NFL roundup: Rookie Nix, Broncos edge veteran Rodgers, Jets

EAST RUTHERFORD, N.J. — Bo Nix finally threw his first NFL touchdown pass in his fourth pro start — and it came at a great time for the Denver Broncos.

Nix and the offense overcame a miserable first half and the Broncos held on to beat a banged-up Aaron Rodgers and the sloppy New York Jets 10-9 in a defensive standoff on a rainy Sunday.

“Usually these weather games turn into run-the-football games, and that’s what we did in the second half,” Nix said. “It worked in our favor and we didn’t turn the ball over.”

Nix was 7 of 15 for minus-7 yards in the first two quarters, and finished with just 60 yards on 12-of-25 passing — but the Broncos (2-2) ran for 126 yards and controlled the momentum in the second half.

And Nix made the big play when he needed with both offenses struggling mightily.

With the Broncos trailing 6-0, Nix found a wide-open Courtland Sutton in the back of the end zone to give Denver the lead with 3:08 left in the third quarter.

Nix, the No. 12 overall pick in April, tossed a high pass to the back of the end zone where Sutton went up, grabbed the ball and got both feet down for the 8-yard score. It capped what was easily the Broncos’ best drive to that point, with Nix leading Denver 87 yards on 11 plays.

Rodgers came up limping a bit after a sack late in the fourth quarter and seemed to be favoring his left leg — the same on which his Achilles tendon was surgically repaired last year — and was looked at on the sideline by trainers.

“Yeah, I’m banged up a little bit, but, yeah, I’m OK,” Rodgers said after the game, adding both legs are dealing with “stuff.”

It appeared Rodgers might have also fumbled on the play, but the Broncos were out of challenges so Sean Payton couldn’t ask officials to review.

Rodgers came back on the Jets’ next possession with 2:31 remaining but couldn’t get anything going. Facing fourth-and-10 on New York’s 45, Rodgers was sacked from behind by a blitzing P.J. Locke to give the Broncos the ball at the 35.

The defense came up big and New York (2-2) used all three of its timeouts, and the Broncos’ drive ended with Wil Lutz pushing a 50-yarder wide left.

That gave Rodgers and the Jets one more chance.

New York got down to the Broncos 32 and Greg Zuerlein, who made three earlier kicks, lined up for a potential winning field goal — but his 50-yarder curved to the right. Nix and the Broncos were able to kneel down for their second straight road victory after also topping Tampa Bay last week.

“It was a gritty win,” Payton said. “I’m proud of how we fought. … I don’t know that either team expected the weather to impact the game like it did that much in the first half.”

The Broncos stayed on the East Coast and spent the week preparing for the Jets at The Greenbrier Resort in West Virginia.

“It was huge to go on the road and get two tough wins against two tough defenses and two tough offenses,” Nix said. ”You can’t say enough about our defense on this winning stretch.”

Rodgers was 24 of 42 for 225 yards and was sacked five times. New York also was penalized 13 times.

“I think we were kind of killing ourselves,” Rodgers said. “I can’t say I had a spectacular game. I missed some throws.

“The weather sucked, but so did some of my throws.”

FALCONS 26, SAINTS 24

ATLANTA — Younghoe Koo kicked a 58-yard field goal with two seconds remaining and Atlanta rallied for a victory over New Orleans without scoring an offensive touchdown.

Koo kicked four field goals in all, also connecting from 53, 44 and 42 yards to give the Falcons (2-2) a desperately needed home victory.

They had lost their first two games at Mercedes-Benz Stadium and seemed on the verge of falling to 0-3 in Atlanta when Alvin Kamara scored on a 1-yard run with a minute remaining to push the Saints (2-2) to a 24-23 lead.

A 30-yard pass interference penalty on Paulson Adebo gave the Falcons hope at the New Orleans 40. Kirk Cousins threw three straight incompletions, but it didn’t matter.

Koo knocked down the longest field goal in the stadium’s seven-year history with plenty to spare, sending the Saints to their second straight close loss after two dominating victories to open the season.

BEARS 24, RAMS 18

CHICAGO — Caleb Williams led four scoring drives, D’Andre Swift had 165 yards from scrimmage and a touchdown as Chicago held off Los Angeles.

Jaquan Brisker intercepted Matthew Stafford with about a minute remaining after the Bears punted on the previous play, helping Chicago (2-2) end a two-game skid.

Williams threw for 157 yards and a touchdown after setting a Bears rookie record by passing for 363 yards at Indianapolis last week. The No. 1 overall draft pick and former Heisman Trophy winner out of Southern California was 17 of 23 with a 9-yard TD pass to DJ Moore in the third quarter.

Swift had his best game since signing with the Bears in March. A Pro Bowler with Philadelphia last season, he broke off a 36-yard touchdown run that made it 24-15 in the fourth quarter. He finished with 16 rushes for 93 yards and seven catches for 72 yards.

TEXANS 24, JAGUARS 20

HOUSTON — C.J. Stroud threw for 345 yards and two touchdowns, capped by a 1-yard pass to Dare Ogunbowale with 18 seconds left, to give Houston a win over Jacksonville.

Houston forced a three-and-out to get the ball back with less than three minutes to go.

Stroud then led a nine-play, 69-yard drive to give the Texans (3-1) their first points of the second half and survive a scare by the winless Jaguars (0-4).

