NFL roundup: Texans and Ravens grab thrilling wins over Bills and Bengals

Buffalo Bills 20–23 Houston Texans

CJ Stroud threw for 331 yards and a touchdown and Ka′imi Fairbairn’s tiebreaking 59-yard field goal as time expired lifted the Houston Texans to a 23-20 win over the Buffalo Bills. The Texans (4-1) led 20-3 after a field goal early in third quarter before the Bills scored 17 straight points to tie it with just under four minutes to go. Stroud was called for intentional grounding to bring up fourth-and-15 and take the Texans out of field-goal range with less than a minute left. A punt backed the Bills up to their three and they punted after three straight incomplete passes to give Houston one last chance. Dare Ogunbowale had a 5-yard run to set up Fairbairn’s game winner.

Baltimore Ravens 41–38 Cincinnati Bengals

Justin Tucker kicked a 24-yard field goal to lift the Baltimore Ravens to a wild overtime win over the Cincinnati Bengals. After Evan McPherson missed a 53-yard attempt for Cincinnati on a fumbled snap, Baltimore took over on its own 43. On the next play, Derrick Henry rumbled 51 yards down to the Bengals 6 to set up Tucker’s chip-shot kick for the win. Tucker tied it with a 56-yarder with 1:35 left to force overtime. The Ravens and Bengals traded punches on offense the entire day with Lamar Jackson prevailing despite Joe Burrow throwing a career-high five touchdown passes.

Carolina Panthers 10–36 Chicago Bears

Caleb Williams threw for 304 yards and two touchdowns in his best performance to date, DJ Moore added 105 yards receiving and two scores against his former team and the Chicago Bears (3-2) beat the Carolina Panthers (1-4). The Bears won their second straight after dropping two in a row, with the two key pieces they acquired as a result of a blockbuster trade with Carolina in 2023 leading the way. Chicago also got a big performance from D’Andre Swift. He had 120 yards from scrimmage and a TD. Williams picked apart a banged-up defense that ranks among the NFL’s worst. The No 1 overall draft pick completed 20 of 29 passes with no interceptions and a 126.2 rating that was his best.

Cleveland Browns 13–34 Washington Commanders

Jayden Daniels bounced back from an early interception with the longest touchdown pass of his young NFL career as he and the Washington Commanders routed the Cleveland Browns for their fourth consecutive victory. Washington are 4-1 for the first time since 2008. Cleveland have lost three in a row to drop to 1-4. Daniels, Brian Robinson Jr, Austin Ekeler and Jeremy McNichols combined for 211 yards rushing. Deshaun Watson and the Browns’ offense was sloppy and disjointed once again.

Indianapolis Colts 34–37 Jacksonville Jaguars

Trevor Lawrence threw for 371 yards and two touchdowns on his 25th birthday and put Jacksonville in position for a 49-yard field goal with 17 seconds left that gave the Jaguars their first win of the season, over the short-handed Indianapolis Colts. Tank Bigsby ran for 101 yards and two scores for Jacksonville (1-4), who won for the first time since December and extended their home streak against division rival Indianapolis (2-3) to double digits. The Jaguars did so while wearing throwback uniforms on a day the franchise inducted retired coach Tom Coughlin into its ring of honor.

New York Jets 17-23 Minnesota Vikings

Andrew Van Ginkel returned the first of Aaron Rodgers’ three interceptions 63 yards for a touchdown and Minnesota stayed undefeated by holding on for a win over the New York Jets at Tottenham Hotspur Stadium. The Jets (2-3) trailed 17-0 early, but had a chance to drive for a potential winning score in the final minutes. But Stephon Gilmore intercepted Rodgers’ pass intended for Mike Williams and the Vikings improved to 5-0 for the first time since 2016.

Miami Dolphins 15–10 New England Patriots

Alec Ingold scored the go-ahead touchdown on a three-yard run with four minutes left and Miami beat the New England Patriots. Jason Sanders kicked three field goals to make up for three botched kicks by Miami’s special teams in a game pocked with penalties, missed kicks and clock management mistakes. Miami took the lead when Ingold plunged into the end zone on his only carry of the game.