Minnesota Vikings 9–3 Chicago Bears
Carson Wentz passed for 143 yards, Aaron Jones Sr. rushed for 105 yards, and the visiting Minnesota Vikings escaped with a 9-3 win over the Chicago Bears, who lost their quarterback to a hamstring injury.
In the fourth quarter, Williams’s injury cast a pall over the Soldier Field crowd on a gloomy, wet day along the lakefront. The Bears trailed by three points but had first-and-goal from the Vikings’ six-yard line with less than eight minutes to go. Williams kept the ball and sprinted to his left with ample green space in front of him.
Suddenly, Williams stumbled and fell to his knees on a non-contact play. He rolled over a few times in pain until the Bears’ medical staff attended to him. He appeared to fight emotions as he was carted from the sideline to the locker room. The Bears said Williams suffered a hamstring injury.
Wentz completed 11 of 20 passes in his 100th career start as Minnesota (2-0) won despite failing to score a touchdown. Justin Jefferson had three catches for 55 yards.
New Orleans Saints 24–17 Baltimore Ravens
Tyler Shough scored on a fourth-down sneak with 1:28 remaining, and the New Orleans Saints (1-1) rallied to victory over the Baltimore Ravens (1-1). New Orleans had first down from the two before a penalty and a costly incomplete pass. On fourth-and-goal, the Saints decided against a short field goal, and Shough was ruled to have scored on a sneak. The play was upheld after a review. The Ravens, who didn’t have a first down on either of their previous two drives, made it to the New Orleans 37, but Lamar Jackson’s deep pass was intercepted by Julian Blackmon with 13 seconds left.
Cincinnati Bengals 20–6 Houston Texans
Joe Burrow threw two touchdown passes to Ja’Marr Chase and the Cincinnati Bengals are off to their second straight 2-0 start after notching a road victory over the Houston Texans. Burrow completed 20 of 31 passes for 207 yards and Chase had seven receptions for 75 yards while posting his 14th career outing of two or more touchdown catches. Chase had just two catches for 12 yards in Week 1. CJ Stroud was 30-of-55 passing for 353 yards for the Texans (0-2), who lost at home for the second straight week. Dalton Schultz established career bests of 12 catches for 140 yards for Houston, who lost despite registering five sacks.
Pittsburgh Steelers 3–20 New England Patriots
TreVeyon Henderson ran for a 39-yard touchdown in his season debut, Eli Ponder added a 19-yard fumble recovery for a score and the New England Patriots’ defense smothered Aaron Rodgers on the way to victory over the Pittsburgh Steelers (1-1). With the victory, Patriots coach Mike Vrabel avoided just the second 0-2 start of his eight-year coaching career. Romeo Doubs had a 63-yard catch in the third quarter to set up Andy Borregales’ second field goal of the game. Drake Maye finished 14 of 22 for 208 yards and an interception. Rodgers struggled to deal with the Patriots’ defensive pressure. The 42-year-old fumbled twice, including the one that led to Ponder’s score.
Philadelphia Eagles 24–20 Tennessee Titans
Jalen Hurts threw a three-yard touchdown pass to Darius Cooper with nine seconds left, and the Philadelphia Eagles (2-0) beat the Tennessee Titans (0-2). The Eagles appeared ready to dominate Tennessee on a hot and steamy Sunday. They opened the game by stringing together three straight drives of at least 11 plays. The Titans sacked Hurts three times and picked him off twice, turning those into 10 points. The second interception set up Joey Slye’s 33-yard field goal with 1:56 left, putting Tennessee up 20-17 before Hurts, who finished with 264 yards passing and two TDs, helped his team to victory.
Carolina Panthers 34–3 Atlanta Falcons
Bryce Young threw for 287 yards and three touchdowns, including two to Darren Waller, Carolina’s Devin Lloyd returned one of his two interceptions for a touchdown and the Panthers (1-1) crushed the short-handed Atlanta Falcons (0-2). The Panthers took their fourth straight win in the NFC South rivalry. Young completed 23 of 36 passes as he improved to 5-1 against the Falcons. He set a franchise record with 448 yards passing in a 30-27 overtime win to cap last season’s sweep. With Cooper Rush at quarterback, the Falcons had more offensive woes. Rookie Jack Strand replaced Rush late in the game.
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