The Texans bounced back from a 34-7 rout at Minnesota to get the victory despite fumbling a punt return early and committing 12 penalties to give them 35 combined in their past three games.

The Jaguars fell to 0-4 for the first time since opening the 2021 season with five straight losses.

VIKINGS 31, PACKERS 29

GREEN BAY, Wis. — Sam Darnold threw three touchdown passes and Jordan Addison scored twice as Minnesota built an early 28-point lead and hung on down the stretch to beat Green Bay.

The Vikings (4-0) are off to their best start since 2016, when they won their first five games before slumping to an 8-8 finish. They have trailed for less than 3 1/2 minutes all season.

Minnesota spoiled the return of Packers quarterback Jordan Love, who returned after missing two games with an injured left medial collateral ligament. He threw for 389 yards and four touchdowns, both career highs. But he also matched a career high with three interceptions while going 32 of 54.

Jayden Reed had seven receptions for 139 yards and a touchdown for the Packers (2-2).

Green Bay got within 31-29 on Dontayvion Wicks’ second fourth-quarter touchdown catch — a 17-yarder with 56 seconds left. Minnesota’s Josh Oliver recovered Daniel Whelan’s ensuing onside kick — it actually was a drop kick — to secure the victory.

BENGALS 34, PANTHERS 24

CHARLOTTE, N.C. — Joe Burrow threw for 232 yards and two touchdowns, Chase Brown ran for 80 yards and two scores and Cincinnati held on to beat Carolina for their first win of the season.

Ja’Marr Chase had three catches for 85 yards, including a 63-yard catch-and-run touchdown as the Bengals avoided a potentially disastrous fourth straight loss to open the season. Of the 155 teams to start 0-4 since the merger, only the 1992 Chargers were able to rebound and make the playoffs.

Zack Moss had 78 yards from scrimmage and a touchdown reception for the Bengals (1-3).

Andy Dalton threw for 220 yards with two touchdowns and one interception against his former team, but couldn’t quite match the magic he displayed in his first start a week ago when he led the Panthers to a 36-22 win over the Las Vegas Raiders.

Chuba Hubbard ran for 104 yards and a touchdown and Diontae Johnson had seven catches for 83 yards and a score for Carolina (1-3), which fell to 0-2 at home.

COMMANDERS 42, CARDINALS 14

GLENDALE, Ariz. —Jayden Daniels threw for 233 yards and a touchdown and ran for a score in his desert return, and Washington extended their winning streak to three with a victory over Arizona.

Daniels — the No. 2 overall pick last spring — became the fourth quarterback in the Super Bowl era to run for four touchdowns in his first four career games, joining Cam Newton, Robert Griffin III and Anthony Richardson.

Daniels also completed 26 of 30 passes and has an absurd 82% completion percentage in his short career. He hit Terry McLaurin for a 10-yard touchdown strike midway through the fourth quarter, and found Zach Ertz in the back of the end zone on the 2-point conversion, for an insurmountable 35-14 lead.

49ERS 30, PATRIOTS 13

SANTA CLARA, Calif. — Brock Purdy threw a touchdown pass, Fred Warner returned an interception for a score and San Francisco snapped a two-game skid by beating New England.

After losing on the road at Minnesota and against the Los Angeles Rams the past two weeks, the Niners (2-2) found their footing quickly back at home against the struggling Patriots (1-3).

San Francisco got field goals from Jake Moody on the opening two drives before Warner delivered his latest big play of the season, making a diving interception against Jacoby Brissett and returning it 45 yards for his second career TD. Warner has three forced fumbles and two interceptions through four games this season.

It was the first interception of the season for the Patriots, who have been unable to get any consistent passing game generated with Brissett at quarterback, which will lead to more questions about when rookie Drake Maye will take over.

CHIEFS 17, CHARGERS 10

INGLEWOOD, Calif. — Patrick Mahomes passed for 245 yards and a touchdown while rediscovering his connection with Travis Kelce, and Kansas City rallied from an early 10-point deficit to beat Los Angeles.

Making his 100th regular-season start, Mahomes completed 19 of 29 passes for the two-time defending Super Bowl champion Chiefs, who are 4-0 for the first time since 2020. Kelce had a season-high seven receptions for 89 yards and set the franchise’s career receptions record, surpassing fellow tight end Tony Gonzalez.

Kansas City has won six straight over the Chargers. It also has 11 straight road victories victories its AFC West rival, the longest active winning streak by a visiting squad and tied for third all-time.

RAIDERS 20, BROWNS 16

LAS VEGAS — Las Vegas used a strong defense as well as a balanced running game to hold off a late rally to beat Cleveland.

Cleveland drove to the Raiders 9-yard line, but Deshaun Watson was sacked by Charles Snowden with 41 seconds left to seal the victory.

The Raiders held on for the win despite star wide receiver Davante Adams (hamstring) and premier pass rusher Maxx Crosby (ankle) missing the game because of injuries. And the defense held the Browns to 241 total yards.

Alexander Mattison rushed for 60 yards for the Raiders, who totaled 152 on the ground and five different players had runs for at least 10 yards, the highest number since 2010 against the Seahawks. The Raiders also became the first team since the Jets in 2010 against the Bengals to have two receivers score rushing touchdowns.

Las Vegas hadn’t rushed for more than 55 yards in a game this season until Sunday.