NFL Week 11 roundup: Texans snap 8-game skid, end Titans' 6-game streak

NASHVILLE — Tyrod Taylor ran for two touchdowns and threw for 107 yards and the Houston Texans snapped the NFL’s longest active skid by beating the Tennessee Titans 22-13 to end the league’s longest winning streak on a wet and rainy Sunday.

The Texans (2-8) came in having lost eight straight since winning their season opener and hadn’t scored a TD on the road since Sept. 19.

Desmond King had two of the Texans’ four interceptions — three in the fourth quarter to snuff out the Titans’ attempted rally. Houston turned those and a fumbled punt into 13 points. The Texans also had two sacks.

TYROD GOES AIRBORNE. #WeAreTexans

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— NFL (@NFL) November 21, 2021

The Titans (8-3) snapped their six-game winning streak with their first loss since Oct. 3. That came to the then-winless New York Jets, and the Texans hadn’t won since the season opener. The Texans also left defensive lineman Jonathan Greenard with his seven sacks in seven games back in Houston with an injured foot.

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— Houston Texans (@HoustonTexans) November 21, 2021

Tennessee outgained Houston 420-190. But the Titans couldn’t overcome their mistakes on a day where their injury list grew even longer with wide receiver A.J. Brown knocked out of the game in the third quarter with an injured chest.

Tennessee already declared six out for this game, including three starters, and also put linebacker Bud Dupree on injured reserve. Starting cornerback Jackrabbit Jenkins was a game-time scratch with a chest injury.

The Texans, fresh coming off their bye, took a 3-0 lead on their opening drive and never trailed again. Texans linebacker Kamu Grugier-Hill picked off Tannehill’s pass and returned it 82 yards to the Titans 6 at the end of the first quarter.

Tennessee held the Texans to a second field goal by Ka’imi Fairbairn for a 6-0 lead.

Taylor capped a 76-yard drive scrambling 7 yards to the end zone where he flipped over Titans safety Amani Hooker for the TD. It was Houston’s first TD on the road since Sept. 19 at Cleveland. But Fairbairn’s extra point was wide left in heavy rain.

Tennessee tried to score just before halftime. But Tannehill was flagged for intentional grounding with 4 seconds left with no timeouts remaining.

A fumbled punt summed up the Titans’ day. After finally forcing the Texans to punt, Titans returner Chester Rogers tried to turn away from the ball after a Texans defender ran past him only to have the ball hit his right heel. Trevon Smith recovered before a big Texans’ celebration in the end zone.

Mike Vrabel gives a Cliffs Notes version on why the @Titans lost on Sunday. pic.twitter.com/EGaMP9bKcf

— Jim Wyatt (@jwyattsports) November 21, 2021

Taylor ran 5 yards for his second TD and a 19-0 lead with 7:00 left in the third.

Tannehill tried to start the comeback with an 18-yard TD pass to rookie Dez Fitzpatrick with 2:24 left in the third. Anthony Firsker recovered a fumble in the end zone to pull the Titans within 19-13 with 7:47 left.

Eagles 40, Saints 29

PHILADELPHIA — Jalen Hurts ran for three touchdowns, Darius Slay returned an interception for a score and the Philadelphia Eagles beat the New Orleans Saints 40-29 on Sunday.

The Eagles (5-6) have won two in a row for the first time this season and rookie coach Nick Sirianni earned his first victory at home in five tries.

The Saints (5-5) dropped their third straight since losing quarterback Jameis Winston to a season-ending ACL injury during a 36-27 win over Super Bowl champion Tampa Bay.

Trevor Siemian threw three touchdown passes and two picks and ran for a score without several missing starters around him. Four-time Pro Bowl running back Alvin Kamara and tackles Terron Armstead and Ryan Ramczyk didn’t play.

The Eagles led 20-7 with under a minute left in the second quarter when Slay stepped in front of Siemian’s pass intended for Deonte Harris and returned it 51 yards for his third TD in four games. He had a 32-yard fumble recovery for a score against the Lions on Oct. 31 and returned a fumble 82 yards for a TD last week at Denver.

