LOS ANGELES: Patrick Mahomes completed 23-of-37 passes for 260 yards and Clyde Edwards ran for 63 yards and a touchdown as the Kansas City Chiefs smothered the Dallas Cowboys 19-9 with the help of a stifling defense on Sunday. Kansas City's defense provided all sorts of trouble for Cowboys quarterback Dak Prescott as the Chiefs improved to 4-0 against NFC East opponents and extended their winning streak to four straight. The contest was another step in the Chiefs' resurgence this season as they toppled one of the league's most potent offenses in front of a crowd of 73,500 at Arrowhead Stadium.
"This entire season, there's been a lot of ups and downs for everybody," said Mahomes. "We've had games where we put up a lot of points and played good, and games we haven't, and we still found a way to get a win." Kansas City's Charvarius Ward picked off Prescott in the end zone near the end of the first half, and Chris Jones had 3 1/2 sacks while forcing and recovering a fumble. After a shaky start which saw the 2019 Super Bowl champions stuck in the cellar of the AFC West on November 1, the Chiefs have recovered in recent weeks and now head the division at 7-4. An emphatic 41-14 victory over the Las Vegas Raiders last weekend and now the win over Dallas is more evidence the worst may well be behind Andy Reid's team.
"We had a few rough weeks. We had a lot of guys injured. It wasn't clicking. But when you take everything into consideration, we were still able to compete," said Jones. "And to have everyone back and build that chemistry, I think it's a huge part of our success right now." Prescott was held to 216 yards passing and two interceptions for Dallas.
In Chicago, Devonta Freeman's three-yard touchdown run with 22 seconds left lifted the Baltimore Ravens to a 16-13 win against the Chicago Bears. Backup quarterback Tyler Huntley engineered the winning drive after getting the start in place of former league MVP Lamar Jackson, who was sidelined before the game with an unspecified illness. That meant the undrafted Huntley got his first NFL start and completed 26-of-36 passes for 219 yards and one interception and ran for 40 yards. Bears rookie quarterback Justin Fields exited Sunday's game against the Ravens after injuring his ribs.
Andy Dalton came on early in the third quarter when Fields left after being hit on a six-yard run. Dalton finished 11-for-23 for 201 yards and two touchdowns. Bears coach Matt Nagy said he didn't have any information about Fields during his postgame news conference. "I don't know any of that right now," Nagy said. Fields completed four of 11 passes for 79 yards. In Minneapolis, Kirk Cousins passed for 341 yards and three touchdowns, and Greg Joseph made a 29-yard field goal as time expired to lift the Minnesota Vikings to a 34-31 win over the Green Bay Packers. Justin Jefferson had eight catches for 169 yards and two touchdowns for Minnesota. Adam Thielen added eight catches for 82 yards and one touchdown, and Dalvin Cook had 22 carries for 86 yards and a touchdown.
Rodgers injury worsens
Packers quarterback Aaron Rodgers completed 23-of-33 passes for a season-high 385 yards and four touchdowns. After missing time earlier due to COVID-19 quarantine, Rodgers was unable to practice much this week because of a toe injury. He said the injury was aggravated on Sunday. "It's very, very painful. I got stepped on in the first half, and that kind of activated all the symptoms that I was having," Rodgers said. "It's going to be another painful week next week, and then hopefully I can get healed up during the bye."
Davante Adams had seven catches for 115 yards and two touchdowns, and Marquez Valdes-Scantling had four catches for 123 yards and one touchdown. Also, Jonathan Taylor rushed for 185 yards and scored a franchise-record five touchdowns as the Indianapolis Colts clobbered the Buffalo Bills 41-15. In Seattle, Colt McCoy, subbing for the injured Kyler Murray, threw two touchdown passes as the Arizona Cardinals defeated the Seattle Seahawks 23-13. - AFP