NFL Week 6 roundup: Dalvin Cook’s late touchdown gives Vikings win over Dolphins
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MIAMI GARDENS, Fla. — Dalvin Cook rushed for a 53-yard insurance touchdown in the fourth quarter and the Minnesota Vikings held on to beat the injury-riddled Miami Dolphins 24-16 on Sunday.
Cook was quiet most of the afternoon until his score with 3:25 left restored Minnesota’s two-touchdown lead.
Miami had rallied behind Teddy Bridgewater, a former Viking who returned Sunday from concussion protocol but was only put into game action after third-stringer Skylar Thompson injured his thumb in the second quarter.
Cook’s burst followed a fumble by Dolphins receiver Jaylen Waddle on a drive when Miami was swiftly moving the ball down the field, trailing 16-10.
Scoring TDs in Miami is what @dalvincook does!
????: @NFLonFOX pic.twitter.com/BS2CKFV3bH
— Minnesota Vikings (@Vikings) October 16, 2022
Vikings receiver Justin Jefferson, who entered the game as the NFL’s leader in receiving yards, had a 47-yard catch-and-run at the end of the third quarter — part of a six-catch, 107-yard performance. That set up a 2-yard touchdown catch by Adam Thielen to make it 16-3.
Facing their fifth-straight fourth-quarter deficit, the Dolphins found the end zone for the first time when Bridgewater threw a 4-yard TD pass to tight end Mike Gesicki.
The Vikings defense came away with an interception and fumble recovery on the Dolphins’ next two possessions. Minnesota’s defense sacked Miami’s quarterbacks five times.
The Dolphins defense put together one of its best performances in a while — three sacks, seven quarterback hurries, four tackles for loss — but didn’t get enough help from an offense that could not turn drives into points.
Miami had three receivers — Hill, Waddle and Gesicki — with at least seven catches.
Waddle and Hill both topped 100 receiving yards, and Gesicki had two touchdown catches, including one with less than two minutes left after the game had virtually been decided.
Lookin' like the @Vikings are about to lock up the 5-1 record ???? pic.twitter.com/2kSbi07JIb
— FOX Sports: NFL (@NFLonFOX) October 16, 2022
Thompson started in place of Bridgewater and Tua Tagovailoa. He didn’t return after injuring his thumb, marking the fourth-consecutive game that a Dolphins starting quarterback was injured.
Bridgewater replaced Thompson with about 11 minutes left in the first half after spending most of the week in the NFL’s concussion protocol. He finished with 329 yards, two touchdowns and two interceptions.
Cousins was 20 for 30 with 175 yards and two touchdowns. Cook ran for 77 yards on 13 carries.
Minnesota got Jefferson and Thielen involved on their fifth possession of the game after four-consecutive three-and-outs. The result was a touchdown catch by tight end Irv Smith Jr. for a 7-3 lead.
From the start, Thompson looked more comfortable throwing the ball than he did in last week’s loss to the Jets. But the Dolphins did little to help their rookie quarterback on their first two drives.
Thompson had an impressive third-down scramble on Miami’s opening drive, then followed with a throw to Gesicki in tight coverage for an 18-yard gain.
Miami’s offensive line, playing without starting left tackle Terron Armstead, allowed Patrick Jones to get through to Thompson untouched for an 8-yard sack that knocked the Dolphins out of field goal range.
Miami had another drive in the first half spoiled by five penalties over 10 plays, wiping out gains of 20, 32 and 9 yards.
Colts 34, Jaguars 27
INDIANAPOLIS — Matt Ryan threw a 32-yard touchdown pass to Alec Pierce with 17 seconds to play Sunday, leading the Indianapolis Colts to a 34-27 win over the Jacksonville Jaguars.
The victory ends Indy’s two-game skid against their AFC South rival and marks the third time this season Ryan has led the Colts (3-2-1) to a come-from-behind victory.
It’s the fifth straight loss in Indy for the Jaguars (2-4). The home team has won 11 straight in this series.
Ryan followed a completely different script in this game than he had the previous five games. Instead of relying on the ground game, the Colts asked the 15-year veteran to lean heavily on short, quick throws and it worked. He finished with a franchise record 42 completions on 58 attempts with three touchdowns and 389 yards — passing Dan Marino for seventh on the NFL’s career list for yards passing.
Marino retired with a then league record 61,361 yards. Ryan has 61,499 after completing his 45th career game-winning drive.
It sure wasn’t easy — even after the Colts snapped a touchdown drought that stretched from the third quarter of Week 4 until just before halftime Sunday when Ryan found Parris Campbell on a 4-yard TD pass to cut the deficit to 14-10.
