There were eight early games in the NFL on Sunday before the Los Angeles Rams faced the New Orleans Saints, the Las Vegas Raiders took on the Jacksonville Jaguars, and the Buffalo Bills clashed with the Kansas City Chiefs.
The New York Giants hosted the San Francisco 49ers, the Tennessee Titans took on the Los Angeles Chargers, the Minnesota Vikings were at the Detroit Lions, and the New England Patriots faced the Atlanta Falcons.
The Pittsburgh Steelers also faced the Indianapolis Colts, the Denver Broncos were at the Houston Texans, and the Chicago Bears travelled to the Cincinnati Bengals, while the Green Bay Packers matched up against the Carolina Panthers.
101GreatGoals.com brings you all the early NFL results from Sunday, including results, highlights and standings.
New York Giants 24-34 San Francisco 49ers
The New York Giants suffered their third straight defeat, falling 34-24 to the San Francisco 49ers on Sunday to drop to 2-7.
Despite an encouraging start with a touchdown on the opening drive, the Giants’ offense sputtered for much of the afternoon.
Jaxson Dart led a brief fourth-quarter rally, scoring on a six-yard rush before connecting with Gunner Olszewski late, but it was too little, too late.
Injuries further depleted the Giants, with center John Michael Schmitz and linebacker Darius Muasau both ruled out midgame.
Defensively, Shane Bowen’s unit showed brief improvement, forcing several punts and field goals after halftime, but San Francisco’s physical attack eventually wore them down.
Mac Jones completed his first ten passes, while Christian McCaffrey sealed the win with a late touchdown, finishing with 97 yards.
Attention now turns to Tuesday’s trade deadline, with questions lingering about whether general manager Joe Schoen will seek offensive reinforcements.
Tennessee Titans 20-27 Los Angeles Chargers
The Los Angeles Chargers earned a 27-20 win over the Tennessee Titans on Sunday, holding on late to move back into playoff contention.
After a quiet opening quarter, Justin Herbert found his rhythm in the second, leading a pair of scoring drives including a 70-yard march capped by a touchdown that gave Los Angeles a 17-14 lead.
The Titans briefly levelled the game with a field goal before the Chargers responded again to take a 20-17 halftime lead.
Tennessee’s offense struggled for consistency throughout, punting on five straight possessions in the first half and failing to convert a key fourth down in the third quarter.
The decisive moment came in the fourth, when the Chargers orchestrated a dominant 99-yard drive lasting over nine minutes to extend the lead to ten.
Detroit Lions 24-27 Minnesota Vikings
The Minnesota Vikings defeated the Detroit Lions 27-24 in a back-and-forth divisional matchup. Sam LaPorta gave Detroit an early lead with a 40-yard touchdown, but rookie quarterback J.J. McCarthy quickly responded, connecting with Justin Jefferson and later T.J. Hockenson to make it 14-7 Vikings.
After David Montgomery tied the game for Detroit, Minnesota added a late field goal to lead 17-14 at halftime.
The Vikings extended their advantage in the third quarter when McCarthy scrambled for a nine-yard touchdown to make it 24-14.
Detroit clawed back with a field goal but continued to struggle against Minnesota’s relentless pass rush. In the fourth quarter, the Lions had a field goal blocked and lost guard Christian Mahogany to a knee injury before the Vikings added a short kick for a 27-17 cushion.
Jared Goff’s late 37-yard touchdown to Jameson Williams narrowed the gap, but Minnesota held on for the win.
New England Patriots 24-23 Atlanta Falcons
The New England Patriots edged out the Atlanta Falcons 24-23 in a scrappy contest defined by turnovers and missed opportunities on both sides.
Rookie quarterback Drake Maye showed flashes of promise for New England, throwing two touchdowns while the defence capitalised on key mistakes from Atlanta’s Michael Penix Jr.
Atlanta opened the scoring with Penix connecting with Drake London for an early touchdown, but the Patriots responded through DeMario Douglas on a 17-yard score.
The teams traded blows in the second quarter, with New England briefly taking the lead on a Terrell Jennings rushing touchdown before a costly Maye fumble was returned for a Falcons touchdown, levelling the game at 14-14.
Maye quickly answered with an 11-yard strike to Stefon Diggs to send the Patriots into half-time ahead 21-14.
The third quarter tightened as both defences settled in. A Jessie Bates III interception set up a short Atlanta field goal, trimming the deficit to four, but New England’s front seven continued to disrupt Penix in key moments.
In the final period, Parker Romo extended the Patriots’ lead with a 38-yard field goal before Penix found London again for a late touchdown. However, a missed extra point and a stalled final drive sealed Atlanta’s fate as New England ran out the clock for the win.
