Los Angeles (United States) (AFP) – Patrick Mahomes threw for four touchdowns in a resurgent Kansas City Chiefs rout of the Baltimore Ravens on Sunday, as the Philadelphia Eagles extended their perfect start to the season with a battling win against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. A high-profile showdown between Chiefs quarterback Mahomes and Baltimore counterpart Lamar Jackson at Arrowhead Stadium ended in disappointment for the Ravens, who crashed to a 37-20 defeat.
The win was easily the best performance of the Chiefs misfiring campaign to date, with three-time Super Bowl champion Mahomes in sparkling form for a rampant Kansas City offense. Mahomes’s four-touchdown performance saw him become the fastest quarterback in NFL history to reach 250 passing touchdowns, reaching the milestone in his 116th contest. Pittsburgh’s Aaron Rodgers had held the previous fastest mark, needing 121 games to reach 250. The Chiefs victory saw them improve to 2-2 while the Ravens slipped to 1-3 for the season.
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Baltimore’s defeat was compounded by an injury to quarterback Jackson, who limped out of the game in the third quarter with what appeared to be a right hamstring strain. Mahomes finished with 270 passing yards for four touchdowns with no interceptions, and was buoyed by the return from injury of wide receiver Xavier Worthy, who finished with 83 receiving yards. “He makes those big plays happen,” Mahomes said of Worthy. “It opens up everybody else so super-excited about how we look. We’ve got some stuff to clean up — getting touchdowns instead of field goals, but it’s something to build on.”
Elsewhere on Sunday, the Philadelphia Eagles held off a late Tampa Bay rally to claim a 31-25 win on the road in Florida in a battle of previously unbeaten teams. The reigning Super Bowl champions’ win in sultry conditions at Tampa’s Raymond James Stadium was Philadelphia’s 20th in their last 21 starts including last season. “There’s a certain level of grit that you have to have to play in this league, and the more grit you have, usually the better you are,” Eagles quarterback Jalen Hurts said. “I think as a team we showed that today. It was all hands on deck for this win. We found a way to win and that’s all you can ask for.”
In other NFL games on Sunday, the Buffalo Bills also moved to 4-0 for the season with a 31-19 defeat of the New Orleans Saints. Bills quarterback Josh Allen threw two touchdowns and ran for another to help set up victory against the Saints, who remain winless at 0-4. The Saints ran Buffalo close throughout, and a Blake Grupe field goal early in the fourth quarter got New Orleans to within two points at 21-19 late in the game. Allen, however, hit Dalton Kincaid for a 28-yard touchdown before Matt Prater’s late field goal made the game safe.
The Los Angeles Chargers meanwhile saw their unbeaten start to the season brought to a halt in a 21-18 defeat away to the New York Giants, who had gone into the game at 0-3. The Indianapolis Colts also saw their unbeaten record end, losing 27-20 to the Los Angeles Rams in California. The Rams took the winning lead after quarterback Matthew Stafford’s 88-yard touchdown pass to Tutu Atwell. The Rams improved to 3-1 with the victory.
The Rams’ division rivals, the San Francisco 49ers, lost 26-21 to the Jacksonville Jaguars, while in Las Vegas, the Raiders suffered a 25-24 loss to the Chicago Bears. The Bears prevailed after blocking a last-gasp 54-yard field goal attempt to deny Las Vegas victory. The Pittsburgh Steelers also held off the Minnesota Vikings 24-21 in the first ever NFL game played in Ireland, with running back Kenneth Gainwell rushing for two touchdowns at Dublin’s Croke Park in front of 74,512 fans.
The in-form Detroit Lions improved to 3-1 with a 34-10 thrashing of the Cleveland Browns, while the Atlanta Falcons were 34-27 winners over the Washington Commanders. In the late game, the Dallas Cowboys and Green Bay Packers swapped field goals in overtime before finishing a high-scoring tied game at 40-40. Brandon McManus’s 34-yard field goal in the final second of overtime secured a share of the spoils for Green Bay.
© 2024 AFP
