Football
Chiefs beaten in Denver and 49ers lose
| NFL 2023 regular season |
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| Dates: 7 September 2023 – 7 January 2024 |
| BBC coverage: Listen to live commentary on BBC Radio 5 Sports Extra and the BBC Sport website every Sunday. |
Defending champions the Kansas City Chiefs suffered a shock 24-9 defeat at the Denver Broncos on another intriguing NFL Sunday.
The Philadelphia Eagles own the league’s best record after grinding out a seventh win, but the San Francisco 49ers lost their third game in a row.
The Miami Dolphins and the Dallas Cowboys enjoyed blowout wins, while the Carolina Panthers finally got their first victory of the season.
A win at the Pittsburgh Steelers means the Jacksonville Jaguars are the form team in the league, rookie quarterback Will Levis made a spectacular NFL debut for the Tennessee Titans, and veteran Minnesota Vikings quarterback Kirk Cousins may have had his season ended by injury.
Broncos stun Chiefs and Jags roll on
Denver had lost 16 games in a row against the Chiefs but broke that streak in style, becoming the first team to score more than 21 points against the impressive Kansas City defence this season.
Patrick Mahomes failed to throw a touchdown pass for the first time in 30 games in a bad day all round for the Chiefs, with their star quarterback suffering from illness in frigid conditions at Mile High Stadium.
The Broncos forced five turnovers as they secured their first win over Mahomes in 13 attempts and first win over their divisional rivals for 2,965 days – and they could not resist sending Travis Kelce and his team off the field to the sound of Taylor Swift’s Shake it Off.
Defeat leaves the Chiefs on 6-2 and tied at the top of the AFC with the Baltimore Ravens, Jaguars and Dolphins, all of whom won in week eight.
A 20-10 success in Pittsburgh made it five wins in a row for the Jaguars, who started their run with two victories in London.
The Ravens’ 31-24 success in Arizona was their third in succession thanks to a strong defensive display and three rushing touchdowns for Gus Edwards, with Lamar Jackson not at his best.
San Francisco slide continues
The 49ers were the best team in the league after a 5-0 start, but they have now lost three straight games after a 31-17 home defeat by the Cincinnati Bengals.
Christian McCaffrey scored for the 17th consecutive game to tie Lenny Moore’s NFL record from the 1963-64 season, but that was as good as it got as the 49ers stuttered on both sides of the ball.
In contrast, Cincy are heading in the opposite direction with a third straight win after Joe Burrow, who looks to be over a calf injury, threw three touchdowns.
Jalen Hurts suffered a knee injury but still threw four touchdowns as the Eagles again did just enough to beat the Washington Commanders 38-31.
AJ Brown made a stunning one-handed touchdown grab as he carved out a slice of NFL history with six straight games recording at least 125 yards, helping Philly to 7-1 and the best record in the league.
Bill Belichick has won 300 games as a head coach, but he cannot find a way to beat Tua Tagovailoa, the fourth-year quarterback who led Miami to a 31-17 victory to move to 6-0 against the New England Patriots.
The Cowboys emerged refreshed from their bye week to smash the Los Angeles Rams 43-20 behind four touchdown throws from Dak Prescott and some smothering defence that included DaRon Bland running back his third pick six of the season.
At 5-2 and with the 49ers struggling, the Cowboys are back in the conversation about who will be the biggest challengers to the Eagles in the NFC.
Levis stars on debut
The throwback jersey game, where teams wear retro kits, is becoming a big thing in the NFL, and the Titans playing in the famous uniforms of the Houston Oilers, their former incarnation, was a highlight for those into American football fashion.
Even more striking, though, was the debut for Levis as he threw four touchdowns in a 28-23 win over the Atlanta Falcons – only the third player to perform such a feat.
Only playing because of an injury to starter Ryan Tannehill, Levis dragged some spark out of a previously lifeless Titans attack.
“He was ballin’,” said Titans running back Derrick Henry. “He was playing out of his mind. It was exciting how it came together with him handling the offense and us being able to finish drives and make some plays.”
Levis was a second-round pick in the NFL Draft, but the top two picks met in Carolina as number one selection Bryce Young led the Panthers to their first win of the season – a 15-13 victory over CJ Stroud’s Houston Texans.
The battle for New York was an ugly one, but there was a wild ending as Greg Zuerlein tied the game with the last kick of regulation before booting the Jets to a 13-10 victory over the Giants in overtime.
Zach Wilson engineered a 25-second drive of 58 yards to set up the Zuerlein kick in a game with only two touchdowns and 24 punts – three short of the NFL record.
The Jets are somehow now 4-3 without the injured Aaron Rodgers, but their star quarterback continues to make a remarkable recovery from a torn Achilles as he appeared lively when making throws in the pre-game warm-ups at MetLife Stadium – adding fuel to rumours he could yet return to play this season.
Minnesota’s 24-10 win at the Green Bay Packers could have cost them Cousins with a suspected Achilles injury.
The Seattle Seahawks pinched a 24-20 win over the Cleveland Browns thanks to Jaxon Smith-Njigba’s last-minute touchdown, while the New Orleans Saints ran out 38-27 winners against the Indianapolis Colts.
In the late game, the inconsistent Los Angeles Chargers showed exactly how good they can be with a 30-13 victory over the Chicago Bears to improve to 3-4, but they will need to produce more games like that to get into play-off contention.
— Reports /TrainViral/