Facing the NFL’s top-ranked defense, the Eagles racked up 242 yards on the ground.

Miles Sanders ran for 94 yards, Hurts had 69 and Jordan Howard added 63. The Eagles have surpassed 175 yards rushing in four straight games, including 200-plus in three victories in that span.

Hurts was 13 of 24 for 147 yards with no turnovers.

After the Saints scored 15 straight points in the fourth quarter to pull within 33-22, Hurts put the game away with a dazzling 24-yard TD run, juking defensive end Carl Granderson in the backfield before stepping up and sprinting down the left side.

The Eagles took advantage of a turnover to take a 7-0 lead in the first quarter. After linebacker T.J. Edwards made a leaping interception on Siemian’s pass to give Philadelphia the ball at the Saints 39, Hurts connected with Dallas Goedert twice on third-and-6 to extend the drive and then scored on a sneak from the 1.

Hurts ran in from the 3 on the next possession, reaching the ball over the pylon with an underhanded extension to make it 14-0. Hurts has seven rushing TDs.

The Saints climbed back into it when Christian Ringo forced Sanders to fumble and recovered at the Eagles 6. After Siemian’s 8-yard TD pass to Lil’Jordan Humphrey was negated by a holding penalty on Landon Young, he connected with Adam Trautman in the back of the end zone for an 18-yard TD pass on third-and-goal.

Siemian threw a 26-yard TD pass to Marquez Callaway early in the fourth quarter. The Saints failed to convert a 2-point conversion for the ninth straight time.

Siemian scrambled 17 yards for a TD to get the Saints within two scores at 33-19 with 10:52 remaining.

New Saints kicker Brett Maher rebounded from missing an extra point to hit a 28-yard field goal to cut it to 33-22.

Dolphins 24, Jets 17

EAST RUTHERFORD, N.J. — Tua Tagovailoa threw a go-ahead 5-yard touchdown pass to Myles Gaskin early in the fourth quarter and the Miami Dolphins hung on to beat the New York Jets 24-17 on Sunday for their third straight victory.

A week after an impressive win over Baltimore, the Dolphins (4-7) overcame some penalties — and the Jets had some sloppy plays of their own — to get their first three-game winning streak since winning five in a row in the middle of last season.

With the game tied at 14, Tagovailoa was facing heavy pressure when he got a throw off to Gaskin, who held onto the ball to put the Dolphins ahead 21-14 with 10:15 left despite getting hit by both C.J. Mosley and Isaiah Dunn in the end zone. Mosley took a helmet-to-helmet hit from Dunn on the play and left to be checked for a head injury.

The drive was helped by a roughing the passer penalty on John Franklin-Myers on third down from the 6, when Tagovailoa’s pass to Gaskin fell incomplete.

A penalty hurt the Jets (2-8) again on Miami’s next possession, when Tagovailoa was sacked on third down — but it was wiped out by a holding call on Jason Pinnock. The Dolphins milked the clock and took a 24-14 lead with 1:57 remaining on Jason Sanders’ 24-yard field goal.

Matt Ammendola, who missed two field goals, made a 35-yarder in the closing seconds to cap the scoring.

Tagovailoa finished 23 of 33 for 273 yards and touchdown passes to Gaskin and Mack Hollins with one interception. Receiver Jaylen Waddle had a 1-yard TD run for Miami, which took the all-time series lead for the first time since 2000 by going up 56-55-1 in the head-to-head matchup.

The Jets, who rebounded defensively after allowing at least 45 points in three of their past four games, couldn’t make key stops late. And they couldn’t get anything going consistently on offense.

Joe Flacco made his first start in place of the injured Zach Wilson, who missed his fourth straight game. New York opted to go with the 36-year-old Flacco over Mike White, saying the veteran would give them a better chance against Miami’s aggressive defense.

Flacco was 24 of 39 for 291 yards and touchdowns to Elijah Moore and Jamison Crowder. Moore finished with eight catches for a career-best 141 yards.

