The Globe and Mail - 25.11.2019

B12 OTHEGLOBEANDMAIL | MONDAY,NOVEMBER25,2019

The Patriots held the Cowboys’
top-ranked offence without a TD
for the first time this season, Tom
Brady threw a touchdown pass
and New England beat Dallas 13-9
on Sunday.
It was New England’s 18th suc-
cessive regular-season victory at
home. The Patriots (10-1) have
won 10 games in 17 consecutive
seasons dating back to 2003, and
surpassed the San Francisco 49ers
(16 seasons from 1983-98) for the
most consecutive years with at
least 10 wins.
Dallas (6-5) had a chance to
take the lead late. But facing
fourth-and-11 on its own 25 with 1
minute 50 seconds left, Dak Pres-
cott’s 20-yard completion to
Amari Cooper was nullified after
an official review.
The Patriots, who struggled to
move the ball in their win over
Philadelphia last week, played
without two key receivers after
Mohamed Sanu and Phillip Dor-
sett were ruled out with injuries.
Brady made the most of what he
had, tossing a first-quarter touch-
down pass to rookie N’Keal Harry
and completing a 32-yard pass to

rookie Jakobi Meyers.

Brady finished 17 of 37 for 190

yards. Julian Edelman caught

eight passes for 93 yards.

Dallas struggled to move the

ball for most of the game. Ezekiel

Elliott rushed 21 times or 86 yards,

but the Cowboys were just 2 of 13

on third down.

Prescott finished 19 of 33 for 212

yards and an interception. Coop-

er was held without a catch for

the first time as a member of the

Cowboys.

Dallas entered the game ave-

raging 444.6 yards a game on of-

fence, and had the league’s best

passing attack, averaging 312.7

yards.

But the Cowboys looked pe-

destrian for most of the first half

opposite New England’s top-

ranked defence, which went in al-

lowing just 152.6 passing yards.

The Patriots focused on taking

away two of Prescott’s favourite

targets in Cooper and tight end

Jason Witten. Prescott threw in

their direction just twice in the

opening half, while mostly check-

ing down to short passes to his

other receivers.

Elliott helped the Cowboys

keep the ball moving, but his long

gains were limited as New

England stacked the box on first

and second down.

Dallas finally found some trac-

tion trailing 13-6 in the fourth

quarter, when Prescott connected

with Randall Cobb for a 59-yard

gain to get the Cowboys to the

New England 25. The drive stalled

on the Patriots 11 and the Cow-

boys settled for a 29-yard field

goal by Brett Maher.

New England got help from a

special team play to set up Harry’s

TD.

Matt Slater blocked Chris Jo-

nes’s punt on the Dallas 30, and

Nate Ebner recovered on the 12.

Two plays later, Brady hit Harry in

the front of the end zone for a 10-

yard touchdown – the first of Har-

ry’s NFL career.

Prescott was intercepted by

Stephon Gilmore on Dallas’s en-

suring drive. The Patriots took

over on the Dallas 29, but quickly

went three-and-out. They settled

for a 44-yard field goal by Nick

Folk that made it 10-0.

Harry became the 75th player

to catch a touchdown pass from

Brady, extending an NFL record.

Vinny Testaverde was second,

with 70 different TD targets.

THEASSOCIATEDPRESS

Patriotsholdoffhot-shotCowboysoffence

NewEnglandPatriot

TomBrady,seen

evadingKerryHyder

oftheDallasCowboys,

threwatouchdownpass

inhisteam’s13-9

victoryonSunday

inFoxborough,Mass.The

Patsimprovedto10-1.

GREGM.COOPER/

USATODAYSPORTS

Dallaslookedpedestrian

againstNewEngland’s

top-rankeddefence,

whichwentinallowing

just152.6passingyards

FOXBOROUGH,MASS.

327:Passing yards for Cleve-

land quarterback Baker Mayfield

on 24 completions of 34

attempts and three touchdowns

in the Browns’ win over the

Dolphins.

159:Rushing yards for Ten-

nessee running back Derrick

Henry on 19 carries and two

touchdowns in the Titans’ win

over the Jaguars.

184:Receiving yards for

Tampa Bay wide receiver Chris

Godwin on seven receptions and

two touchdowns in the Bucca-

neers’ win over the Falcons.

Zero:The Cincinnati Ben-

gals remain the only winless

team in the NFL. The hapless

Bengals (0-11) set franchise

records for worst start and

longest losing streak.

One:Buffalo Bills quarter-

back Josh Allen threw his first

interception in 172 consecutive

attempts late in the second

quarter, when he sailed a pass

over the middle intended for

John Brown. He was picked off

by safety Justin Simmons. It was

Allen’s first interception since

the third quarter of a 14-7 win at

Tennessee in Week 5, and it was

also Buffalo’s first turnover in

three-plus games. The Bills had

never gone four straight without

a turnover.

