The Associated Press
ORCHARD PARK, N.Y. — LeSean McCoy scored twice and safety Aaron Williams returned a botched field-goal snap 53 yards for a touchdown in leading the Buffalo Bills to a 33-18 win over the Arizona Cardinals on Sunday.
Quarterback Tyrod Taylor also scored on a 20-yard run at a time the Rex Ryan-coached Bills spent the past week taking the brunt of criticism after opening the season 0-2.
The win also came on the heels of Ryan firing offensive coordinator Greg Roman and replacing him with running backs coach Anthony Lynn.
McCoy scored on 24- and 5-yard runs, and finished with 110 yards rushing after combining for just 117 in his first two games. Taylor had 76 yards rushing, including a 49-yarder, the longest by a quarterback in team history.
The Bills limited Arizona to 348 yards and intercepted Carson Palmer on each of Arizona’s final four possessions.
Stephon Gilmore had two interceptions.
Arizona (1-2) combined for just 2 yards net offense and no first downs on their first five possessions. Palmer finished 26 of 50 for 264 yards and was sacked five times.
Vikings 22, Panthers 10
CHARLOTTE, N.C. — Sam Bradford threw a touchdown pass to Kyle Rudolph, Marcus Sherels returned a punt for a score and the Minnesota Vikings snapped the Carolina Panthers’ 14-game home winning streak 22-10 on Sunday.
The Vikings (3-0) put the clamps on Cam Newton, intercepting the league’s reigning MVP three times and sacking him eight times, one of those resulting in a safety by Danielle Hunter.
The eight sacks were the second-most ever against Newton.
The Panthers had come in averaging 42 points per game in their last three home games, but could do little after bolting to a 10-0 lead. The Vikings held Carolina receivers Kelvin Benjamin and Devin Funchess without a catch.
Bradford improved to 2-0 as the Vikings starter, completing 18 of 28 passes for 171 yards. With Adrian Peterson injured, Matt Asiata and Jerick McKinnon combined for 70 yards rushing on 22 carries. Rudolph had seven catches for 70 yards, including a 15-yard TD catch to put the Vikings ahead for good in the early in the third quarter.
Outside the stadium about 100 people gathered before the game to stage a peaceful protest over the police shooting of a 43-year-old black man last week.
It was Carolina’s first home loss since Nov. 16, 2014.
Packers 34, Lions 27
GREEN BAY, Wis. — Aaron Rodgers threw for 205 yards and four touchdowns, including two in the first half to Jordy Nelson, and the Green Bay Packers snapped out of their offensive funk before holding off the Detroit Lions for a 34-27 win Sunday.
Rodgers was 15 of 24, leading the Packers to touchdowns on their first three series.
Nelson had 101 yards on six catches.
The Packers (2-1) led 31-10 at the half before the Lions slowly chipped away.
Marvin Jones’ 35-yard touchdown catch with 3:34 left got Detroit (1-2) within seven. Jones had a career-high 205 yards on six receptions.
Matthew Stafford passed for 385 yards and three scores for the Lions, who held advantages in total yardage (418-324) and time of possession, holding the ball for 35 minutes.
But the Packers burned the secondary with big plays, and Eddie Lacy ran for 103 yards on 17 carries.
Redskins 29, Giants 27
EAST RUTHERFORD, N.J. — Dustin Hopkins kicked a 37-yard field goal late in the fourth quarter for his fifth of the game and the Washington Redskins avoid a near-disastrous 0-3 start with a 29-27 win over the penalty- and error-prone New York Giants on Sunday.
Kirk Cousins threw touchdown passes of 44 yards to DeSean Jackson and 55 to Jamison Crowder as the banged-up Redskins (1-2) handed new coach Ben McAdoo his first loss with the Giants (2-1).
Su’a Cravens ended the Giants’ final drive with an interception in New York territory. It was Eli Manning’s second pick of the quarter, with the other coming in the end zone by Quinton Dunbar after New York got to the Redskins 15 on a big play by Odell Beckham Jr.
Dolphins 30, Browns 24, OT
MIAMI GARDENS, Fla. — Jay Ajayi scored on an 11-yard run with 8:26 left in overtime, and the Miami Dolphins escaped with a 30-24 win over the Cleveland Browns (0-3) on Sunday.
Ajayi’s gamewinner came one play after Miami quarterback Ryan Tannehill found a wide-open Jarvis Landry for a 32-yard gain, as the Dolphins (1-2) avoided what would be their first 0-3 start since 2011.