Washington 27, Panthers 21

CHARLOTTE, N.C. — Taylor Heinicke threw for 206 yards and three touchdowns against the league’s top-ranked pass defense, and Washington spoiled Cam Newton’s return to Bank of America Stadium with a 27-21 win over the Carolina Panthers on Sunday.

Terry McLaurin had five catches for 103 yards and a touchdown against a Panthers defense that came in having allowed 173.3 yards passing per game.

Newton, making his first start since signing a one-year contract to return to the Panthers, threw for 189 yards and two touchdowns and ran for a 24-yard score. But Newton’s final two potential game-winning drives ended when the Panthers turned the ball over on downs. Daron Payne and James Smith-Williams sacked Newton with 1:11 left to seal the game for Washington (4-6) and Ron Rivera, the former Panthers coach in his first game back in Carolina.

Christian McCaffrey combined for 119 yards from scrimmage and a touchdown for the Panthers (5-6).

After Newton connected on a 27-yard touchdown pass to McCaffrey down the seam to tie the game at 21 midway through the fourth quarter, Heinicke led Washington into Carolina territory behind a fourth-and-2 completion to tight John Bates. That set up former Panther Joey Slye’s go-ahead 36-yard field goal with 4:13 left in the game.

After a holding penalty on Panthers right tackle Taylor Moton to start the next drive, Newton’s fourth-and-3 completion to McCaffrey was just short of the chains, giving Washington the ball. Carolina’s defense held, forcing another short Slye field goal and giving Newton another chance with 1:50 left.

The Panthers reached midfield before the pocket quickly collapsed around Newton on fourth-and-3, and he went down without releasing the ball as Washington players erupted into a celebration around the Panthers’ midfield logo.

Newton has now lost nine straight starts with the Panthers dating to the 2018 season.

Newton lived up the weeklong hype surrounding his return to Bank of America Stadium early by leading the Panthers on a 75-play touchdown on the game’s first possession and throwing a 10-yard touchdown to D.J. Moore after faking a QB draw to draw in the linebackers and free up Moore on the slant route.

In the second quarter, Newton scored on a read-option keeper and celebrated the score by racing to midfield, slamming the ball down and doing his Superman impersonation by pretending to rip open his jersey.

But Heinicke, who spent the 2018 season with Carolina, refused to be upstaged, matching Newton’s heroics in the first half with a pair of touchdown passes to Cam Mims and McLaurin to make it a 14-14 game at the break. He also threw a TD pass to DeAndre Carter in the second half.

Washington running back Antonio Gibson was benched late in the first quarter after he fumbled in the red zone, but came back to finish with 95 yards on 19 carries. Washington ran for 190 yards.

Vikings 34, Packers 31

MINNEAPOLIS — Greg Joseph made a 29-yard field goal as time expired to give the Minnesota Vikings a 34-31 victory over the Green Bay Packers on Sunday, finishing a classic back-and-forth with Aaron Rodgers by making sure the three-time NFL MVP didn’t get to touch the ball last.

Kirk Cousins passed for 341 yards and three touchdowns for the Vikings (5-5), who watched yet another game come down to the final play after Rodgers threw three of his four touchdown passes in the second half.

Unable to practice much at all this week because of a toe injury, after missing much of the first half of the month with covid-19, Rodgers finished 23 for 33 for a season-high 385 yards.

Justin Jefferson had eight receptions for 169 yards and two scores, including a third-down catch against rookie Eric Stokes that Cousins delivered for a 23-yard touchdown while being decked on a blitz by Darnell Savage. Dalvin Cook ran in the 2-point conversion to make up for an earlier missed extra point by Joseph.

Then on the next play from scrimmage, Rodgers threw a rainbow to Marquez Valdes-Scantling streaking past safety Xavier Woods for a 75-yard score to tie the game just before the two-minute warning.

When the Vikings regained the ball, Cousins nearly cost himself the comeback by slightly underthrowing Jefferson, whom Savage darted in front of to intercept the ball. He bobbled it on the way down, though, and a replay review overturned the call.

