SPORTS E3 USA TODAY z MONDAY, NOVEMBER 11, 2019 z 5C
NFL
Matt Ryan passed for two
TDs and the visiting Atlanta
Falcons ended their six-game
slide with a 26-9 victory over
the Saints on Sunday that
stopped New Orleans’ six-
game winning streak.
Atlanta’s defense stunning-
ly dominated New Orleans’
normally stout offensive line.
Coming in with an NFL low sev-
en sacks all season, the Falcons
sacked Drew Brees six times,
with Grady Jarrett, Vic Beasley
Jr., Adrian Clayborn and
De’Vondre Campbell all getting
involved. Jarrett finished with a
team-high 2½ sacks.
It was the second time this
season the Saints were held
without a TD at home, but the
first time with Brees under cen-
ter. New Orleans also failed to
score a TD in a 12-10 victory
over Dallas in Week 4 with Ted-
dy Bridgewater filling in at
quarterback.
Ryan, returning from an an-
kle injury that sidelined him
before the Falcons’ Week 9 bye,
was 20 of 35 for 182 yards.
Brees went 32 of 45 for 287
yards and the Saints finished
with 310 yards, well below their
average of 375.3 coming in.
That’s despite getting running
back Alvin Kamara and tight
end Jared Cook back from inju-
ries that had kept them out of
the previous two games. Other
than receiver Michael Thomas,
who caught 13 passes for 152
yards, few regulars on the
Saints’ offense approached
their usual production.
zPackers 24, Panthers 16:
Carolina’s Christian McCaffrey
was ruled just short of a snow-
covered end zone on the game’s
final play as Green Bay held on
for the win. Aaron Rodgers and
crew improved to 8-2 with the
home victory, helped by Aaron
Jones’ three TDs. The Panthers
dropped to 5-4. They had a
chance to force overtime, with
Kyle Allen leading them down
the field thanks to some of his
career-high 307 yards passing.
But McCaffrey couldn’t quite
get the ball in for a score – ac-
cording to both the original call
on the field and a replay review.
zRavens 49, Bengals 13:La-
mar Jackson threw for three
TDs in a near-perfect passing
performance and added a sen-
sational 47-yard scoring run,
Marcus Peters got his third
pick-6 of the season – this one
off rookie Ryan Finley – and
Baltimore won its fifth in a row,
routing winless Cincinnati. The
visiting Ravens (7-2) followed
their eye-opening victory over
the previously unbeaten Patri-
ots by quickly pulling away
from the NFL’s last winless
team. It was the Jackson show
from the start – a 49-yard com-
pletion on his first throw. His
only incompletion in the first
half was on a spike. Jackson
finished 15 of 17 – a club-record
completion percentage – for
223 yards and a perfect passer
rating of 158.3, his second of the
season. Jackson threw five TD
passes and had a perfect rating
during a 59-10 opening win over
Miami. The Bengals droppedtheir 11th in a row from the end
of last season, tying the longest
two-season losing streak in
club history. They’re one loss
away from matching the worst
start in club history.
zBrowns 19, Bills 16:Baker
Mayfield threw a 7-yard TD
pass to Rashard Higgins with
1:44 left as Cleveland snapped a
four-game losing streak – and
took some pressure off first-
year coach Freddie Kitchens –
with a win at home over Buffa-
lo. Cleveland (3-6) survived
more problems in the red zone
but sealed the much-needed
win when Buffalo kicker Ste-
phen Hauschka’s 53-yard field
goal attempt was short with 22
seconds left. Earlier, Hauschka
missed a 34-yarder. Quarter-
back Josh Allen had two TD
runs for the Bills (6-3), who
were off to their best start since
1993.
zJets 34, Giants 27:Le’V-
eon Bell scored a go-ahead 1-
yard TD early in the fourth
quarter after a 33-yard pass in-
terference penalty on DeAndre
Baker, and the Jets rallied andthen held on to beat the Giants
for Big Apple bragging rights.
Sam Darnold threw a TD pass
to Jamison Crowder and ran for
another score, and Jamal Ad-
ams scored on a 25-yard fum-
ble return on a strip-sack as the
Jets (2-7) bounced back from
an embarrassing 28-16 loss last
week at previously winless Mi-
ami. Daniel Jones threw a ca-
reer-high four TD passes, two
each to Darius Slayton and
Golden Tate, but couldn’t pre-
vent the Giants (2-8) from los-
ing their sixth consecutive
game. It’s their first six-game
skid since 2014. Saquon Bark-
ley had the worst game of his
young career, finishing with
just 1 yard on 13 carries. He also
had five catches for 30 yards.
