The Titans offense was a mess in Week Three, but things went a lot better for them in Week Four.
Derrick Henry ran for one touchdown and threw for another, Ryan Tannehill threw a touchdown of his own, and the Titans rolled up 355 yards in a 27-3 rout of the Bengals on their home field. The result lifts the Titans to 2-2 on the season and drops the Bengals to 1-3.
Tennessee couldn’t crack the 100-yard mark while losing to the Browns by an identical 27-3 score last Sunday. Their offense needed 15 plays to pick up 40 yards and a field goal to open the game, but they scored three touchdowns in the second quarter to take control of the game.
Henry ran 22 times for 122 yards — a season-high — and Tannehill hit on 18-of-25 passes for 240 yards. Nick Westbrook-Ikhine caught the touchdown from Tannehill and he also had key completions to DeAndre Hopkins and Chris Moore as the team didn’t miss Treylon Burks much on their most productive offensive day of the season.
The key for the Titans will be finding a way to consistently get that kind of production from their offense. They’ll get a chance to see if they can do it in Indianapolis next weekend.
The Bengals have their own offensive shortcomings to sort out. They had a 72-yard drive to open the game with a field goal, but never generated that kind of momentum for the rest of the afternoon. Joe Burrow was pressured often and his calf injury likely didn’t help his efforts to avoid those rushers. Jeffery Simmons, Azeez Al-Shaair, Teair Tart, and Arden Key all had multiple quarterback hits and Trevis Gipson forced a fumble on a sack in the second half.
Burrow and company will be in Arizona next weekend and they need to find a way to get their offense in shape as soon as possible. Wide receiver Tee Higgins left the game with injured ribs and an extended absence for him won’t help that effort.
It wasn’t easy, but nothing has come easy for the Vikings this season.
Minnesota, though, did get its first win of the season, rallying in the second half and then holding off the Panthers’ comeback attempt. The Vikings won 21-13.
The Vikings are 1-3 and the Panthers 0-4.
The Panthers reached the Minnesota 9 with 1:55 left, but Bryce Young threw two incompletions and took two sacks. The final sack came on fourth-and-18 when Harrison Smith got his third of the day.
Young finished 25-of-32 for 204 yards and lost a fumble on a sack by Smith that D.J. Wonnum scooped and scored on a 51-yard return. Adam Thielen had seven catches for 76 yards against his former team.
The Panthers also had a defensive touchdown with Sam Franklin returning a Kirk Cousins pass 99 yards to the house. It gave the Panthers an early 7-0 lead and they held a 13-7 advantage at halftime after a second Cousins interception.
Justin Jefferson scored touchdowns of 4 and 30 yards and had another negated by a holding penalty before Franklin’s pick-six. He caught six passes for 85 yards.
Cousins was 12-of-19 for 139 yards with two touchdowns and two interceptions.
Alexander Mattison rushed for 95 yards on 17 carries.
The Colts have made it a game in the fourth quarter against the Rams.
Anthony Richardson ran in a 1-yard touchdown to narrow Los Angeles’ lead to eight points at 23-15 with 11:45 left in the game.
Indianapolis was helped on their possession by a 15-yard unnecessary roughness penalty called on Russ Yeast that moved the club all the way up to the L.A. 19.
Richardson became the first quarterback in NFL history to rush for four touchdowns in his first three starts.
Rams quarterback Matthew Stafford is pretty clearly struggling with some soft of injury to his back or lower body, though the club has not announced anything. Stafford has not yet missed a play.
A very good day for the Bills took a bad turn late in the third quarter of their game against the Dolphins.
Cornerback Tre’Davious White went down on a fourth down sack by defensive tackle Ed Oliver and the response of White and the Bills immediately made it clear that they feared a serious injury. White threw his helmet and his teammates took a knee around him while trainers examined him on the field.
A cart was brought out quickly and White rode to the locker room with a towel covering his head and face. It was a non-contact injury for White, who tore his ACL in November 2021.
The third quarter ended one play later and the Bills lead Miami 41-20 with 15 minutes to play.
UPDATE 3:37 p.m. ET: The Bills say White is being evaluated for an ankle injury.
Steelers quarterback Kenny Pickett limped off the field and into the blue sideline medical tent late in the third quarter. He eventually made his way up the tunnel and into the training room.
