Houston Texans @ Buffalo Bills
BUFFALO - Buffalo Bills fans were left muttering a phrase they would prefer to never hear again Sunday; "Wide right." Tyler Bass missed a field goal as time expired that would have sent the game to over time and Houston ran off the field still undefeated after a 26-23 win.
The Texans (4-0) looked dominant defensively early and held the Bills (2-2) out of the end zone. However, Houston also struggled offensively and were unable to put Buffalo away. With the door cracked, Josh Allen and crew seized the momentum and was able to tie the game late on a 68 yard touchdown pass to Davante Adams.
Andy Dalton then ran the two-minute drill to perfection leading the team down the field and setting up a chip shot field goal for Rodrigo Blankenship to give Houston the lead with 17 seconds remaining. Buffalo wasn't about to roll over and Allen threw a dime down the sideline to Adams giving Bass a 54 yard field goal opportunity to tie it up. Coach David Shaw called a time out to ice the kicker and the strategy paid off.
"What a start," Shaw said. "To get road wins over Cleveland and Buffalo shows what this team is made of."
Houston will look to keep the win streak alive next week when they host another AFC East opponent in the New England Patriots.
Seattle Seahawks @ San Francisco 49ers
SAN FRANCISCO - In an instant classic, San Francisco stunned Seattle with nine seconds left on the clock as quarterback Justin Fields scrambled 40 yards to give the Niners a 34-27 victory.
After a rough start, including two interceptions, Fields managed to find CeeDee Lamb for a beautiful toe-tap touchdown putting San Francisco up 27-20 with less than two minutes in the game. Seattle answered quickly with a deep touchdown pass by Russell Wilson and before 49er fans could celebrate their lead, it was gone.
Given the ball with 44 seconds left, Fields and the offense just needed to get into field goal range for the win. On the drive, the Seahawks committed a late hit to get San Francisco to the 40 yard line. Only needing a few more yards to give Tristan Vizcaino a shot to win it, Fields had other plans, taking off and making defender after defender miss on his way to the end zone.
“Well, I had to dig out of the hole I put us in,” Fields said. “There was no way I was going down on that run.”
The loss left Seattle (3-1, 0-1 NFC West) looking up at San Francisco (3-1, 1-0) in the division and opened the door to a chaotic fight for the crown. This may be football’s best division and we can only hope the rematch was as good as this one.
San Francisco keeps it in the division as they head south to Arizona next week.
Indianapolis Colts @ Miami Dolphins
MIAMI - The Miami Dolphins (2-2) bounced back from a tumultuous week with a resounding 41-9 thrashing of the Indianapolis Colts on Sunday morning. Late in the 3rd, with the game still in the balance, newly minted Head Coach Hines Ward elected to pass on a chip shot field goal (which would have pushed Miami's lead to 15) to opt for a 4th-and-1 attempt to go for the TD.
"I know the old mantra that this team has success under was three is sometimes better than six," Ward said. "But we are establishing a better balance moving forward between being conservative and aggressive."
James Conner gained the needed 1-yard, and then some, as he finished the play with a 4-yard touchdown run. The 5th year HB out of Pittsburgh looked rejuvenated in this game.
"We have so many weapons," Connor said. "It was easy to toss the ball around the first three weeks. But, for us, we need to still establish a ground game to open up space for our weapons in the passing game."
The Dolphins defense also played their best game of the season as they frustrated Carson Wentz all game long. Haason Reddick notched his first three sacks of the season in a breakout game for the OLB.
"This new staff had a tall task on short notice," Reddick said. "But they were smart and brought in Rob (Ryan) who knows the scheme we are best at. I think things will only go up from here."
Next week Miami faces a truly elite test as they take on Tom Brady and the Tampa Bay Buccaneers.
Pittsburgh Steelers @ Green Bay Packers
GREEN BAY - The Green Bay Packers (3-1) dropped a heartbreaker 23-20 in overtime to the Pittsburgh Steelers (1-3) Sunday at Lambeau Field. The Packers had their opportunities and looked like the better team but three lost fumbles and two interceptions by back up quarterback Drew Lock was too much to overcome.
Green Bay looked poised to win after a Pittsburgh turnover late in the 4th gave them the ball down three on the Steelers 12 yard line. However, the offense stalled and the Packers had to settle for overtime.
In overtime, Pittsburgh won the toss, elected to receive, drove the length of the field and kicked a field goal. Green Bay looked ready to answer by driving into field goal range for Jason Sanders, but he would never get the chance as Lock threw his second interception.
"Drew's got to play better. Period," Coach Eric Bieniemy said, "There was a little voice in my ear begging me to put in Kyle [Lauletta]. If he knew the playbook better, I may have done it. Practice is going to be interesting this week. I need to see how Drew responds."
Green Bay's attempt to bounce back doesn't look easy as they head to Cincinnati to take on the undefeated Bengals.
