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 Among the other games, Green Bay Packers quarterback Aaron
Rodgers and Indianapolis Colts signal caller Andrew Luck each threw
four touchdown passes in wins over division rivals, while the
Philadelphia Eagles suffered their first loss of the season.
The Miami Dolphins obliterated the winless Oakland Raiders 38-14 at
London's Wembley Stadium in the first of three NFL games to be
played in Britain this season.
The Raiders opened the scoring less than six minutes after the
opening kickoff but then surrendered 38 consecutive points to a
Dolphins team that played the inaugural International Series matchup
in 2007 at Wembley.
Philadelphia, the only one of the NFL's three undefeated teams in
action this week, led the San Francisco 49ers by 11 points midway
through the second quarter but went scoreless the rest of the way in
a 26-21 road loss.
The visiting Eagles threatened to pull ahead in the final two
minutes but a pass from Nick Foles to Jeremy Maclin at the back of
the end zone was incomplete.
In Houston, former first-round draft pick J.J. Watt turned the game
in the Texans' favor when he returned an interception 80 yards for a
touchdown that gave his team the lead on the way to a 23-17 win over
the Buffalo Bills.
"The way the stadium explodes, the way it changed momentum ...
that's a game-changing type play," said Watt. "It was really cool.
(It) was special. That's what you live for. That's why you play this
game, for moments like that."
The retooled Texans are looking to follow in the footsteps of the
2012 Colts and 2013 Kansas City Chiefs as they try to go from the
NFL's worst overall to the playoffs the next season.
Matthew Stafford had two touchdown passes and ran in another as the
visiting Lions, who have missed the playoffs in each of the last two
seasons, beat the hosting New York Jets 24-17.
Stafford gave the Lions a lead they would never relinquish when he
connected with Jeremy Ross on a 59-yard play just past the midway
mark of the second quarter for a 10-3 lead.
STEELERS STUNNED
Baltimore, who have not made the playoffs since winning the Super
Bowl for the 2012 NFL season, got a big game from 35-year-old wide
receiver Steve Smith, who hauled in a Joe Flacco pass for a 61-yard
touchdown in the opening minutes of a 38-10 win over the Carolina
Panthers.
Smith, who joined Baltimore in the offseason after spending the
first 13 years of his NFL career with Carolina, hauled in another
touchdown pass before halftime and finished with 139 yards. Flacco
threw for 327 yards and three touchdowns.
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"I didn't have anything good, bad or indifferent to say. I just
played," said Smith, who was released by Carolina after a productive
and sometimes tumultuous tenure with the team. "At the end of the
day, honestly they didn't deserve anything I had to say that would
be derogatory - and I didn't need to.
"They didn't even deserve me to spin the ball on them. I just caught
it and put it down and went about my business."
Philip Rivers threw for 377 yards and a pair of touchdowns,
including two to Eddie Royal, as the host Chargers beat the winless
Jacksonville Jaguars 33-14.
The Tampa Bay Buccaneers stunned the Pittsburgh Steelers for their
first win of the season as Vincent Jackson caught a five-yard
touchdown pass from Mike Glennon with seven seconds to play to lift
the visitors to a 27-24 comeback win.
Green Bay's Rodgers extended his dominance over the Bears, throwing
for 302 yards and four touchdowns in a 38-17 win that marked his
eighth consecutive victory over the division rival.
In Indianapolis, Luck also had a huge game, throwing for 393 yards
and four touchdowns as the Colts cruised by the Tennessee Titans
41-17 and earned a share of top spot in the AFC South with Houston.
After striking first with a Trent Richardson touchdown, the Colts
immediately recovered an onside kick and Luck led his team on a
six-minute drive that was capped by a seven-yard touchdown pass to
Dwayne Allen for a 14-0 lead.
"You want guys that can go out there and make plays," Luck said. "To
be able to spread the ball out and get everybody involved, that's
important - and it worked today."
(Reporting by Frank Pingue in Toronto; Editing by Mark
Lamport-Stokes and Larry Fine)
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