Los Angeles (United States) (AFP) – The Seattle Seahawks put on a defensive masterclass to hand the Kansas City Chiefs their first defeat of the NFL season on Sunday, winning 20-3, while the San Francisco 49ers also surrendered their perfect start to the Atlanta Falcons. Seattle utterly stifled their former running back Kenneth Walker III, who won the Super Bowl last season with the Seahawks and had led the NFL this year with the Chiefs in rushing yards per game ahead of Sunday’s clash. He could only manage 36 rushing yards from 14 carries on his return to Lumen Field, as the Seattle defense collectively swarmed their opponents, sacking Patrick Mahomes once and forcing another interception.
“We just had the one mindset — to go in and just disrupt,” said Seahawks safety Nick Emmanwori, who rushed Mahomes to create a Ty Okada pick that led to a Seattle touchdown on the next drive. The scoreline was the Chiefs’ joint-lowest in a game Mahomes started. Jaxon Smith-Njigba caught a looping 28-yard pass from Sam Darnold in the second quarter but was initially judged to have run out-of-bounds, before a video review awarded the touchdown. Walker’s Seattle replacement, Emanuel Wilson, rushed 21 yards through a gap at the heart of the Chiefs’ defense in the fourth quarter. Harrison Butker missed two field goals on a chastening night for the high-flying Chiefs.
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Meanwhile in Atlanta, Michael Penix threw for three touchdowns and the Falcons defense forced four turnovers in a 29-20 win over the 49ers. Penix connected with tight end Nick Muse for a touchdown to keep the Falcons within striking distance in the first half and hit Kyle Pitts for a TD that put Atlanta ahead in the third quarter. He found Drake London with a 21-yard touchdown pass in the fourth. “Too sloppy to win,” 49ers coach Kyle Shanahan said.
Those results left the Minnesota Vikings as the only remaining unbeaten team, holding the Indianapolis Colts scoreless in the second half in a 16-10 victory that saw them improve to 6-0. Vikings quarterback Kyler Murray threw a five-yard touchdown pass to T.J. Hockenson early in the fourth quarter and Will Reichard kicked a 52-yard field goal with 1:39 remaining.
Sunday’s action kicked off in Paris, where Pittsburgh quarterback Aaron Rodgers threw for 212 yards and a milestone touchdown to lead the Steelers to a 16-10 victory over the New Orleans Saints in the league’s first regular-season game in the French capital. Rodgers hit Darnell Washington with a four-yard TD pass to give the Steelers a 10-3 lead late in the second quarter, his 540th regular-season touchdown pass moving him into solo third place on the all-time list ahead of Peyton Manning (539).
The Los Angeles Rams snapped a two-game skid in emphatic style, beating the Raiders 35-21 in Las Vegas. Rams quarterback Matthew Stafford threw for 195 yards and three touchdowns, all in the first half. He became the franchise leader in scoring passes — an honor Stafford also holds with the Detroit Lions. “We’ve had some tough losses late in games this year, played good enough football to win games and hadn’t gotten it done…proud of our resolve,” said Stafford.
In Houston, Devin Singletary ran 30 yards for a touchdown in overtime to lift the New York Giants to a 27-21 upset win over the Texans. In Detroit, Jake Bates kicked a 22-yard field goal as time expired to give the Lions a 20-17 victory over the Green Bay Packers. Cincinnati quarterback Joe Burrow threw four touchdown passes in the second half as the Bengals rallied to beat the Ravens 35-13 in Baltimore. Cleveland quarterback Deshaun Watson piloted his fifth fourth-quarter game-winning drive of the season, capped by Andre Szmyt’s 32-yard field goal as time expired in the Browns’ 27-24 victory over the Tennessee Titans in Nashville. And the Miami Dolphins earned their first win of the season, beating the New York Jets 28-25 in New Jersey.
© 2024 AFP
