dallas 28, OT
Tampa Bay 21, Seattle 16
— The Packers seemed to realize how absurd it was for Aaron Rodgers to lead them in rushing last week in a loss to Detroit. They let Aaron Jones run 24 times for 138 yards, and A.J. Dillon got 65 yards on 13 rushes as the Packers recovered from a 28-14 deficit.
— Tampa Bay was in an identical spot. Tom Brady threw 58 passes in a last-minute win over the Rams, the third time in 2022 that he’d thrown over 50. The Bucs ditched that strategy in Munich and gave rookie Rachaad White 22 chances, which paid off for 105 yards. Leonard Fournette took 14 handoffs and ran for 57 as the Bucs dominated the ball and knocked off Seattle, 21-16.
— The Bucs are 5-5 and leading the NFC South, and NFL rules demand that someone win that division as well as all others. The Packers are 4-6 and have no shot at the NFC North, but the playoffs are attainable.
Miami 39, Cleveland 17
—The fans are back at Hard Rock Stadium and so are the fireworks, even in the daytime. The Dolphins head into the bye week with a 7-3 record and at least 30 points in their past three games.
— Tua Tagovailoa has been the efficiency expert all year. In the past three games the Dolphins have 10 touchdowns in 14 red zone situations, and in this game he completed 25 of 32 with three TDs and no interceptions. Miami scored five TDs on nine possessions and never punted.
— The defense isn’t in the same category, but it did hit Cleveland QB Jacoby Brissett 14 times, with Christian Wilkins, newly-acquired Bradley Chubb and Melvin Ingram hitting Chubb three times apiece. This is a star-laden team with a quarterback at the top of his game.
Indianapolis 25, Las Vegas 20
— Jeff Saturday is 1-0 as a coach on any level. The former Colts center and ESPN opinionator was at the helm Sunday for this win, which lifted the Colts to 4-5-1, although Philadelphia is next.
— In truth, Jonathan Taylor can make any coach look good. He missed last week’s loss to New England, which got Frank Reich fired, and ran 22 times for 147 yards and a 66-yard TD. Matt Ryan regained his QB job and even managed a 35-yard run, while completing 21 of 28 with no picks.
— The Raiders’ misery continues. Now 2-7, their final drive stalled out on the Colts’ 16, and they managed little offense that didn’t involve Davante Adams, who caught nine of Derek Carr’s passes for 126 yards. They also produced one sack against a leaky line and a 37-year-old quarterback. Josh McDaniels is now 13-24 as a NFL coach.