Atlanta Falcons at Miami Dolphins
MIAMI - With a narrow 5-point lead with just over three minutes remaining in the 4th quarter, new Miami Dolphins (4-3) head coach Hines Ward dialed up a dagger in an attempt to put the game away.
"We wanted to take a shot there," Ward said. "We were waiting for Julio's chance with one on one coverage all day and we finally saw it at the right time."
QB Jalen Hurts threw a perfect pass in the back corner of the end zone to hit the streaking Julio Jones. Forty-six yards, TD, Ball Game: 36-24.
"It's been an up and down year for sure," Hurts said. "We kind of needed that from Coach to show us that he believes in us and that we aren't here for participation trophies."
On a day where Matt Ryan carved up the Miami defense for 388 passing yards, Hurts was equally as impressive despite the team's slow start that saw them down 17-3 late in the first half. The second year signal caller finished the day 29-41 with 348 passing yards and 3 TDs. Hurts also added 64 yards on the ground.
To setup the late Jones TD, newly acquired pass rusher Jaylon Ferguson came up with a crucial strip-sack of Ryan to completely flip momentum.
"They play a similar scheme as Baltimore," Ferguson said. "I know my role here and I was happy to contribute right away."
Miami holds onto their lead in the AFC East for another week as they now turn their attention to a critical road test against at Buffalo next week.
Indianapolis Colts at San Francisco 49ers
SAN FRANCISCO - The bye week was good to the San Francisco 49ers as they beat up the Indianapolis Colts 42-14. The Niners (4-2) relied on the run game and the opened things up with play action all afternoon. The Colts (1-6) looked flummoxed on defense as Alvin Kamara and Phillip Lindsay had their way.
Kamara obviously got healthy with the week off and carried the ball 22 times for 114 yards, while Lindsay had 111 yards and a TD on 15 touches.
"We have a formula for winning football and we all know our roles." Kamara said.
San Francisco travels to Chicago next to take on the struggling Bears.
Washington Football Team at Green Bay Packers
GREEN BAY - The Green Bay Packers took care of business in a torrential downpour Sunday afternoon winning 26-6 over the Washington Football Team (4-3). The sky dumped all day as Green Bay (6-1) amassed 408 yards of offense, 321 of which came through the air.
Tua Tagovailoa threw 48 times on the day and didn't seem to be too affected by the rain.
"I grew up throwing in the rain in Hawaii, "Tagovailoa said. "A little colder rain here, but no problems."
On the defensive side, Casey Hayward turned the clock back four years and intercepted three of Kyle Allen's passes.
"This team can win ugly. I like it," Hayward said. "This group reminds me of the team that won in Buffalo in 2016."
Green Bay will look to keep things rolling next week on Thursday Night Football as they take on the Arizona Cardinals.
Houston Texans at Arizona Cardinals
PHOENIX - The Arizona Cardinals pulled out a 42-35 come from behind win over the Houston Texans in a thriller of a game. The Cardinals (4-3) up 27-7 at one point in the first half blew their lead and found themselves trailing 35-28 late in the 4th quarter to Houston (5-2). However, Kyler Murray and crew drove down the field for touchdowns twice in the last five minutes of the game to give the Cardinals the win.
"We've got to do a better job putting pressure on the quarterback," Coach David Shaw said after the game.
Expect GM TH to be active in finding pass rush help. Early reports have him reaching out to Pittsburgh to see if they'd part with Melvin Ingram.
Offensively, Houston once again relied on big shot plays to Denzel Mims who has proven himself invaluable this season. Mims had 143 of Houston's 202 yards passing on the day.
"Doesn't matter if we didn't get the win," Mims said. "Obviously it wasn't enough."
Houston will try to regroup as it heads home to take on the Los Angeles Rams.
