Patrick Mahomes threw two touchdown passes, including one to returning star Travis Kelce, and the Kansas City Chiefs overcame three early turnovers to beat Jacksonville 17-9 on Sunday for their third win against the Jaguars in 10 months. .
The Chiefs (1-1) won their eighth straight game in the series and avoided becoming the first Super Bowl champions to start 0-2 since Denver in 1999.
The Jaguars (1-1), who insisted all week that they owed the Chiefs because of a loss in the divisional round of the AFC playoffs in January, virtually didn’t show up for their home opener. Coach Doug Pederson’s team got off to another slow start, failing to capitalize on two of three turnovers and struggling to protect quarterback Trevor Lawrence.
Lawrence threw incomplete on a fourth-and-12 play with 4:16 left in an eight-point game, and Kansas City didn’t let the Jaguars get the ball back.
Chiefs All-Pro defensive tackle Chris Jones, making his season debut after ending his holdout and signing a one-year deal, dominated their one-on-one matchups.
Baltimore Ravens 27-24 Cincinnati Bengals
Lamar Jackson threw two touchdown passes, Gus Edwards ran for another and the Ravens held off the slow-starting Bengals. The AFC North champion Bengals fell to 0-2 for the second straight season. The Ravens, their division rival, certainly looked like the better team. Jackson completed 24 of 33 passes for 237 yards. He ran for 54 more. Edwards gained 62 yards on 10 carries. It looked like Bengals quarterback Joe Burrow might still be suffering the effects of a calf injury in training camp. He finished 27 of 41 for 222 yards and two touchdowns, and said after the game that he felt soreness in his calf on his team’s final drive.
“I’m not sure how I’ll feel in the next few days,” Burrow said. “It hurts a lot right now. I don’t know how it will feel. So, I think we are going to take it day by day.”
New York Jets 10–30 Dallas Cowboys
Dak Prescott threw for two touchdowns, Zach Wilson had three interceptions in his first start since Aaron Rodgers’ season-ending Achilles injury and the Cowboys beat the New York Jets. CeeDee Lamb had 143 yards receiving and Brandon Aubrey kicked five field goals as the Cowboys completed a season-opening sweep of the New York teams. Wilson had a 68-yard touchdown pass to Garrett Wilson to pull the Jets within three points in the second quarter. But New York had only 147 yards and four turnovers in the second half.
Las Vegas Raiders 10-38 Buffalo Bills
Josh Allen rebounded from a four-turnover setback in the season opener by throwing three touchdown passes and leading the Bills to a rout of the Raiders.
Linebackers Matt Milano and Terrel Bernard each intercepted Jimmy Garoppolo, and the Bills alleviated lingering frustrations after a 22-16 overtime loss to the New York Jets on Monday and a week filled with off-field distractions.
Coach Sean McDermott had to address his leadership group after team owner Terry Pegula was accused of making racist comments. Pegula denied the allegations.. And then on Wednesday, a Bills reporter was heard on an open microphone questioning the character of receiver Stefon Diggs. Diggs took to social media a day later to call the comments “hurtful” and “insulting.”
San Francisco 49ers 30-23 Los Angeles Rams
The San Francisco 49ers held on for their ninth consecutive regular season victory over the Los Angeles Rams. Brock Purdy threw for 206 yards and ran for an early touchdown, and Deebo Samuel ran for an 11-yard touchdown with 11:28 left. Christian McCaffrey ran for 116 yards and a score for the 49ers, whose only loss to the Rams since December 2018 came in the NFC championship game in January 2022. Matthew Stafford threw for 307 yards for Los Angeles, but he also threw two interceptions. Kyren Williams caught a touchdown pass and ran for another in his first NFL begin.
Seattle Seahawks 37-31 Detroit Lions
Geno Smith threw a second touchdown pass to Tyler Lockett on the first drive of overtime, leading the Seahawks to a victory over the Lions. The Seahawks were victorious after the Lions rallied from a 10-point deficit late in the fourth quarter, extending the game with Riley Patterson’s 38-yard field goal as time expired. Smith threw a go-ahead touchdown pass to Lockett early in the fourth and Tre Brown returned a Jared Goff interception for a score on the insurance drive to give Seattle a 31-21 lead.
New York Giants 31-28 Arizona Cardinals
Daniel Jones threw for 321 yards and two touchdowns, Graham Gano hit a 34-yard field goal with 19 seconds left and the New York Giants rallied from a 21-point third-quarter deficit to upset the Arizona Cardinals 31-28 . It was the Giants’ biggest comeback since a 21-point comeback in 1949, also against the Cardinals. Arizona blew its biggest lead since 2011. New York trailed 20-0 at halftime and 28-7 in the third quarter. But Jones and Saquon Barkley helped the Giants from there. Barkley caught a touchdown pass and ran for a score.
Los Angeles Chargers 24-27 Tennessee Titans
Nick Folk kicked a 41-yard field goal in overtime in a sudden downpour and the Titans snapped an eight-game losing streak by beating the Chargers 27-24. The Titans won for the first time since Nov. 17 of last season. They had to recover from a deficit that equaled the yards they initially had. Ryan Tannehill rebounded from the worst game of his career in the season opener by throwing for 246 yards. He put Tennessee up 24-21 with a four-yard touchdown pass to Nick Westbrook-Ikhine. He also ran to score. Justin Herbert threw for 305 yards and two touchdowns. He could only set up a tying field goal to force overtime.
Washington Commanders 35-33 Denver Broncos
The Commanders secured their first 2-0 start in 12 years with a 35-33 victory over the Broncos. Sam Howell threw for two touchdowns in his first road start and rallied Washington from an 18-point deficit, the second-largest comeback in franchise history. The Commanders held on after Russell Wilson connected with Brandon Johnson on a 50-yard Hail Mary that was deflected multiple times. Wilson attempted to hit Courtland Sutton for the tying two-point conversion, but cornerback Benjamin St-Juste broke up the attempt. St-Juste appeared to get away with a pass interference call, but no flag was thrown.
Indianapolis Colts 31-20 Houston Texans
Anthony Richardson ran for two touchdowns before leaving with a concussion and Gardner Minshew threw for 171 yards and a touchdown as the Colts held off the Texans. It was the first win for coach Shane Steichen, who was hired in February after spending the past two seasons as Philadelphia’s offensive coordinator. The Colts led by 18 at halftime and only managed one field goal in the second half. But their dominant start was enough to snap an eight-game losing streak dating back to last season.
Chicago Bears 17–27 Tampa Bay Buccaneers
Baker Mayfield threw for 317 yards and a touchdown, adding to his strong Buccaneers debut with the win over the struggling Bears. With Mayfield playing without a turnover for the second straight week and Mike Evans catching six balls for 171 yards and a touchdown, the Bucs improved to 2-0 and handed the Bears a franchise-record 12th straight loss. Mayfield completed 26 of 34 passes without an interception. He set up Rachaad White’s one-yard touchdown run with a 70-yard completion to Evans in the first quarter. He finished an 89-yard drive with a 32-yard touchdown pass to Evans early in the second half.
Green Bay Packers 24-25 Atlanta Falcons
Younghoe Koo kicked a 25-yard field goal with 57 seconds left and rookie Bijan Robinson turned in another dynamic performance, leading the Falcons to victory over Jordan Love and the Packers. Robinson rushed for 124 yards on 19 carries and had four receptions for another 48 yards. The Falcons improved to 2-0 for just the 11th time in franchise history. The Packers fell to 1-1 after blowing a 24-12 lead and three more touchdown passes from Love.