Ravens 19, Jaguars 17
JACKSONVILLE, Fla. — Justin Tucker kicked a 54-yard field goal with 1:02 remaining, lifting the Baltimore Ravens to a 19-17 victory over the Jacksonville Jaguars on Sunday.
The Ravens improved to 3-0 for the third time in franchise history and first since 2009.
The Jaguars fell to 0-3 for the third time in the last four years and surely will hear more talk about coach Gus Bradley’s job security.
Chiefs 24, Jets 3
KANSAS CITY, Mo. — Derrick Johnson saw everybody else picking off passes for Kansas City and decided to join the party.
The veteran linebacker snagged one of six interceptions thrown by Ryan Fitzpatrick, scored one of the Chiefs’ two touchdowns off turnovers, and put an exclamation mark on a rather bizarre 24-3 victory over the hapless, turnover-prone New York Jets on Sunday.
Marcus Peters had two of the interceptions for the Chiefs (2-1), including the first of four in the fourth quarter. Johnson, Daniel Sorenson and D.J. White grabbed the others as the Jets (1-2) piled up their most turnovers since setting a franchise record with 10 in a loss to the Patriots on Nov. 21, 1976.
Colts 26, San Diego 22
INDIANAPOLIS — Andrew Luck missed T.Y. Hilton on one key play Sunday. The Colts quarterback didn’t make the same mistake a second time.
Luck threw a perfect pass to Hilton with 1:17 to play, and the Pro Bowl receiver spun out of a tackle and zig-zagged 63 yards down the field to help give Indianapolis(1-2) a 26-22 victory over San Diego (1-2).
Eagles 34, Steelers 3
PHILADELPHIA — Carson Wentz threw for 301 yards and two touchdowns, a fierce defense shut down Ben Roethlisberger and Antonio Brown and the Philadelphia Eagles beat the Pittsburgh Steelers 34-3 on Sunday to remain unbeaten.
The rookie No. 2 overall pick connected with Darren Sproles on a 73-yard, catch-and-run TD and tossed a 12-yard TD pass to Jordan Matthews.
After beating the Browns (0-3) and Bears (0-2) in the first two games, the Eagles (3-0) proved they could compete with the big boys. The Steelers (2-1) averaged 31 points the first two weeks and are considered Super Bowl contenders.
Raiders 17, Titans 10
NASHVILLE, Tenn. — Derek Carr threw for 249 yards and a touchdown, and the Oakland Raiders beat the Tennessee Titans 17-10 on Sunday with their defense finally coming up with some big plays.
The Raiders (2-1) forced three turnovers and had a sack after coming into this game having given up more yards than any team since at least 1940 through the first two games.
Oakland took control in the second quarter, scoring 10 points and outgaining the Titans (1-2) 129-40 to take a 17-3 lead into halftime.
The Titans (1-2) rallied from a 15-3 deficit a week ago in beating Detroit 16-15 , and they thought they at least had forced overtime when Marcus Mariota found Andre Johnson alone in the end zone for a touchdown. But officials flagged Johnson for interference on Raiders cornerback TJ Carrie.
Broncos 29, Bengals 17
CINCINNATI — Trevor Siemian threw for four touchdown passes, more than 300 yards passing and made two clutch touchdown drives in the fourth quarter as he rallied the Denver Broncos (3-0) to a 29-17 victory over the Cincinnati Bengals (1-2) on Sunday, leading a pair of fourth-quarter touchdown drives with veteran aplomb.
Siemian became the first Bronco to throw for four touchdowns since Manning in 2014 against the Dolphins.
Trailing at the start of the fourth quarter, Siemian completed 11 of 12 passes while rallying the Broncos to those fourth-quarter touchdowns. He finished 23 of 35 for 312 yards and a passer rating of 132.1.
Rams 37, Bucs 32
TAMPA BAY — The Rams have wrapped up a 37-32 win in Tampa Bay after being delayed 69 minutes because of lightning.
The delay prompted coaches and players to go back into the locker rooms with 2 minutes left.
The Buccaneers drove 51 yards on their final drive, but ran out of time before they could score.
Arizona Cardinals quarterback Carson Palmer (3) is hit by Buffalo Bills defensive end Kyle Williams (95) during the second half of an NFL football game on Sunday, Sept. 25, 2016, in Orchard Park, N.Y. (AP Photo/Bill Wippert)