Cousins then went 3 for 3 for 51 yards on the next three snaps, Cook ran for one more first down, and then the Vikings kneeled down to set up the final kick by Joseph. They posted the highest score against the Packers since their 38-3 loss to New Orleans in the season opener.

Green Bay (8-3) gave up just 34 points over the previous three games. Preston Smith had two sacks, but the Packers didn’t have the same pass rush with outside linebacker Rashan Gary (elbow) sidelined. Za’Darius Smith and Whitney Mercilus are also out with long-term injuries.

Colts 41, Bills 15

ORCHARD PARK, N.Y. — Jonathan Taylor set a franchise record by scoring five times, and took over the NFL lead in both yards rushing and touchdowns, in the Indianapolis Colts’ 41-15 rout of the unraveling Buffalo Bills on Sunday.

Taylor scored three times in the first half, including a 23-yard catch, en route to becoming the NFL’s first player with five TDs in in one game since New Orleans’ Alvin Kamara had six TDs rushing in a 52-33 win over Minnesota last Christmas Day.

The Bills (6-4) ceded their lead atop the AFC East, falling a half-game behind — guess who? — New England, which Buffalo will play twice over the next five weeks.

Taylor finished with a season-high 185 yards rushing and four touchdowns and has 1,122 yards this season after beginning the day tied for the league lead with the injured Derrick Henry of Tennessee. Taylor has 14 touchdowns this season, moving ahead of Arizona’s James Conner, who began the day with 12.

Taylor topped 100 yards from scrimmage and scored a touchdown for the eighth consecutive game, matching the NFL’s longest run set by former Colts running back Lydell Mitchell, spanning the 1975-76 seasons, and LaDainian Tomlinson in 2006.

The Colts (6-5) continued their roll by improving to 5-1 in their past six games. Indianapolis had gone 0-5 against opponents who made the playoffs last year, including two losses to AFC South rival Tennessee.

The Bills have dropped three of five — including a 9-6 loss at Jacksonville two weeks ago — and haven’t won consecutive games since a 4-0 run ended with a 34-31 loss at Tennessee on Oct. 18.

The Colts had four takeaways and took advantage by scoring after two of them to build a 24-7 lead in the first half of a rematch of last season’s wild-card playoff game that Buffalo won 27-24.

Buffalo was flat from the beginning. After limiting opponents to two field goals in the first quarter through their first nine games, the Bills gave up two touchdowns to Taylor in the first 13:22.

The bottom then fell out for Buffalo in the second quarter after Michael Badgley capped a 15-play, 58-yard drive with a 36-yard field goal to put the Colts up 17-7 with 2:12 left in the second quarter. McKenzie fielded the ensuing kickoff and lost the ball untouched while stumbling to the turf at Buffalo’s 13.

T.J. Carrie scooped up the fumble and returned it to Buffalo’s 2. Taylor scored on the next play by diving over a pile.

Allen finished 21 of 35 for 200 yards with two touchdowns, both to Stefon Diggs, and two interceptions.

Chiefs 19, Cowboys 9

KANSAS CITY, Mo. — Clyde Edwards-Helaire ran for 63 yards and a touchdown in his return from injured reserve, Chris Jones and the Kansas City defense made life miserable for Dak Prescott, and the Chiefs beat the Dallas Cowboys 19-9 on Sunday.

Patrick Mahomes was 23 of 37 for 260 yards with an interception and a fumble for Kansas City, but he was bailed out by a defense that played its best game of the year. Charvarius Ward picked off Prescott in the end zone near the end of the first half, and Chris Jones had 3 1/2 sacks while forcing and recovering a fumble.

The result: The Chiefs (7-4) improved to 4-0 against the NFC East with their fourth straight win overall.

Prescott was held to 216 yards passing and two interceptions for the Cowboys, though he was missing a whole lot of help. Left tackle Tyron Smith missed his third straight game with an ankle injury, Amari Cooper tested positive for COVID-19 and fellow wide receiver CeeDee Lamb sustained a concussion just before halftime.