Two:Washington won its

second game of the season and

snapped a four-game losing

streak.

Four:Cleveland’s Jarvis

Landry is the first Browns wide

receiver with a touchdown catch

in four consecutive games since

Kevin Johnson in 2001.

Six:Tampa Bay’s Mike Evans

has joined Randy Moss as the

only players to begin their

careers with six straight seasons

of at least 1,000 yards receiving.

After four catches for 50 yards

on Sunday, Evans has 1,043

yards on 62 catches.

Eight:Seattle quarterback

Russell Wilson is the first QB in

NFL history to start his career

with eight straight winning

seasons. Wilson has started all

136 games since his rookie sea-

son, including 13 in the playoffs.

Four-time All-Pro middle line-

backer Bobby Wagner also be-

gan his career in 2012 and has

started 126 games in that span.

20:Tampa Bay quarterback

Jameis Winston was picked off

twice on Sunday, for an NFL-

high 20 times this season.

51:Denver linebacker Von

Miller picked up his sixth sack

of the season, and 104th of his

career, by bringing down Buffalo

QB Josh Allen for a five-yard

loss in the first half. Allen be-

came the 51st player sacked by

Miller.

15,289:Buffalo running back

Frank Gore had 65 yards rushing

on Sunday to increase his total

to 15,289 and move ahead of

boyhood idol Barry Sanders into

third on the NFL career list.

19,154:Gore, a 15-year veter-

an, also increased his total to

19,154 yards from scrimmage to

pass Marshall Faulk for fourth

on the list.

THEASSOCIATEDPRESS

AROUNDTHENFL

Wil Lutz kicked a 33-yard field goal as
time expired and the Saints beat the Car-
olina Panthers 34-31 to take a four-game
lead in the NFC South with five games left.
Drew Brees completed 30 of 39 passes for
311 yards and three touchdowns, and led
New Orleans from its 14-yard line with 1
minute 51 seconds left to the Carolina 15
with three seconds remaining to set up
the winning kick. That capped a contest
filled with late momentum shifts and crit-
ical errors – none bigger than Carolina
kicker Joey Slye’s missed field goal from
28 yards with two minutes left. New Or-
leans scored on the game’s opening pos-
session and led until 9:23 remained in the
fourth quarter, when D.J. Moore reached
up with his right hand to corral a fourth-
and-goal pass in the back of the end zone
to tie it at 31. Michael Thomas had 10
catches for 101 yards and a touchdown for
New Orleans (9-2), including receptions
of 14 and 24 yards on the winning drive.

SEAHAWKS 17, EAGLES 9

PHILADELPHIARashaad Penny ran for a
career-best 129 yards, including a 58-yard
touchdown, and Russell Wilson threw one
TD pass as Seattle beat Philadelphia. Mis-
sing their top three wide receivers, lead-
ing rusher and two Pro Bowl offensive li-
nemen, the Eagles (5-6) couldn’t do much
on offence and hurt themselves with
three turnovers inside Seattle territory
and another near midfield. The Seahawks
(9-2) remain undefeated on the road in
six games. During the game, Philly pivot
Carson Wentz walked into the locker
room with his right hand behind his back
and stuffed inside a pouch. He had an
X-ray. He walked out of the locker room
with his hand bandaged in ice. With or
without Wentz, it could soon be a wrap on
the Eagles’ playoff chances. Wentz played
one of the worst games of his four-year
career, a mistake-prone effort on offence
that played a role in his botched tackle
attempt on a lost fumble that led to the
injured hand.

BILLS 20, BRONCOS 3

ORCHARDPARK,N.Y.Josh Allen threw two
touchdowns passing and Shaq Lawson
had two of Buffalo’s four sacks. The Bills
have their best record through 11 games in
23 years. Buffalo improved to 8-3 to match
its best start since Hall of Fame quarter-
back Jim Kelly’s final season in 1996, while
keeping the Bills firmly in position to se-
cure their second playoff berth in three
years. John Brown made a diving 34-yard
touchdown catch and Cole Beasley scored
on an 18-yard reception. Allen finished 15
of 25 for 185 yards.
For a franchise that began the 2000s
bumbling through a 17-year postseason
drought, the new-look Bills suddenly
have a shot to make the playoffs for the
second time in three years. And they’re
doing so by delivering on the methodical
plan to rebuild through youth put into
place after the arrival of general manager
Brandon Beane and coach Sean McDer-
mott in 2017.