Darnold was 19 of 30 for 230
yards, while Jones was 26 of 40
for 308 yards.
zBuccaneers 30, Cardinals
27:Jameis Winston threw for
358 yards and one TD, helping
Tampa Bay rally to snap a four-
game losing streak with a vic-
tory over Arizona. Matt Gay
kicked three field goals andPeyton Barber scored on a 1-
yard run to finish a 92-yard,
game-winning drive after the
Bucs (3-6) ended Kyler Mur-
ray’s NFL rookie record streak
of 211 consecutive pass at-
tempts without an intercep-
tion. Murray threw for 324
yards and three TDs to Chris-
tian Kirk, whose 15-yard scor-
ing reception put the Cardinals
up 27-23 midway through the
fourth. Murray, the first overall
pick in this year’s draft, set the
rookie record for most pass at-
tempts without an interception
on an 11-yard completion to Lar-
ry Fitzgerald, moving ahead of
Derek Carr (2014) and Dak
Prescott (2016) who both had
streaks of 176 consecutive
passes without an interception
in their first seasons. The 2018
Heisman Trophy winner hadn’t
thrown an interception since
Sept. 29, a span of six games in
which the Cardinals (3-6-1)
have gone 3-3.
zBears 20, Lions 13:Mitch-
ell Trubisky tied a season high
with three TD passes, and Chi-
cago (4-5) withstood a late
charge by Detroit with Jeff
Driskel filling in for injured
quarterback Matthew Stafford,
beating the Lions to snap a
four-game losing streak. De-
troit (3-5-1) ruled out Stafford,
31, hours before kickoff because
of hip and back injuries, ending
his streak of 136 consecutive
starts. It was the first time he
missed a regular-season game
since 2010.
zDolphins 16, Colts 12:Ryan
Fitzpatrick scored on an 11-yard
run in the first half and Miami’s
defense made a late stop to pre-
serve a victory over Indianapo-
lis. The Dolphins (2-7) have
won two in a row after a miser-
able start and earned their first
win at Lucas Oil Stadium since- Indianapolis (5-4) had
four chances to take the lead in
the final minute from the Mi-
ami 16. Brian Hoyer threw in-
completions on the first three
plays and hooked up with Eric
Ebron for 8 yards on 4th-
and-10, sealing the decision.
Ryan TDs help Falcons stun Saints
Falcons quarterback Matt Ryan warmed up well Sunday against the Saints, throwing two
touchdown passes in the upset of the NFC South leaders. CHUCK COOK/USA TODAY SPORTSThe Associated Press
Isthatbuggingyou?Lookslikeaneasyfix.Justlikeit’saneasyswitchtoGEICO.Try it today and you couldsave money.switchgeico.com | 1-800-368-Limitations apply. See geico.com for more details. GEICO & affiliates. Washington, DC 20076 © 2019 GEICOPITTSBURGH – It figured
that to spring another upset on
their home turf, the Steelers
would need to put it in the
hands of their big-play defense.
Done.
Minkah Fitzpatrick picked
off Jared Goff with 20 seconds
remaining in the game to pre-
serve a 17-12 victory against the
Rams on Sunday that pushed
Pittsburgh (5-4) above .500 for
the first time this season.
Fitzpatrick and his team-
mates collected four takeaways
against the defending NFC
champion Rams (5-4), and it
has become a way of life for a
unit carrying an injury-deplet-
ed offense. During Pittsburgh’s
four-game winning streak, the
defense has 14 takeaways.
Four more things we learned
from the Steelers’ victory at
Heinz Field:- Jared Goff is regressing:
After lighting up the Bengals’
inept defense in London in his
last outing, the Rams’ quarter-
back came back with his low-
est-rated passing game of the
season (51.2). Sure, pressure
from Pittsburgh’s defense had
much influence, but Goff gen-
erally couldn’t come with the
clutch throws when needed,
as the Rams’ 1-for-14 measure
on third downs indicates. And
Goff never led the Rams to
the end zone.- You can only hope to
contain Fitzpatrick: A week
after returning an interception
96 yards for a touchdown, the
Steelers’ safety scored on a 46-
yard fumble return. It was his
third consecutive game with a
takeaway, the streak starting
with a two-pick night against
the Dolphins, the team that
traded him away in September
to open the door for him to a
new world as a roaming play-
maker. - James Washington had
the breakout game Pittburgh
has been waiting for: The
Steelers’ promising-but-frus-
trating receiver emerged as
Mason Rudolph’s go-to target,
sparking memories of the duo’s
days together at Oklahoma
State. Washington caught six
passes for 90 yards, with a
breathtaking 3-yard touch-
down catch thanks to his toe
drag along the sideline bound-
ary. He also made a couple of
huge third-down catches to
mark his best game of the sea-
son.- Aaron Donald’s home-
coming was bittersweet: The
reigning NFL defensive player
of the year shared a sack with
Clay Matthews that resulted in
a fourth-quarter safety and
typically wreaked havoc other-
wise in his return to his home-
town. But the close loss put a
damper on Donald’s perform-
ance.
Steelers continue surge, bottle up Rams
Jarrett Bell
USA TODAY
Steelers wide receiver James Washington celebrates his touchdown with wide receiver Diontae
Johnson against the Rams during the first quarter.CHARLES LECLAIRE/USA TODAY SPORTS