Nor after Trevor Lawrence took advantage of two defensive penalties and burned more than 10 minutes on a methodical, 18-play drive capped by a 4-yard TD pass to Christian Kirk to give the Jags a 27-26 lead. The 2-point conversion pass failed.
But Ryan got one more chance — and delivered yet again by marching the Colts into field-goal position before throwing deep to Pierce on third-and-3. Pierce wrestled the ball away from a defender near the goal line and got into the end zone to win it.
Lawrence was 20 of 22 with 163 yards and one score while running for two TDs.
Jets 27, Packers 10
GREEN BAY, Wis. — Breece Hall ran for 116 yards, including a 34-yard touchdown, the surprising Jets sacked Aaron Rodgers four times and New York won its third straight with a 27-10 victory over the Green Bay Packers on Sunday.
The Jets (4-2) are off to their best six-game start since 2015, when they also were 4-2 before finishing with a 10-6 record. New York hasn’t reached the playoffs since the 2010 season, the NFL’s longest active drought.
Green Bay (3-3) has lost consecutive regular-season games within the same season for the first time since coach Matt LaFleur’s arrival in 2019. The Packers blew an early 14-point lead in a 27-22 loss to the New York Giants in London last week.
The Jets, whose offensive coordinator is LaFleur’s younger brother Mike, outrushed Green Bay 179-60 in a game during which Zach Wilson was just 10 of 18 for 110 yards. New York broke a 3-all tie and pulled ahead for good by scoring two touchdowns in a span of less than 2 1/2 minutes in the third quarter.
Braxton Berrios gave the Jets the lead by scoring on a 20-yard end-around. After New York stopped Green Bay on its next possession, Michael Clemons blocked a punt and Will Parks got the ball and raced 20 yards into the end zone.
The Packers got back in the game as Rodgers withstood a big hit from Nathan Shepherd and threw a 25-yard touchdown pass to Allen Lazard later in the third. The Packers capitalized on an unnecessary roughness penalty on Jordan Whitehead that nullified a third-and-2 incompletion and gave Green Bay a first down.
New York quickly resumed control.
Hall scored on his 34-yard burst to open the fourth quarter to make it 24-10, the longest run from scrimmage in the young career of the rookie second-round pick from Iowa State. He celebrated the touchdown by doing his own version of the Lambeau leap and jumping into a collection of Jets fans in the stands.
The Packers entered Sunday having won 20 of the last 21 home games Rodgers had started against AFC teams, including 11 straight victories.
But the reigning MVP had a frustrating afternoon against the Jets’ promising young defense.
Rodgers had injured his right thumb while getting sacked as he prepared to throw a Hail Mary pass on the final play against the Giants. The thumb prevented Rodgers from practicing Wednesday, though he participated full in the Packers’ Thursday and Friday sessions.
Whether bothered by the thumb or not, Rodgers hardly resembled himself for much of the game. He went 26 of 41 for 241 yards and nearly committed turnovers on each of Green Bay’s first two possessions.
On the game’s opening series, Rodgers threw a third-and-9 pass that bounced off a diving Robert Tonyan before New York’s Ahmad “Sauce” Gardner picked it out of the air and returned it 35 yards for an apparent touchdown. The touchdown was overturned when replays showed the ball hit the ground before getting to Tonyan.
Quinnen Williams sacked Rodgers on Green Bay’s next series to force a fumble that running back Aaron Jones recovered at the Packers 8.
Falcons 28, 49ers 14
ATLANTA — Marcus Mariota threw a pair of touchdown passes and ran for another score against the NFL’s top-ranked defense, leading the Atlanta Falcons to a 28-14 victory over the San Francisco 49ers on Sunday.
Mariota completed his first 13 passes for the Falcons (3-3), finally throwing his lone incompletion on his final attempt of the day with less than 11 minutes remaining. He finished with 129 yards through the air in Atlanta’s conservative passing game, also rushing for 50 yards on six carries.
The Niners (3-3) couldn’t overcome two interceptions by Jimmy Garoppolo and a fumble that was returned for a touchdown by the Falcons.
Kyle Pitts caught his first TD pass of the season and just the second of his 22-game career, hauling in a 7-yard throw from Mariota that prompted the young tight end to break out the vintage “Dirty Bird” dance.
Veteran tight end MyCole Pruitt, who was elevated from the practice squad for the game, collected the other scoring pass from Mariota, a 2-yarder to cap an 11-play, 74-yard drive on Atlanta’s opening possession.
Mariota bootlegged it in from the 3 in the final minute of the first half to the put the Falcons ahead to stay, 21-14.
