The previously unbeaten Buffalo Bills and Philadelphia Eagles both slumped to shock defeats in the NFL on Sunday as the injury-hit Baltimore Ravens suffered a humiliating blowout.
The Bills — regarded by many as favourites for this season’s Super Bowl — were stunned 23-20 by the resurgent New England Patriots in a pulsating duel at Buffalo’s Highmark Stadium.
Patriots quarterback Drake Maye showed composure beyond his 23 years to engineer the game-winning drive in the final minute of the fourth quarter, setting up Andy Borregales’ 52-yard field goal.
The Bills dropped to 4-1 for the season while the Patriots improved to 3-2.
“It was awesome. What a team win, man,” Maye told NBC television after the win. “These guys right here, they balled out. Defense played great. And what an atmosphere. It felt good.”
The Bills had been the last unbeaten team standing after reigning Super Bowl champions Philadelphia were beaten 21-17 at home by the Denver Broncos earlier Sunday.
The Eagles looked poised to extend their unbeaten start after opening up a 17-3 lead early in the fourth quarter at Lincoln Financial Field.
But the Broncos showed huge character to battle back, with quarterback Bo Nix leading touchdown drives for JK Dobbins and Evan Engram to make it 17-16 before a bold two-point conversion put them 18-17 ahead.
A 36-yard Wil Lutz field goal gave Denver a four-point cushion before the Eagles’ final possession ended with an unsuccessful hail Mary attempt from quarterback Jalen Hurts as time ran out.
Denver quarterback Nix saluted a superb Broncos defensive performance after the visitors forced Philadelphia into punting seven times while recording six sacks on Hurts.
“We just kept stopping them on defense and we just started putting drives together,” Nix said. “Our defense just played incredible. They just kept getting us the ball back no matter what happened, they never wavered, and we just scored when it mattered,” he added.
In other games the Ravens’ season lurched from bad to worse with a humiliating 44-10 beatdown at home by the Houston Texans.
The Ravens, missing a slew of starters including quarterback Lamar Jackson, slumped to 1-4 for the season after an offensive onslaught led by Texans quarterback C.J. Stroud.
Stroud tossed four touchdowns with 244 passing yards from 23-of-27 attempts as Houston improved to 2-3.
The defeat though was another brutal loss for Baltimore, who were strongly tipped to challenge for the Super Bowl before the season kicked off.
Ravens coach John Harbaugh described the team’s mood as “complete disappointment” and challenged his organisation to regroup.
“We’re gonna have to find a way to turn it around and figure out who we are this next week,” Harbaugh said. “We’re gonna have more than half the season left and we’re gonna have to find ourselves.”
A thrilling game in Seattle saw the Tampa Bay Buccaneers snatch a 38-35 victory over the Seahawks with a field goal as time expired in the fourth quarter.
A seesaw duel saw Seahawks quarterback Sam Darnold throw for four touchdowns and 341 yards but it was not enough against a Tampa Bay side who improved to 4-1 for the season.
Bucs quarterback Baker Mayfield was once again the talisman for the visitors, hitting Sterling Shepard with the game-tying touchdown with just over one minute remaining, before Chase McLaughlin’s 39-yard field goal clinched victory.
The Detroit Lions are also standing on 4-1 after bringing up their fourth straight win in a 37-24 defeat of the Cincinnati Bengals. Lions quarterback Jared Goff threw three touchdowns with 258 yards to spark Detroit.
In Los Angeles, the Washington Commanders rallied from a 10-point deficit to score 27 unanswered points in a 27-10 defeat of the Chargers at SoFi Stadium.
The Indianapolis Colts, who suffered their first defeat of the season against the Los Angeles Rams last week, got back to winning ways with a blowout 40-6 rout of the Las Vegas Raiders at Lucas Oil Stadium.
The Dallas Cowboys moved to 2-2-1 with a 37-22 defeat of the winless New York Jets at MetLife Stadium in East Rutherford while the New York Giants lost 26-14 at the New Orleans Saints.In London, the Minnesota Vikings improved to 3-2 after grinding out a 21-17 win over the Cleveland Browns at Tottenham Hotspur Stadium. (JapanToday)
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