Nov 1, 2015; New Orleans, LA, USA; New Orleans Saints kicker Kai Forbath (5) kicks a 50 yard game winning field goal against the New York Giants as time expired during the fourth quarter of a game at the Mercedes-Benz Superdome. The Saints defeated the Giants 52-49. Derick E. Hingle-USA TODAY Sports
NEW ORLEANS — In a game in which quarterbacks Drew Brees and Eli Manning combined for an NFL-record 13 touchdown passes, kicker Kai Forbath kicked a 50-yard game-winning field goal as time expired to lift the New Orleans Saints to a 52-49 victory over the New York Giants in a video game shootout Sunday at the Mercedes-Benz Superdome.
The winning kick came just after the Saints’ Brees (40-of-50 for 511 yards and seven touchdowns) tied the game at 49 with 36 seconds left on a 9-yard touchdown pass to running back C.J. Spiller. That score capped an 80-yard, 14-play drive, one of six Saints’ scoring drives that covered at least 80 yards.
The Giants ran three plays with the ensuing kickoff but gained only five yards. With 20 seconds left, punter Brad Wing kicked 46 yards to Saints returner Marcus Murphy, who returned the ball 24 yards to the New York 37-yard line before fumbling the ball into Saints receiver Willie Snead’s hands.
Wing was called for a facemask on the tackle, and that moved the ball to the Giants’ 32 with five seconds left. Forbath then came in to kick the game-winning 50 yards.
Manning completed 40 of 50 passes for 350 yards and six touchdowns.
Bengals 16, Steelers 10
PITTSBURGH — Andy Dalton overcame two fourth-quarter interceptions to throw for 235 yards and winning touchdown as unbeaten Cincinnati rallied over Pittsburgh.
Dalton’s 9-yard touchdown to wide receiver A.J. Green gave the Bengals their first lead, 13-10, with 2:37 remaining. Fifty seconds later, kicker Mike Nugent added a 44-yard field goal, his third of the game, to help the Bengals (7-0) build a commanding 3 1/2-game-game lead over the second-place Steelers (4-4) in the AFC North.
Dalton completed 22 of 38 passes after entering the game with an NFL-best 161.1 passer rating, but was intercepted twice with the Bengals trailing 10-6, getting picked by Antwon Blake in the end zone and free safety Mike Mitchell at the Pittsburgh 24.
Buccaneers 23, Falcons 20, OT
ATLANTA — Tampa Bay nearly melted down again, but rookie quarterback Jameis Winston and an opportunistic defense saved the day.
Winston accounted for two touchdowns and set up Connor Barth’s chip-shot field goal in overtime, leading the Buccaneers over the Falcons.
The Buccaneers were up 20-3 late in the third quarter but found themselves clinging to a seven-point lead and facing a fourth down at their own 40-yard line late in the fourth quarter. Coach Lovie Smith elected to go for it. Winston scrambled off play action, pump-faked and dived for the first-down marker but was stopped short by Atlanta safety Ricardo Allen. The Falcons took over with no timeouts and quickly marched to the Tampa Bay 8, where quarterback Matt Ryan found wide receiver Julio Jones in the back of the end zone. Matt Bryant’s extra point was good, tying the score and sending the game into overtime.
Ravens 29, Chargers 26
BALTIMORE — A 39-yard field goal by Justin Tucker with three seconds remaining lifted Baltimore over San Diego that snapped a three-game losing streak.
The kick was set up by a pass interference penalty on Chargers cornerback Steve Williams on a third-and-19 that gave the Ravens the ball on the San Diego 22-yard line.
Ravens quarterback Joe Flacco completed 25 of 37 passes for 319 yards. He threw for a touchdown and ran for one. The Ravens (2-6) suffered a potential major blow when leading wide receiver Steve Smith injured his right foot late in the third quarter and had to be helped from the field.
Rams 27, 49ers 6
ST. LOUIS — Getting another big game from rookie running back Todd Gurley and two touchdowns from wide receiver Tavon Austin, St. Louis notched a 27-6 win over shorthanded San Francisco.
Gurley compiled 133 yards on 20 rushes, including a 71-yard touchdown jaunt up the middle with 10:25 left in the second quarter to give the Rams a 10-3 lead. It was Gurley’s fourth straight game of more than 125 yards, making him the first rookie since 2005 to accomplish that feat.
Quarterback Nick Foles completed 14 of 23 passes for 191 yards as the Rams improved to 4-3, marking the first time since 2006 they have been over .500 this late in the season.
Cardinals 34, Browns 20
CLEVELAND — Arizona overcame a shaky first half with 24 unanswered points in the final two quarters to rally past Cleveland.
Quarterback Josh McCown threw three touchdown passes in the first half to help the Browns take a 20-7 lead, but the Cardinals fought their way back starting with a 37-yard field goal by Chandler Catanzaro on the final play of the first half.
Browns left cornerback Joe Haden, who had coverage on the play, suffered a concussion on the touchdown pass and had to leave the game.
Vikings 23, Bears 20
CHICAGO — Quarterback Teddy Bridgewater picked up his game in the fourth quarter and Minnesota picked up a victory over Chicago.
Blair Walsh pushed through a 36-yard field goal for the deciding score as time expired.
Bridgewater completed 10 passes in the first three quarters but a pair of big plays in the final two minutes are the throws that counted for the Vikings. Charles Johnson caught a 35-yard jump ball from Bridgewater over Bears safety Antrel Rolle to get the Vikings to the 27 with 25 seconds left. Bridgewater, who finished the game 17 of 30 for 187 yards, connected with receiver Stefon Diggs on a third-down curl route and the speedy rookie spun away from cornerback Sherrick McManus to sprint inside the left pylon, squeezing past safety Adrian Amos for the 40-yard score tying the game at 20.
Texans 20, Titans 6
HOUSTON — J.J. Watt and Whitney Mercilus combined for six sacks of Tennessee quarterback Zach Mettenberger as Houston unleashed a relentless pass rush in the dominating victory.
Mercilus finished with 3.5 sacks and four tackles for loss filling in for starting linebacker Jadeveon Clowney (back) while Watt added 2.5 sacks. The Texans (3-5) limited the Titans (1-6) to 211 total yards with Mettenberger passing for 171 yards while being sacked seven times.
Texans quarterback Brian Hoyer delivered two touchdown passes on wondrously accurate throws, including a 21-yard strike to wide receiver DeAndre Hopkins on the third snap of the second quarter and a 42-yard toss to receiver Nate Washington for a 17-6 lead with 3:38 left in the third.
Chiefs 45, Lions 10
Detroit Lions head coach Jim Caldwell said he was unconcerned with speculation that his job is in jeopardy following a blowout loss to Kansas City at Wembley Stadium in London.
Team president Tom Lewand refused comment on Caldwell’s status after the Lions allowed six sacks of quarterback Matt Stafford and gave up 206 rushing yards to a Chiefs team that had not scored more than 28 points this season.
Chiefs quarterback Alex Smith accounted for three touchdowns and set a career-high with 78 rushing yards and one of four touchdowns on the ground.