The Steelers have ruled him out with a knee injury.
Pickett was injured with 1:10 remaining in the third quarter when he was sacked for a 9-yard loss by Jonathan Greenard. Pickett was in the shotgun on a fourth-and-one play from the Houston 33 when Greenard made his second sack of the day.
Pickett grabbed his left leg and was favoring it as he left the field.
He is 15-of-23 for 114 yards and an interception.
Mitch Trubisky is warming up and will need a big comeback for the Steelers to avoid a loss.
Houston leads 23-6 after a trick play early in the fourth quarter. Devin Singletary took the handoff from C.J. Stroud, rolled right and threw a 6-yard touchdown pass to tight end Dalton Schultz.
The Bills are on their way to a resounding victory over the Dolphins and Stefon Diggs is playing a major role in it.
Diggs caught his third touchdown of the day with three minutes to play in the third quarter and the Bills now have a 41-20 lead on their divisional rivals. Diggs has six catches for 120 yards overall on Sunday.
It is the fourth three-touchdown game of Diggs’ career. He’s never had a four-touchdown day, but there’s plenty of time left in this contest and the Dolphins haven’t shown much ability to slow down the Buffalo star.
The Dolphins were able to cut Buffalo’s lead to 31-20 on a Braxton Berrios touchdown catch, but Bills safety Micah Hyde picked Tua Tagovailoa off to set up Diggs’ lates t score.
Cowboys tight end Peyton Hendershot injured his ankle in Friday’s practice. The team listed him as questionable, but he will not play today.
Hendershot is among the team’s inactives.
Quarterback Trey Lance, safety Israel Mukuamu, defensive lineman Villiami Fehoko, cornerback Eric Scott, left tackle Tyron Smith (knee) and receiver Jalen Brooks are the other inactives. Lance will serve as the emergency third quarterback.
The Cowboys will have All-Pro right guard Zack Martin and center Tyler Biadasz. Both missed last week’s game as did Smith.
The Patriots’ inactives are receiver Kayshon Boutte, quarterback Will Grier, cornerback Jonathan Jones (ankle), offensive guard Cole Strange (knee) and offensive tackle Tyrone Wheatley, Jr. Grier, who formerly played with the Cowboys, will serve as the emergency third quarterback.
Eagles receiver AJ Brown is having a big game today against the Commanders.
Brown caught a pass from Jalen Hurts in the third quarter and raced downfield for a 59-yard touchdown, and the ensuing two-point conversion gave the Eagles a 21-17 lead.
After a somewhat slow start this season, Brown had a big game on Monday night against the Buccaneers and is having another one today, with six catches for 130 yards, and his first touchdown of the year.
Brown, who criticized the league for making him take off his neon green cleats on Monday night, is wearing pink cleats. It’s unclear whether he has permission to do so for breast cancer awareness.
The Commanders got off to a strong start today in Philadelphia, but the Eagles are starting to take control, with Brown leading the way.
The Vikings finally have the lead on the Panthers, but it took a defensive touchdown to get there.
Harrison Smith sacked Bryce Young, knocking the ball loose on the 12-yard loss, and D.J. Wonnum picked up the football and ran to the end zone.
It was Wonnum’s first career fumble recovery and first career touchdown.
He also has a sack, four tackles, a pass defensed and a tackle for loss.
Young is 16-of-21 for 136 yards.
The Panthers’ only touchdown came on a 99-yard, pick-six by Sam Franklin.
Word on Sunday morning was that wide receiver Deebo Samuel would be in the 49ers lineup against the Cardinals and the team made it official on Sunday afternoon.
Samuel missed practice this week with rib and knee injuries, but he got the green light to play in the matchup of NFC West teams. The 49ers are also getting Brandon Aiyuk back from a shoulder injury, but will be missing Jauan Jennings in their receiving corps.
Quarterback Brandon Allen, guard Nick Zakelj, defensive tackle Kalia Davis, linebacker Jalen Graham, running back Elijah Mitchell, and cornerback Anthony Brown are also inactive on Sunday.
Tight end Elijah Higgins, running back Keaontay Ingram, defensive lineman Jonathan Ledbetter, offensive lineman Ilm Manning, offensive lineman Carter O’Donnell, cornerback Starling Thomas, and linebacker Josh Woods will not play for the Cardinals.