SEATTLE — Cam Newton was stopped at the 1-yard line on the final play and the Seattle Seahawks held off the New England Patriots 35-30 on Sunday night.
Newton led New England 80 yards in the closing moments, trying to spoil the performance of Seattle quarterback Russell Wilson, who matched his career high with five touchdown passes.
Newton and the Patriots reached the 1 on a pass to N’Keal Harry with 3 seconds left. On the final play, Newton tried to run power to the left, but was upended by L.J. Collier in the biggest play of his young career. Newton, who had two rushing touchdowns in the game, never got close to the goal line and Seattle’s sideline erupted in celebration.
Newton was excellent in his first road game with the Patriots throwing for 397 yards, one touchdown and one interception. He ran for another 47 yards, but couldn’t get the last three feet to give New England a victory.
Wilson was masterful on the other side, completing 21 of 28 passes for 288 yards. It was his fourth career game with five touchdown passes. Tyler Lockett, DK Metcalf, David Moore, Freddie Swain and Chris Carson all took turns celebrating in the end zone. Carson was the last, running under a 18-yard rainbow toss from Wilson against the blitz with 4:32 left to give the Seahawks a 35-23 lead.
But Newton wasn’t done. His second TD run pulled New England to 35-30 with 2:16 left. It was his eighth career game with at least two rushing TDs, setting an NFL record.
New England held the Seahawks to a three-and-out after Seattle threw on third-and-1 and Wilson couldn’t connect with Lockett on a deep shot.
Newton needed just five plays to move New England from its 19 to the Seattle 36 with 41 seconds left. After a penalty, Newton hit Edelman for 18 yards to the Seattle 13 with 20 seconds left and the pair nearly connected again in the end zone but Newton’s pass was high with 9 seconds remaining. Newton found Harry, but he was stopped at the 1 and New England used its final timeout, setting the stage for the final play.
COWBOYS 40, FALCONS 39
ARLINGTON, Texas — Greg Zuerlein kicked a 46-yard field goal as time expired after Dallas recovered and onside kick, and the Cowboys overcame four fumbles and a 20-point deficit in the first quarter to beat Atlanta in coach Mike McCarthy’s home debut.
The Falcons were still up 12 in the fourth quarter when Dak Prescott became the first quarterback in NFL history to pass for more than 400 yards and rush for three touchdowns in the same game, getting the Cowboys (1-1) within two.
C.J. Goodwin recovered the onside kick with 1:48 remaining after several Falcons let it roll, and rookie receiver CeeDee Lamb’s 24-yard catch got the Cowboys in field goal position.
Matt Ryan threw four touchdown passes, two off lost fumbles from the Cowboys, on the way to a 20-0 lead in the first quarter. But the Falcons couldn’t avoid their first 0-2 start under coach Dan Quinn in a performance reminiscent of their blown 28-3 lead in a Super Bowl loss to New England in Houston.
The successful onside kick for Dallas came after two failed fake punts and a gamble from McCarthy in going for the 2-point conversion.
CHIEFS 23, CHARGERS 20, OT
LOS ANGELES — Harrison Butker kicked a 58-yard field goal with 1:55 remaining in overtime, and the Chiefs survived a superlative first start by rookie Chargers quarterback Justin Herbert.
Butker’s winner was his third field goal of the day and his second from 58 yards, which tied a Chiefs record for distance. He nailed a 30-yarder on the final play of regulation.
In overtime, Butker sent the ball through the uprights from 53 yards, but KC was called for a false start. Then the Chargers called timeout, giving him a rehearsal kick from 58 that he also made before the one that counted.
Patrick Mahomes completed less than half of his passes in the first half for only the third time in his career but rallied to finish 27 of 47 for 302 yards and two touchdowns. Tyreek Hill (five catches, 99 yards) and Travis Kelce (nine receptions, 90 yards) each had TD receptions.
Playing their first game at SoFi Stadium, the Chargers (1-1) won the coin toss in overtime but went three-and-out. The Chiefs (2-0) got the ball at their 21 and went 39 yards in 13 plays.