Atlanta’s defense outshined the Niners’ touted unit, making things tough on Garoppolo, limiting San Francisco to 50 yards rushing and even scoring a touchdown of its own.
On a third-and-1 plunge into the line, Jeff Wilson had the ball knocked away by Rashaan Evans. A.J. Terrell scooped it up at the San Francisco 21 and took off for the end zone. He fumbled, too, trying to stretch for a TD, but teammate Jaylin Hawkins gobbled up the loose ball to put the Falcons ahead 14-0.
San Francisco tied it with touchdowns on back-to-back possessions in the second quarter, both of them on TD throws to Brandon Aiyuk.
Garoppolo connected with Aiyuk on a 12-yard score, the Falcons went three-and-out, Ray-Ray McCloud broke off a 35-yard punt return, and Garoppolo returned to Aiyuk for a 14-yard TD toss.
But that was about all the offense the Niners could muster. The Falcons controlled the clock by outrushing San Francisco 168-50 on a season-high 40 carries.
Bills 24, Chiefs 20
KANSAS CITY, Mo. — Josh Allen threw for 329 yards and three touchdowns, including the go-ahead toss to Dawson Knox with 1:04 remaining, and the Buffalo Bills beat the Kansas City Chiefs 24-20 on Sunday to exact a small measure of revenge for their epic overtime loss in last year’s playoffs.
Stefon Diggs had 10 catches for 148 yards and a touchdown, and Gabe Davis also had a TD catch after torching Kansas City for four of them in January, as the Bills (5-1) finally walked out of Arrowhead Stadium a winner.
Patrick Mahomes had one last chance to rally the Chiefs (4-2) in the final minute. But after an incomplete pass, Buffalo cornerback Taron Johnson jumped Mahomes’ pass to Skyy Moore, picking him off with 51 seconds left.
Mahomes finished with 338 yards passing to go with two touchdowns and two interceptions, including one in the end zone early in the game. JuJu Smith-Schuster had five catches for 113 yards and a touchdown.
Harrison Butker kicked two field goals for Kansas City, including a 62-yarder on the last play of the first half and a 44-yarder that put the Chiefs ahead 20-17 with 9:49 to play. But the Chiefs went three-and-out on their next possession, setting up the Bills’ decisive drive.
Rams 24, Panthers 10
INGLEWOOD, Calif. — Matthew Stafford passed for 253 yards, Darrell Henderson and receiver Ben Skowronek rushed for touchdowns in the second half, and Los Angeles beat Carolina to end a two-game skid.
Allen Robinson caught a TD pass for the defending Super Bowl champion Rams (3-3), who spoiled Steve Wilks’ debut as the Panthers’ interim head coach.
Wilks took over when Matt Rhule was fired last Monday. He apparently sent receiver Robbie Anderson to the locker room shortly before the end of the third quarter after a shouting match with receivers coach Joe Dailey.
Donte Jackson returned an interception 30 yards for a touchdown for the Panthers (1-5), who have lost three straight. Christian McCaffrey racked up 158 total yards, but P.J. Walker passed for just 60 yards while making his third career start in the injury absences of Baker Mayfield, Sam Darnold and Matt Corral.
Walker was sidelined in the fourth quarter with a neck injury, but passed concussion protocol. Jacob Eason, promoted from the practice squad this week, passed for 59 yards for the Panthers, whose offense didn’t score after a field goal on the opening drive.
Los Angeles trailed 10-7 at halftime, but took control in the second half.
Seahawks 19, Cardinals 9
SEATTLE — Rookie Kenneth Walker III rushed for an 11-yard touchdown early in the fourth quarter and Seattle beat Arizona.
The Seahawks (3-3) jumped into a share of the lead in the NFC West with San Francisco, which lost earlier Sunday at Atlanta.
Walker, a second-round pick out of Michigan State, took over as Seattle’s feature back because of Rashaad Penny’s season-ending broken leg. He had a season-most 21 carries for 97 yards.
Geno Smith completed 20 of 31 passes for 197 yards for Seattle. He also ran for 48 yards on six carries. Jason Myers kicked four field goals for the Seahawks.
Kyler Murray completed 23 of 37 passes for 222 yards with an interception, while rushing for 100 yards for the Cardinals (2-4), who struggled all day to finish drives.
Matt Ammendola made a 23-yard field goal to cap Arizona’s first drive of the game, the first time all season the Cardinals scored in the first quarter. But Arizona didn’t score again in the first half, and Chris Banjo’s fumble recovery in the end zone led to its lone touchdown.