Panthers stun Brady and Buccaneers as Tampa Bay drops below .500

Tom Brady and the Tampa Bay Buccaneers fell below .500 with a stunning 21-3 loss to the Carolina Panthers, who won their second game of the season on Sunday despite playing with a quarterback of third string and interim head coach.

Brady hasn’t had a losing record this far in a season since the 2002 New England Patriots lost four straight to go 3-4.

PJ Walker threw for 177 yards and two touchdowns for Carolina (2-5) in place of injured Baker Mayfield and Sam Darnold. The Panthers won for the first time under interim coach Steve Wilks, who replaced Matt Rhule when he was fired Oct. 10.

Tampa Bay’s defense allowed the Panthers to rush for 173 yards. D’Onta Foreman rushed for 118 yards, and Chuba Hubbard added 63 yards and a touchdown.

Carolina came in as a 13 1/2 point underdog and lost 12 of 13 games. It’s now one game behind the Bucs and Atlanta Falcons for first place in the NFC South.

Commanders edge the Packers

Aaron Rodgers and the Green Bay offense spat and Washington Commanders handed the Packers their third straight loss in a 23-21 victory.

Rodgers ended the game face down on the grass after a failed final game that ended with him throwing a lateral out of bounds.

Washington’s front four also played a role in burning Rodgers out and making him look more like a rookie than a 38-year-old four-time MVP. Only a series of shots on goal against the Commanders (3-4) ended the match in the final minutes.

Taylor Heinicke, making his first start of the season in place of injured Carson Wentz, threw for two touchdowns — including a perfect 37-yard pass to Terry McLaurin — and went 20 of 33 for 200 yards.

Heinicke had a rocky start, going 1 for 7 — including an interception that De’Vondre Campbell returned 63 yards for a touchdown.

Giants shoot jaguars

Two New York Giants defensemen tackled Christian Kirk inside the 1-yard line as time expired to preserve the victory over the Jacksonville Jaguars 23-17.

The Giants tied their best start since 2008. Quarterback Daniel Jones rushed for a career-high 107 yards and a touchdown, turning to his legs to carry the Giants (6-1) down the stretch. He ran 35 yards on a push and capped it with a 1-yard dive after back-to-back Jacksonville penalties moved the ball inches from the goal line.

Lawrence went 22 of 43 for 310 yards to rattle Jacksonville (2-5), which lost its fourth straight.

Saquon Barkley finished with 107 yards on 24 carries and Graham Gano had three field goals for New York. Gano’s latest gave the Giants some breathing room.

Ravens beat Cleveland

Gus Edwards ran for two touchdowns in his opener after a serious knee injury, and the Baltimore Ravens avoided another fourth-quarter meltdown thanks to some huge penalties from Cleveland to claim a 23-20 victory.

The Ravens (4-3) led 23-13 after Justin Tucker’s 55-yard field goal with 11:24 left, but the Browns responded with a 2-yard touchdown by Kareem Hunt to make it a three-point game. Then a fumble from Baltimore’s Justice Hill gave Cleveland the ball at 16 with 3:12 left.

With the Browns at the wheel, Amari Cooper was called for offensive pass interference, and a false start penalty on a field goal attempt forced Cade York to try him 60 yards out. His attempt was blocked by Malik Harrison with 1:59 remaining.

Cleveland (2-5) has lost four in a row.

Edwards missed all of last season and the first six games of this one, but rushed for 66 yards scored on 7-and-1 carries. Baltimore tied with Cincinnati atop the AFC North.

Ravens’ Lamar Jackson has been sacked three times and has only thrown for 120 yards. The Browns’ Jacoby Brissett was 22 of 27 for 258 yards, but he was sacked five times and fumbled on one of them.

Cowboys pass Lions

Ezekiel Elliott ran for two 1-yard touchdowns and Dak Prescott threw for a score on his return from injury as the Dallas Cowboys relied on his defense to beat the Detroit Lions 10-6.

Predictably, Prescott was in tatters after missing five games with a broken right thumb. He was 19 of 25 for 207 yards, while Goff was 21 of 26 for 228 yards. Goff’s first three turnovers led to Dallas’ three touchdowns.

The Lions (1-5) put on a solid performance through three quarters of the NFL’s worst defense, but coach Dan Campbell fell to 0-11-1 on the road with the Lions.

Elliott had 57 yards on 15 carries and Tony Pollard rushed 12 times for 83 yards.

Titans beat Colts

Andrew Adams returned a 76-yard interception for the first 6 pick of his career, and the Tennessee Titans never trailed while completing their second straight sweep of the rival AFC South Indianapolis Colts with a 19 win. -10.

The Titans, two-time defending division champions (4-2), earned their fourth straight overall win, and they’ve now beaten the Colts five straight.

Randy Bullock scored four field goals, the latter two providing Tennessee’s first points this season in the fourth quarter. Bullock’s 48 yards provided the final margin with 4:47 remaining.

The Titans forced three turnovers, the last on a fumble by Michael Pittman Jr. with 3:22 to go. Jeffery Simmons also had one of Tennessee’s three sacks.

Derrick Henry helped seal the win with his third straight 100-yard rushing game, finishing with a season-high 128 yards on 30 carries.

Matt Ryan went 33 of 44 for 243 yards and a touchdown but was intercepted twice. The Colts (3-3-1) saw their two-game winning streak come to an end.

Bengals pass Falcons

Joe Burrow passed for 345 yards and three touchdowns in the first half as the Cincinnati Bengals scored on their first four possessions to edge the Atlanta Falcons 35-17.

Receivers Ja’Marr Chase and Tyler Boyd both eclipsed the 100-yard mark in the first half. Boyd finished with a career-high 155 yards on eight catches. Chase also caught eight passes for 130 yards and two touchdowns.

Marcus Mariota completed just eight assists for the Falcons (3-4), whose good running game was also thwarted by Cincinnati. Mariota threw for 124 yards and Atlanta generated just 214 yards of offense to the Bengals’ 537.