Boston Scott and Jordan Howard each scored two rushing touchdowns, helping the Philadelphia Eagles run over the host Detroit Lions in a 44-6 win Sunday.
The Eagles (3-5) ended a two-game losing streak against a team that was very accommodating.
The Lions (0-8) go into their open date as the NFL’s only winless team. The break gives first-year coach Dan Campbell extra time to figure out how to avoid leading the league’s first 0-17 team after being a tight end on the first 0-16 team in Detroit 13 years ago.
Scott and Howard made the most of their opportunities to fill in for running back Miles Sanders, who went on injured reserve with an ankle injury after he was hurt last week.
Scott broke a scoreless tie late in the first quarter with a 1-yard run, and Howard’s 4-yard run late in the second quarter put the Eagles up 17-0. They each had a short touchdown run in the third quarter and finished with 117 combined rushing yards.
Just to make the setback sting a little more for the Lions and their fans, former Lions cornerback Darius Slay scooped up D’Andre Swift’s fumble and returned it 33 yards make it 38-0 late in the third.
The offensively challenged Lions avoided a shutout midway through the fourth quarter when rookie Jermar Jefferson scored on an 8-yard run for his first NFL touchdown.
Alas, the Lions failed to convert the 2-point conversion as Jared Goff was hit, as he often was by the Eagles from every direction, even when they rushed just four against five offensive linemen.
Goff was sacked a season-high five times and finished 23 of 34 for 222 yards. The sixth-year quarterback and many of his teammates made mental mistakes, including when he threw a ball away in the third quarter on fourth down instead of throwing toward a receiver with nothing to lose.
The Eagles didn’t need to pass much to beat the Lions, so they didn’t as Jalen Hurts was 9 of 14 for 103 yards. He ran seven times for 71 of his team’s 236 yards rushing.
Dallas Cowboys 20, Minnesota Vikings 16
Cooper Rush’s first NFL start was a statement victory for the surging Dallas Cowboys with starting quarterback Dak Prescott stuck on the sideline.
With every opportunity to outlast the fill-in for the first-place team on the other side, Kirk Cousins and the Minnesota Vikings withered down the stretch.
Rush subbed for the injured Prescott and passed for 325 yards and two second-half touchdowns, the last a 5-yard throw to Amari Cooper with 51 seconds left in the Cowboys’ 20-16 victory over the Vikings on Sunday night in Minneapolis.
“It was just as good as the dream,” Rush said.
Rush, the fifth-year backup handed the offense when Prescott was shelved in a game-time decision because of a strained right calf muscle, directed an eight-play, 75-yard drive he finished with a perfect toss to Cooper on a fade in the corner of the end zone.
“I was glad everybody got to see that, because that’s Cooper Rush,” coach Mike McCarthy said. “He plays the quarterback position like a seasoned veteran.”
Cooper had eight catches for 122 yards, and CeeDee Lamb had six receptions for 112 yards for the Cowboys (6-1), whose only lead came in that final minute. Rush connected with Cedrick Wilson for a 73-yard score on the third play of the third quarter to tie the game at 10.
“Trust the matchups on the outside,” Cooper said he kept telling Rush. “These guys can’t guard us.”
Rush overcame two turnovers, both delivered by former Dallas safety Xavier Woods, to slice up the Vikings secondary as Prescott watched approvingly from the sideline.
Kirk Cousins and the Vikings (3-4) were frequently in disarray on offense after opening the game with 75-yard march for a touchdown pass to Adam Thielen. Greg Joseph kicked three field goals to keep them in front for most of the night, but the Vikings totaled only 278 yards against a defense that was allowing the second-highest yards-per-play average in the NFL entering the week.
Cousins finished 23-for-35 for 184 yards, too often settling for the short dump-off option rather than pushing the ball up the field to Thielen and fellow star Justin Jefferson. Dalvin Cook had 18 carries for 78 yards, but he never found a rhythm.
The Vikings converted only one of 13 third downs and had eight of 12 possessions last only five plays or fewer. Woods had an interception in the second quarter and forced a fumble with his first career sack in the fourth quarter, but the Vikings didn’t score after either of those gifts.
“It was a combination of coverage and pressure,” Cousins said.
Cowboys defensive coordinator Dan Quinn had a masterful game plan that was nearly undone by a lack of discipline by his group. The defense accounted for nine of the team’s 11 penalties, including three unnecessary roughness calls during a 69-yard Vikings drive to take the lead on Joseph’s 24-yard kick. Nearly half of those yards came from penalties.
