For the past few weeks, head coach Mike McCarthy seems to be in an ejection seat with the Dallas Cowboys.
This Sunday’s result will do nothing to make him more comfortable in his position. The Cowboys suffered a third straight defeat, this one by a score of 27 to 21 to the Atlanta Falcons.
The Texan team continues after defeats of 47 to 9 against the Detroit Lions and 30 to 24 against the San Francisco 49ers. This setback also leaves doubt at the quarterback position since Dak Prescott was replaced in the fourth quarter due to a hamstring injury.
The Cowboys will also monitor the health of their star receiver CeeDee Lamb. A mention of a shoulder injury was raised in his case at the very end of the match. He still remained at his post. He was limited to eight catches and 47 yards in the loss.
The Cowboys defense had further problems at the start of the game. She allowed Drake London and Darnell Mooney to score touchdowns to bring the score to 14-3 Falcons. London, however, left the match after his major for Atlanta with a hip injury.
Prescott orchestrated the response for Dallas before the half. He shook off the pressure and handed the ball to Rico Dowdle in the end zone who was able to grab it after a bit of juggling.
The Falcons gave themselves a more comfortable cushion with Ray-Ray McCloud’s middle finger in the third quarter. Tyler Allgeier added more on the ground with just over 11 minutes left in the game by crossing the end zone after a six-yard run.
Prescott completed 18 of 24 passes for just 133 yards in this matchup before being replaced by Cooper Rush. The latter put together a 14-play offensive sequence that ended with Jalen Tolbert’s touchdown. He then spotted Lamb for the two-point conversion, but he appeared in pain after contact.
The gap was only six points at that point, but the Falcons recovered the short kick to use up the final seconds afterwards.
Rush rushed for 115 yards with 13 completions in this game. For his part, Cousins recorded 222 yards and three touchdown passes.
With this loss, the Cowboys fall to a 3-5 record and will face their division rivals, the Philadelphia Eagles, next Sunday. The Falcons extend their lead at the top of the National South division with their 6-3 record.
You great Joe Burrow
Joe Burrow tied a career high with five touchdown passes to lead the Cincinnati Bengals to an easy 41-24 victory over the Las Vegas Raiders.
Burrow finished his game with 27 completions on 39 attempts for 251 yards. He joined Mike Gesicki twice for majors. Other targets were Chase Brown, Andrei Iosivas and Drew Sample for touchdowns.
His game was not perfect, however, as he threw an interception that Jack Jones returned for a touchdown for the Raiders.
Chase Brown led the way on the ground for the Bengals with a season-high 27 carries and 120 yards.
The Bengals also had help from Gardner Minshew. The latter fumbled the ball in the third quarter and Gesicki followed up with the middle finger for Cincinnati in the games that followed.
The Raiders quarterback completed only 10 passes in this game for 124 yards. He was benched in the third quarter for Desmond Ridder. But he didn’t do better with a fumble on one of Trey Hendrickson’s four sacks.
Herbert brings the Browns back to earth
Justin Herbert had 282 air yards and two touchdown passes as the Los Angeles Chargers won 27-10 at the expense of the Cleveland Browns.
Herbert connected with Quentin Johnston for 66 yards and Joshua Palmer for 27 yards for the touchdowns in question.
Before the pass to Palmer, Darius Davis set the field by returning a punt 53 yards.
The Chargers (5-3) are undefeated in their last five games against the Browns.
JK Dobbins had rushing touchdowns with runs of 16 and seven yards.
The Chargers will play three straight home games starting next Sunday against Tennessee.
For the Browns, Jameis Winston committed three interceptions and suffered six sacks.
Cleveland (2-7) had just 57 yards in the first half.
Myles Garrett had three sacks, but the Browns’ home record slipped to 1-4.
A first in 28 years in Washington
Jayden Daniels completed two touchdown passes to Terry McLaurin, helping the Washington Commanders win 27-22 against the New York Giants.
The Commanders are 7-2, their last record since 1996.
McLaurin caught touchdown passes of one yard and 18 yards in the first half.
Washington’s first touchdown started with a sack where Dante Fowler made Daniel Jones lose the ball.
The Commanders will host the Steelers next Sunday.
Beaten for a fourth time in a row, the Giants saw their record slip to 2-7. They remain winless in five home games.
Jones rushed two yards to the penalty area and threw two touchdown passes.
Playing his first game in the NFL, Irishman Jude McAtamney made a 31-yard field goal.
A dramatic play from Maye wasn’t enough
Nick Folk made a 25-yard field goal with 2:32 left in overtime and the Tennessee Titans defeated the New England Patriots 20-17.
The Titans (2-6), who ended a three-game losing streak, also gave head coach Brian Callahan his first home victory this season.
The Patriots (2-7) sent rookie Drake Maye into the fray after he was cleared by doctors Saturday to play after suffering a concussion last week against the New York Jets.
Maye forced overtime with a five-yard touchdown pass to Rhamondre Stevenson late in the fourth quarter, but was intercepted after Folk’s field goal in overtime to end the game.
The Titans also had four sacks and created three turnovers. Tennessee’s defense leads the NFL in fewest yards allowed to the opponent.
Mason Rudolph threw a six-yard touchdown pass to Nick Westbrooke-Ikhine with 4:27 left. It was the Titans’ first points in the fourth quarter since September 30. Rudolph finished the game with 240 yards.
Nothing is going well for the Saints; 7th loss in a row
Chuba Hubbard scored a 16-yard touchdown run with 2:18 on the clock and the Carolina Panthers stopped a five-game losing streak with a 23-22 win over the New Orleans Saints.
Hubbard also went into the pay zone with a one-yard run in the third quarter.
Bryce Young had 171 air yards, including a touchdown pass.
The Panthers (2-7) benefited from strong games from rookies Ja’Tavion Sanders and Xavier Legette: the former racked up 87 receiving yards, the latter caught a fourth touchdown pass.
For the Saints (2-7), Alvin Kamara had 155 yards rushing and 60 yards catching.
New Orleans lost a seventh consecutive game.
The Saints had a chance to win with a field goal with less than two minutes left in the final quarter. Carolina’s defense said no, helped among other things by a sack of Jadeveon Clowney on second down.