Pittsburgh Steelers 27-20 Indianapolis Colts
The Indianapolis Colts fell 27-20 to the Pittsburgh Steelers in a turnover-plagued performance that derailed their strong start to the season.
Indianapolis, which had just four giveaways entering the game, committed six in total, three interceptions and two strip-sacks from Daniel Jones, plus a muffed punt by Josh Downs, gifting Pittsburgh 24 of its 27 points.
The Colts began brightly, marching 79 yards on their opening drive capped by a one-yard rushing touchdown from Jones.
But after Downs’ punt mishap gave the Steelers a short field, Pat Freiermuth’s 12-yard score and Tyler Warren’s one-yard run flipped momentum in the second quarter.
Two Jones turnovers in quick succession set up 10 more points before halftime, sending Pittsburgh into the break up 17-7.
Michael Badgley’s long field goal briefly narrowed the gap, but another strip-sack by Alex Highsmith set up Warren’s second touchdown to make it 24-7 early in the fourth.
The Colts rallied late, with Jones finding Downs for a four-yard touchdown and Badgley drilling a 53-yarder, yet an interception by Joey Porter Jr. in the closing minutes sealed the defeat.
Houston Texans 15-18 Denver Broncos
The Houston Texans fell just short against the Denver Broncos in an underwhelming clash.
Houston’s defense set the tone early, forcing multiple punts and a second-quarter interception by Calen Bullock.
Yet despite the stops, the offense struggled to move the ball, managing only field goals from Ka’imi Fairbairn.
C.J. Stroud started strong with an early 47-yard strike to Dalton Schultz but was ruled out midway through the second quarter with a concussion, handing the reins to backup Davis Mills.
Even with Stroud sidelined and tackles Tytus Howard and Ed Ingram leaving through injury, the Texans kept the game close.
Mills led two scoring drives capped by Fairbairn kicks from 36 and 32 yards. However, Denver capitalised late, Bo Nix connected with Adam Trautman and then Cortland Sutton for a 30-yard touchdown to edge the Broncos ahead.
Cincinnati Bengals 42-47 Chicago Bears
The Chicago Bears outlasted the Cincinnati Bengals 42-47 in a highly-entertaining offensive battle.
Cincinnati opened the game explosively as Charlie Jones returned the kickoff 99 yards for a touchdown. But the Bears quickly responded with a 12-play drive capped by a trick play, as D.J. Moore pitched the ball to quarterback Caleb Williams for a short touchdown.
The Bengals briefly regained the lead behind Joe Flacco’s sharp first-half performance, including a 44-yard strike to Tee Higgins, but Chicago kept pace through Cairo Santos’ field goals and a 19-yard touchdown from Olamide Zaccheaus.
After trailing 20-17 at halftime, the Bears stepped things up a level. Williams connected with Colston Loveland for a short touchdown before Brittain Brown broke free for a 22-yard score.
Moore added a 17-yard touchdown run to extend the lead to 41-27. The Bengals battled back late as Flacco found Noah Fant for a 23-yard touchdown and converted the two-point attempt to Higgins, cutting the deficit to six.
However, Chicago’s earlier surge proved to be enough. The Bears finished with over 420 yards of offense and a balanced attack that overwhelmed Cincinnati’s defense, handing the Bengals back-to-back defeats despite another strong showing from Higgins and Flacco.
Green Bay Packers 13-16 Carolina Panthers
The Carolina Panthers edged out the Green Bay Packers 16-13 in a match decided by a last-second field goal at Bank of America Stadium.
After a quiet first half dominated by field goals and turnovers, Green Bay struck first when Brandon McManus converted a 49-yard kick set up by a deep Jordan Love-to-Christian Watson connection.
Carolina answered late in the half with a 10-play, 76-yard drive capped by a 5-yard touchdown run from Rico Dowdle, taking a 7-3 lead before halftime.
The Packers added another field goal just before the break to trail 7-6.
The Panthers extended their advantage in the third quarter as Dowdle powered in his second touchdown from one yard out, though a celebration penalty pushed back the extra-point attempt, which was missed.
Green Bay’s comeback hopes took a hit when Tre’von Moehrig intercepted Love deep downfield, and another fourth-quarter drive stalled on downs inside Carolina territory.
Josh Jacobs’ late 1-yard touchdown tied the game at 13 with just over two minutes remaining, but the Panthers had one last answer.
Rookie kicker Ryan Fitzgerald drilled a 49-yard field goal as time expired to hand Carolina the win.