JETS 34, RAIDERS 3

EAST RUTHERFORD, N.J. Sam Darnold
threw two touchdown passes and ran for
another score for the Jets’ first three-game
winning streak in more than two years.
Brian Poole returned an interception 15
yards for a TD and the rest of the Jets

defence made things miserable for Derek

Carr, who was pulled by coach Jon Gruden

with just less than two minutes left in the

third quarter. The Raiders (6-5) came into

a rain-soaked MetLife Stadium on a three-

game winning streak with an eye on a

possible AFC West first-place showdown

at Kansas City next week. Instead, they

got outplayed by a suddenly resurgent

Jets (4-7) team that pulled away in the

second half. Darnold was 20 of 29 for 315

yards – the fourth 300-yard game of his

career – with TDs to Robby Anderson and

Ryan Griffin in another efficient outing

that helped New York to its first three-

game winning streak since Weeks 3-5 of

the 2017 season.

BROWNS 41, DOLPHINS 24

CLEVELAND Jarvis Landry caught two

touchdown passes against his former

team and the Browns won their third

straight in their first game since losing

star defensive end Myles Garrett to a sea-

son-ending suspension. Landry couldn’t

wait to get back at the Dolphins (2-9),

who had him for four seasons before they

decided not to give him a long-term con-

tract extension and traded him to Cleve-

land in 2018. He got his revenge, finishing

with 10 catches for 148 yards. Baker May-

field had 327 yards passing and hit a TD

pass to Odell Beckham Jr., and Joe Schob-

ert had two interceptions as the Browns

(5-6) continued their climb back into the

AFC playoff hunt.

STEELERS 16, BENGALS 10

CINCINNATIDevlin (Duck) Hodges took

over for struggling Mason Rudolph and

threw a 79-yard touchdown pass, spark-

ing the depleted Steelers and keeping the

Bengals winless. Hodges connected with

James Washington on the game-turning

play in the third quarter, leaving Pitts-

burgh (6-5) with a quarterback decision

as it moves forward without Ben Roethlis-

berger.

BUCCANEERS 35, FALCONS 22

ATLANTAMassive defensive lineman Vita

Vea turned receiver to haul in his first

career touchdown, one of three scoring

throws by Jameis Winston. Tampa Bay es-

caped last place in the NFC South. Win-

ston shook off two more interceptions to

post his sixth straight 300-yard passing

game, leading the Buccaneers (4-7) to just

their second victory in the past seven

games. Atlanta (3-8) had pulled even with

Tampa Bay at the bottom of the division

standings with a modest two-game win-

ning streak. But the Falcons couldn’t keep

the momentum going, dropping to 1-4 at

Mercedes-Benz Stadium in what has be-

come a lost season for a team that

reached the Super Bowl just three years

ago.

BEARS 19, GIANTS 14

CHICAGOKhalil Mack set up a touchdown

with a strip-sack and Allen Robinson had

a season-high 131 yards receiving for Chi-

cago. Trying to salvage something from a

disappointing season, the Bears (5-6)

bounced back from a loss to the Los An-

geles Rams. The Giants (2-9) dropped

their seventh straight and clinched their

third losing season in a row.

WASHINGTON 19, LIONS 16

LANDOVER, MD.Quinton Dunbar inter-

cepted Jeff Driskel in the final minute,

Dustin Hopkins hit the go-ahead field

goal from 39 yards with 16 seconds left as

Washington snapped a four-game losing

streak. Rookie quarterback Dwayne Has-

kins picked up his first NFL win after lead-

ing Washington (2-9) into field goal range

following Dunbar’s interception. Haskins

finished 13 of 29 for 156 yards and an in-

terception but made a couple fewer mis-

takes than Driskel, who was picked off

three times, as the Lions (3-7-1) lost their

fourth in a row and third since starter

Matthew Stafford went out with injury.

For long stretches, the game was a come-

dy of errors with neither team looking as

though it wanted to win.

TITANS 42, JAGUARS 20

NASHVILLETennessee scored four touch-

downs over six offensive plays in the third

quarter, routing Jacksonville for their sec-

ond straight victory to keep themselves

firmly in the AFC playoff hunt. Ryan Tan-

nehill ran for two TDs and threw two TDs

to improve to 4-1 as Tennessee’s starter.

Derrick Henry ran for two TDs just 16 sec-

onds apart and rookie receiver A.J. Brown

capped the scoring spurt with a 65-yard

TD catch that made it 35-3 with 6:57 left in

the third quarter. The Titans (6-5) are tied

with Indianapolis and Oakland just out-

side the AFC’s final wild-card spot. Jack-

sonville (4-7) lost its third in a row.

THE ASSOCIATED PRESS

Last-secondfieldgoalliftsSaintsoverPanthers

BuffaloBillsquarterbackJoshAllenpassestheballinthedirectionofwidereceiverCole

Beasley,right,duringtheirgameagainsttheDenverBroncosinOrchardPark,N.Y.,on

Sunday.Allenfinished15of25for185yards.RICHBARNES/USATODAYSPORTS

NEWORLEANS

FOOTBALL