Herbert was 22 of 33 for 311 yards with a touchdown and interception, becoming the ninth quarterback since the merger to have a 300-yard game in his NFL debut.
49ERS 31, JETS 13
EAST RUTHERFORD, N.J. — Raheem Mostert ran for an 80-yard touchdown on San Francisco’s first play from scrimmage and Jimmy Garoppolo threw two TD passes — before both players sat out the second half with injuries.
It was a costly victory for San Francisco, which was already short-handed before losing Garoppolo to an ankle injury and Mostert to an injured knee. Defensive end Nick Bosa and defensive tackle Solomon Thomas were both carted off the field two plays apart with left knee injuries in the first quarter.
The 49ers (1-1) also came in without star tight end George Kittle (knee), wide receiver Deebo Samuel (foot), cornerback Richard Sherman (calf) and defensive end Dee Ford (neck).
It didn’t matter against the Jets (0-2), who have also been hit hard by injuries and couldn’t muster much.
CARDINALS 30, WASHINGTON 15
GLENDALE, Ariz. — Kyler Murray threw for 286 yards and a touchdown and ran for two more scores.
The Cardinals were dominant in their push to a 2-0 record, jumping to a 14-0 lead by the end of the first quarter. They led 20-0 by halftime and 20-3 following the third. DeAndre Hopkins caught eight passes for 68 yards and a touchdown. Zane Gonzalez made three field goals.
Murray alleviated any doubt about who would win early in the fourth quarter, when he darted through the middle of the field — dancing right past safety Troy Apke in the process — for a 21-yard touchdown that pushed Arizona’s advantage to 27-3.
Washington (1-1) finally scored a touchdown with 12:20 left in the fourth quarter when Dwayne Haskins hit Terry McLaurin for a 24-yard score. It scored again with 6:38 left when Antonio Gibson ran for an 11-yard touchdown to pull within 27-15 after the 2-point conversion failed.
BUCCANEERS 31, PANTHERS 13
TAMPA, Fla. — Tom Brady got his first win with the Buccaneers, throwing for 217 yards, one touchdown and an interception.
With another recent acquisition, Leonard Fournette, rushing for 103 yards and two TDs, Brady rebounded from a less-than-stellar debut for his new team to avoid starting a season with consecutive losses for the first time in a 21-year career.
Brady tossed a 23-yard TD pass to Mike Evans in the first quarter. Fournette scored on runs of 1 and 46 yards, the latter coming after Carolina stormed back from a 21-0 halftime deficit to 24-17 on a pair of TD runs by Christian McCaffrey and Joey Slye’s 23-yard field goal.
Brady completed 23 of 35 passes, and Evans finished with seven receptions for 104 yards. Fournette averaged 8.6 yards per carry on 12 rushing attempts.
Teddy Bridgewater was 33 of 42 for 367 yards and two interceptions for the Panthers (0-2), who had four turnovers.
McCaffrey spent most of the fourth quarter on the sideline with an apparent ankle injury.
RAMS 37, EAGLES 19
PHILADELPHIA — Jared Goff threw three touchdown passes to Tyler Higbee. Goff completed his first 13 passes, including a pair of TDs to Higbee, and the Rams jumped to a 21-3 lead minutes into the second quarter.
After the Eagles (0-2) pulled within one score, Goff’s 28-yard TD pass to Higbee in the fourth period iced it for Los Angeles (2-0).
Goff and Carson Wentz were selected Nos. 1-2 in the 2016 draft, one of seven times since 1967 that quarterbacks were the first two picks. In their only other head-to-head meeting in December 2017, Wentz tore two knee ligaments. Nick Foles stepped in and eventually led Philadelphia to its first Super Bowl title.
Rams coach Sean McVay got his first win over Doug Pederson and the Eagles in three tries. McVay outcoached defensive coordinator Jim Schwartz early as Los Angeles scored TDs on its first three possessions.
