Los Angeles (United States) (AFP) – Quarterback Caleb Williams suffered a worrying-looking injury as the free-scoring Chicago Bears were brought back to earth with a 9-3 defeat to the Minnesota Vikings on Sunday. One week after piling up 59 points in a dazzling NFL season-opening victory over Carolina, the Bears were restricted to just a single field goal at a rainswept Soldier Field. A bitterly disappointing home opener for the Bears was compounded by injury to their franchise quarterback, who hobbled off in the fourth quarter and was carried to the locker room on a medical cart.
Williams had been in rampant form in last week’s win over the Panthers, but was given no respite by the Vikings’ steely defense. He was forced to scramble repeatedly all game, suffering three sacks and coughing up an interception before pulling up in agony in the red zone. “A hamstring could be pretty damaging…We’ll see how bad it is tomorrow and we’ll go from there,” said Bears head coach Ben Johnson, with scans scheduled for Monday.
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The Vikings improved to 2-0 thanks to three field goals from Will Reichard. In other early NFL action Sunday, the New Orleans Saints scored 15 unanswered fourth-quarter points to turn a 17-9 deficit into a 24-17 defeat of the Ravens in Baltimore. Saints quarterback Tyler Shough hit Chris Olave for a 21-yard touchdown, and a successful two-point conversion tied the score at 17-17, before Shough’s one-yard rushing touchdown with 1min 28sec remaining gave New Orleans the winning score.
The comeback came a week after the Saints forced overtime from 21-0 down to the Detroit Lions but lost that game with a failed two-point conversion. This time they made no mistake. “Sometimes you have to learn how to win, learn how to finish. And I think we’re right on time,” said Saints defensive edge Chase Young.
The Philadelphia Eagles snatched a dramatic 24-20 win over the Tennessee Titans thanks to a last-gasp Darius Cooper touchdown. The Titans had edged ahead 20-17 inside the two-minute warning with a Joey Slye field goal. But Eagles quarterback Jalen Hurts led a nine-play, 65-yard drive that culminated with a three-yard pass to Cooper for a touchdown with nine seconds left on the clock in Nashville.
The Green Bay Packers grabbed a tense 20-17 overtime win after coming from 17-7 down in the fourth quarter at the New York Jets. The Jets failed to score on the first possession of overtime, before a defensive penalty for unnecessary roughness took Packers kicker Trey Smack comfortably into field goal range for the victory.
The New England Patriots bounced back from their opening loss with a clinical 20-3 defeat of the Pittsburgh Steelers, whose veteran quarterback Aaron Rodgers was sacked four times. The Patriots’ scores included a TreVeyon Henderson 39-yard rushing touchdown. The highly rated Houston Texans defense could not stop Cincinnati Bengals quarterback Joe Burrow linking with star receiver Ja’Marr Chase for two touchdowns in a 20-6 win.
And after their high-scoring loss to the Bears in week one, the Panthers made the most of their potent offense in a 34-3 rout of the Atlanta Falcons.
© 2024 AFP
