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The Spokesman-Review Newspaper
Spokane, Washington  Est. May 19, 1883

NFL capsules: Minnesota Vikings roll to fifth straight win

Los Angeles Rams linebacker Samson Ebukam (EWU) forces a fumble by Tom Savage of the Houston Texans. (Jae C. Hong / Associated Press)
Associated Press

Case Keenum threw touchdowns to four receivers to build a big lead, and NFC North-leading Minnesota won its fifth in a row, beating Washington 38-30 in Landover, Maryland.

With Teddy Bridgewater active for the first time since January 2016 after a devastating knee injury, Keenum was 21 of 29 for 304 yards and TD passes to Stefon Diggs, Adam Thielen, David Morgan and Jarius Wright. He was picked off on consecutive throws by D.J. Swearinger. Thielen had eight catches for a season-high 166 yards.

Rams 33, Texans 7

Robert Woods caught two of Jared Goff’s three touchdown passes during a dominant third quarter, and surging Los Angeles returned after a month away from home for its fourth straight victory, beating depleted Houston. After struggling to a 9-7 lead during a quiet first half for the NFL’s highest-scoring team, the Rams ran away with a series of big throws by Goff, who passed for a career-high 355 yards.

Falcons 27, Cowboys 7

Adrian Clayborn set an Atlanta record with six sacks, Matt Ryan threw a pair of short touchdown passes and the visiting Falcons romped to victory over Dallas. The Cowboys looked anemic offensively in their first game without suspended running back Ezekiel Elliott. Ryan hooked up with Justin Hardy on a 3-yard pass for Atlanta’s first offensive touchdown in the third quarter this season. Early in the fourth, Ryan put the game away for the Falcons by tossing one to Austin Hooper for a 1-yard score.

Saints 47, Bills 10

Mark Ingram scored a career-best three touchdowns and host New Orleans won its seventh straight game by plowing through a porous Buffalo defense at the Superdome. Ingram finished with 131 yards rushing. He scored twice from 3 yards and again on a 1-yard plunge. The Saints finished with 298 yards rushing and 32 first downs.

Patriots 41, Broncos 16

Tom Brady threw three touchdown passes and visiting New England matched its own AFC record with its 12th consecutive road victory, pummeling Denver. These teams have represented the AFC in the last four Super Bowls, and the Broncos were hoping a visit from their rivals would help shake them from their funk. Instead, the Broncos fizzled. They saw their losing streak reach five games, their longest skid in seven seasons, and they lost back-to-back games to the Patriots in Denver for the first time since 1966. Avoiding Von Miller all night and throwing for 266 yards on 25-of-34 passing, Brady improved to 8-9 against the Broncos, the only team he has a losing record against, and won for just the fourth time in 11 trips to Denver. His 86th regular-season road win broke a tie with Peyton Manning for most all-time.

Jags 20, Chargers 17, OT

Josh Lambo kicked a 30-yard field goal with 3:12 remaining in overtime, lifting host Jacksonville over Los Angeles in a wild game. Lambo’s kick got tipped at the line of scrimmage and still cleared the crossbar. It gave Jacksonville its first three-game winning streak since 2013.

Steelers 20, Colts 17

Ben Roethlisberger’s 32-yard completion to Antonio Brown with 35 seconds set up a 33-yard field goal from Pittsburgh’s Chris Boswell as time expired in a victory over host Indianapolis. The Steelers have won four straight overall and five in a row in the series. Pittsburgh needed two second-half TD passes from Roethlisberger to fight its way out of a 17-3 third-quarter deficit.

49ers 31, Giants 21

C.J. Beathard threw for 288 yards and two touchdowns and ran for a third score to lead San Francisco to its first win of the season, beating visiting New York.

Lions 38, Browns 24

Matthew Stafford lofted a 29-yard, tiebreaking touchdown to Eric Ebron early in the fourth quarter and host Detroit went on to beat the winless Cleveland. The Lions rallied from first- and second-half deficits to earn consecutive victories for the first time since winning the first two games this season. The Browns, led 10-0 early in the game for their first double-digit lead of the season, and were up 24-17 in the third after Deshone Kizer led two consecutive touchdown drives.

Packers 23, Bears 16

Brett Hundley threw for 212 yards and a touchdown, Nick Perry had three sacks and Green Bay snapped a three-game losing streak by winning at Chicago. Hundley, starting his third game for an injured Aaron Rodgers, threw a 17-yard touchdown to Davante Adams to make it 23-13 with 5:29 to play, and the Packers hung on to beat the Bears for the eighth time in nine games.

Titans 24, Bengals 20

Marcus Mariota tossed a 7-yard touchdown pass to DeMarco Murray with 36 seconds left, and host Tennessee rallied for its fourth consecutive victory, beating Cincinnati. Murray ran for two touchdowns, and Mariota finished with 264 yards passing.

Buccaneers 15, Jets 10

Ryan Fitzpatrick led two long scoring drives and visiting Tampa Bay limited New York to less than 200 yards of offense until late in the fourth quarter to snap a five-game losing streak.