AROUND THE NFL
CHIEFS 22, BRONCOS 9
The resurgent Kansas City defense shut down Teddy Bridgewater and the Broncos, Daniel Sorenson returned an interception 75 yards for a touchdown, and the Chiefs beat Denver for their fifth straight win. Patrick Mahomes had 184 yards passing with a touchdown run and an interception for the Chiefs, who lead the NFC West.
CARDINALS 33, BEARS 22
Kyler Murray threw for two touchdowns and ran for two more in his return from an ankle injury. The Cardinals got back Murray and three-time All-Pro receiver DeAndre Hopkins after both players missed three games because of injuries, then rolled to an easy victory over Chicago. The NFC West leaders, who have the NFL’s best record, intercepted Andy Dalton four times.
BUCCANEERS 30, FALCONS 17
Tom Brady threw for 368 yards and four touchdowns — two of them to longtime favorite target Rob Gronkowski — and the Buccaneers moved to the brink of clinching the NFC South title. The Bucs won their third straight game and pushed their division lead to four games over Atlanta, Carolina and New Orleans with five games remaining.
SEAHAWKS 30, 49ERS 23
Russell Wilson played his best game since returning from finger surgery throwing for 231 yards and two touchdowns, and the Seahawks made a late goal-line stand. Seattle snapped a threegame losing streak but it wasn’t easy as a number of mistakes gave the 49ers a chance for a tying touchdown in the final moments. Gerald Everett fumbled at the San Francisco 2 with 4:03 remaining and Seattle on the cusp of a clinching score. Jimmy Garoppolo led the 49ers 95 yards to the Seattle 3. But his third-down pass for Trent Sherfield was broken up by Sidney Jones, and his fourth-down pass was deflected at the line of scrimmage by Carlos Dunlap.
WASHINGTON 17, RAIDERS 15
Taylor Heinicke threw two touchdown passes and set up new kicker Brian Johnson’s winning 48-yard field goal with 37 seconds remaining to lead Washington to its fourth straight victory. Heinicke threw a 7-yard TD pass to Logan Thomas on the opening drive and a 4-yarder to Antonio Gibson early in the fourth quarter after extending the drive with a key third-down scramble. But Washington then allowed the Raiders to score on successive drives to take a 15-14 lead on Daniel Carlson’s 37-yard field goal set up by Nate Hobbs’ interception of Heinicke. Heinicke responded and drove Washington down the field to set up the kick by Johnson, who was signed this past week after Joey Slye went down with an injury.
RAMS 37, JAGUARS 7
Cooper Kupp, Van Jefferson and Odell Beckham Jr. caught touchdown passes from Matthew Stafford, and the Rams snapped their three-game losing streak. Stafford passed for 295 yards while Sony Michel rushed for 121 yards and a score for the Rams, who rebounded from a winless November with a solid all-around effort against a struggling opponent.
CHARGERS 41, BENGALS 22
Justin Herbert passed for three touchdowns and Tevaughn Campbell returned a Joe Mixon fumble 61 yards for a score. Herbert was 26 of 35 for 317 yards as Los Angeles bounced back nicely after losing 28-13 at Denver last weekend. Mike Williams had five receptions for 110 yards, and Keenan Allen caught two of Herbert’s TD passes.
COLTS 31, TEXANS 0
Jonathan Taylor ran for 143 yards and two touchdowns and the Colts rolled. The Texans turned over the ball twice in the first quarter and quarterback Tyrod Taylor was benched in the third quarter as Houston lost for the ninth time in 10 games.