Ezekiel Elliott, who appeared to tweak his ankle early in the game, finished with nine carries for 32 yards. Linebacker Micah Parsons was the biggest highlight for the Cowboys (7-3), forcing a fumble and getting two more sacks.

The Chiefs have hit their stride after a rough first seven weeks that left them 3-4 and last in the AFC West. They’ve eliminated many of the turnovers and penalties that hamstrung their offense, and a defense that was historically inept in September and October has turned into a ferocious, ball-hawking bunch in November.

Just ask Prescott, who spent a good part of Sunday running away from it.

Mahomes followed up a 406-yard, five-touchdown performance against the Raiders by dicing up the Cowboys in the first half. He led Kansas City on an 86-yard march that ended with Travis Kelce taking a direct snap for a touchdown, then he led a 65-yard drive a few minutes later that ended with Edwards-Helaire’s short TD run.

All the Cowboys managed was Greg Zuerlein’s field goal and they trailed 16-3 at the break.

Zuerlein hit two more in the second half, and Harrison Butker added another field goal for Kansas City as the teams traded silly mistakes that kept them from reaching the end zone. Mahomes had a pass bounce off Kelce’s hands for another interception, and the Cowboys had a promising drive go haywire after a false-start penalty.

The Chiefs’ resurgent defense made sure the Cowboys never got within one possession the rest of the way.

Cardinals 23, Seahawks 13

SEATTLE — Colt McCoy was outstanding filling in for Kyler Murray, throwing for 328 yards and two touchdowns, and the Arizona Cardinals beat the Seattle Seahawks 23-13 on Sunday.

For the second straight season, McCoy was a backup thrust into a starting role in Seattle and walked away with a victory. Last year, McCoy was with the New York Giants. This season, it was with Murray missing a third straight game due to an ankle injury.

McCoy went 35 of 44 and thoroughly outplayed Seattle’s Russell Wilson in his first home start since undergoing finger surgery. McCoy threw touchdown passes of 1 and 2 yards to Zach Ertz in the first half, got a bit of luck in the third quarter when a potential interception was overturned on replay, and had his first 300-yard passing game since 2014.

Arizona (9-2) had scoring drives of 92 and 82 yards in the first half that ate up 16 minutes. The Cardinals ran off another 7½ minutes early in the fourth quarter but Matt Prater missed his second field goal attempt, from 36 yards to give Seattle hope.

After 20 straight offensive drives without a touchdown, DeeJay Dallas scored on a 2-yard run with 7:08 left to pull Seattle within 16-13. The drive was keyed by a 48-yard pass to Tyler Lockett.

But McCoy put the game away with another terrific possession that included a 20-yard pass to Ertz on third-and-7 and two designed runs for first downs. James Conner capped the drive with a 1-yard run with 2:20 left that sent Seattle fans streaming for the exits.

Ertz had eight catches for 88 yards and Rondale Moore at 11 receptions as the Cardinals used a variety of options to make up for the absence of injured DeAndre Hopkins.

And they may have helped provide the final blow to Seattle’s lifeless season.

The Seahawks (3-7) lost their second straight and for the fifth time in the past six games. Their offense was abysmal, their defense failed to get third-down stops, and Seattle was regularly booed by the home fans after its fourth home loss of the season.

Wilson looked confused and indecisive, and didn’t get help from his receivers at times. Play calling didn’t help, with strange decisions to target Dallas and Penny Hart on key third downs in the second half.

Seattle went 20 straight drives without a touchdown before Dallas’ TD run midway through the fourth quarter. Wilson was 14 of 26 for 207 yards.

Seattle seemed to get the break it needed midway through the third quarter. Sidney Jones intercepted McCoy and returned the pick to the Arizona 11. But after a lengthy review, officials ruled the ball hit the ground and the interception was overturned. Arizona punted — a 67-yard difference in field position for Seattle.

Seattle punted on five of its first seven possessions and Wilson was sacked four times, 2½ coming from Chandler Jones.