“Every game we just hang around, hang around, hang around, let the team hang around, instead of just putting our foot on the gas and going,” Thielen said.
Green Bay Packers 24, Arizona Cardinals 21 (Thursday)
Rasul Douglas was living the life of an NFL journeyman just a few weeks ago, bouncing between camps and practice squads in a frustrating process that is football’s version of purgatory.
Finally, the Green Bay Packers liked what they saw.
Now he’s a Thursday night hero for the league’s hottest team — at one of his former team’s expense.
Douglas corralled an interception with 12 seconds left in the fourth quarter that helped the Packers knock off the previously unbeaten Arizona Cardinals 24-21 in a thriller that featured two of the NFL’s top quarterbacks in Glendale, Ariz.
“Blessed,” Douglas said. “You’re in a crazy mental state being in the league for five years, never been on the practice squad before. You feel like you are working for nothing kind of. Then you get a call and you are somewhere else and you’re playing.”
The Cardinals looked like they were going to rally to win their eighth straight game, but Kyler Murray threw the stunning interception on second-and-goal as the home crowd groaned in disbelief. A.J. Green didn’t expect the pass to come his way and never turned around and Douglas was there to snatch the ball in the corner of the end zone.
“We weren’t on the same page,” Murray said. “And it cost us.”
It was a big night for some lesser-known Packers players. Douglas was added to the active roster just three weeks ago when the team needed help in the secondary. He was signed off the Cardinals practice squad, where he spent a few weeks earlier this season.
“This is why I love this squad,” Packers quarterback Aaron Rodgers said. “The guy that made the pick was with them (pointing to Cards sideline) for four weeks. He was on the street. We brought him in. He’s starting for us. He’s a great dude. He’s really meshed well with our team. To come up with a play like that with 15 seconds left is incredible.”
Randall Cobb’s clutch night was much needed because the Packers were playing without their two top receivers. Davante Adams and Allen Lazard were put on the reserve/COVID-19 list earlier in the week, but the 31-year-old Cobb responded with two touchdowns that were both tough catches in traffic.
“It was tough in the passing game at times, but Cobby came up with a couple of big touchdown catches,” Rodgers said.
Cobb’s 6-yard touchdown catch on the first play of the fourth quarter put the Packers up 24-14. He was once one of the NFL’s top receivers — making the Pro Bowl in 2014 with 1,287 yards receiving and 14 touchdowns — but has settled into more a secondary role late in his career.
He caught only three passes Thursday, but they were important ones.
The Cardinals trailed for most of the night but rallied to pull within 24-21 on James Conner’s second touchdown run of the game with 10:45 left in the fourth. They then had a crucial goal-line stand late in the fourth — capped by Devon Kennard swatting down Rodgers’ fourth-down pass — giving them the ball back at the 1-yard line and an opportunity to go 99 yards for the win.
They almost made it.
The Packers (7-1) have won seven straight games after dropping the season opener. The Cardinals (7-1) were trying to set a franchise record for longest winning streak to start a season but instead tied the mark set in 1974.
Both teams were hampered in the early going by a lack of healthy receivers. The offensive pace picked up in the second half.
The Packers offense was a little more conservative without Adams and Lazard. Cardinals top receiver DeAndre Hopkins made a 55-yard catch in the first quarter but tweaked his sore hamstring on the play and didn’t play for a big chunk of the game.
The Packers grabbed a 10-7 halftime advantage by making a field goal after Cardinals rookie Rondale Moore mishandled a punt deep in their territory.
Early in the third quarter, Murray threw a pass that was deflected by Moore into the hands of the Packers’ Henry Black at the Cardinals 14. Five plays later, Rodgers found Cobb in the corner of the end zone for a touchdown and 17-7 lead.
The Cardinals responded but fell just short of the win. Murray finished with 274 passing yards and two interceptions.
“We didn’t play very well in the first half, I didn’t call a very good game, couldn’t get into a rhythm, took some negative plays,” Cardinals coach Kliff Kingsbury said. “In the second half, guys responded and they’ve done that all year when we’ve struggled, to be able to come back and answer the bell.
“We just weren’t able to finish this time.”
The Cardinals played their first game without defensive end J.J. Watt, who reportedly needs shoulder surgery that could end his season. Watt suffered the injury in Week 7 against the Texans, though there was no indication that there was a problem after the game. The three-time NFL Defensive Player of the Year has 16 tackles and one sack this season.