Sporty.com | NFL: Commanders stun Eagles with late touchdown

Jayden Daniels threw his fifth touchdown pass of the day with six seconds remaining to rally the Washington Commanders to a 36-33 win over Philadelphia on Sunday, a game in which Eagles quarterback Jalen Hurts exited with a concussion.

Daniels found Jamison Crowder along the back line of the end zone from nine yards out to complete the comeback after Washington trailed 27-14 entering the fourth quarter.

The star rookie's fifth touchdown pass was the final punctuation of a wild – and at times, sloppy – game in which the Commanders overcame five turnovers to halt the Eagles' 10-game winning streak. Daniels threw two interceptions and Washington (10-5) lost three fumbles, two by Brian Robinson Jr. and one by Dyami Brown.

Daniels finished 24 of 39 for 258 yards while also leading Washington with 81 rushing yards on nine carries. Former Eagle Olamide Zaccheaus had two touchdown catches in the fourth quarter and finished with 70 yards on five receptions to help the Commanders take a huge step towards their first play-off appearance since 2020.

JAYDEN DANIELS. COMMANDERS TAKE THE LEAD WITH 6 SECONDS.#PHIvsWAS pic.twitter.com/BcKGpEBIsl
— NFL (@NFL) December 22, 2024

Philadelphia jumped out to a 21-7 first-quarter lead despite Hurts exiting after taking a hard shot to the head at the end of a 13-yard run on the Eagles' second drive. The standout quarterback did not return and was replaced by Kenny Pickett, who went 14 for 24 for 143 yards with one touchdown and one interception.

Saquon Barkley continued his dominant debut season with Philadelphia (12-3) by running for 150 yards and a pair of touchdowns, including a 68-yard score late in the first quarter that gave the Eagles a 21-7 advantage.

A.J. Brown carried Philadelphia's passing game with eight catches for 97 yards and a touchdown.

Vikings edge Seahawks to extend winning streak, keep pace atop NFC

While the Eagles fell out of a tie for first place in the NFC, the Minnesota Vikings remained tied for the top spot after coming through with a 27-24 road win over the Seattle Seahawks.

Sam Darnold's second touchdown pass to Justin Jefferson, a 39-yard strike with 3:51 left to play, put the Vikings ahead for good just 30 seconds after the Seahawks had taken a 24-20 lead on Geno Smith's 4-yard touchdown pass to AJ Barner.

Theo Jackson later sealed the Vikings' eighth straight victory by intercepting Smith with 49 seconds remaining. Minnesota (13-2) maintained a share of first place in both the conference and the NFC North with the rival Detroit Lions, who rolled to a 34-17 win over the Chicago Bears earlier Sunday.

Jefferson also had a 14-yard touchdown catch in the second quarter and amassed 144 yards on a season-high 10 catches. Darnold completed 22 of 35 passes for 246 yards and three touchdowns, including a 5-yard connection with Jordan Addison in the first quarter that gave the Vikings a 7-0 edge.

First in franchise history with multiple 13+ win seasons

KO pic.twitter.com/dJBi0zwRNE
— Minnesota Vikings (@Vikings) December 23, 2024

Smith also threw for three touchdowns while going 31 of 43 for 314 yards, but the veteran quarterback was intercepted twice for Seattle (8-7). The Seahawks have now lost two straight following a four-game winning streak and fell a game behind the Los Angeles Rams for first place in the NFC West.

Two of Smith's touchdown passes came in the second quarter, as he found DK Metcalf for a 25-yard score to tie the game at 7-7 and later hit Jaxon Smith-Njigba for an 18-yard touchdown with 20 seconds left that sent the Seahawks into the break with a 17-14 advantage.

Smith-Njigba led Seattle with 95 yards on eight receptions.

Falcons' Penix wins first NFL start, Giants dealt team-record 10th straight loss

The Atlanta Falcons got two defensive touchdowns and two more from Bijan Robinson to make quarterback Michael Penix's first career NFL start a winning one.

Atlanta rolled to a 34-7 rout of the cellar-dwelling New York Giants to regain control of the NFC South in their first game since head coach Raheem Morris inserted the rookie Penix as the team's starter in place of struggling veteran Kirk Cousins.

Penix did not throw a touchdown pass and was intercepted once in his first extensive action since being taken by the Falcons with the eighth overall pick in this year's draft. The 24-year-old did manage 201 yards on a solid 18-of-27 passing line, however, while getting ample support from a defence that returned two Drew Lock interceptions for touchdowns.

Jessie Bates picked off Lock in the second quarter and returned it 55 yards to give Atlanta a 10-7 advantage, and Matthew Judon extended the lead to 24-7 by taking a deflected pass 27 yards for a touchdown in the opening minute of the third quarter.

Atlanta held the mistake-prone Giants to 234 total yards to take the inside track in the NFC South race after Tampa Bay lost to the Dallas Cowboys on Sunday night. Both teams are currently at 8-7, but the Falcons hold the tie-breaker by virtue of sweeping the season series with the Buccaneers.

Falcons retake the top spot in the NFC South with two games to play

Atlanta holds the tiebreaker after sweeping the season series. pic.twitter.com/04KzEUohH1
— SportsCenter (@SportsCenter) December 23, 2024

New York (2-13), meanwhile, now leads the race for the No. 1 overall pick for next year's draft after suffering a franchise-record 10th consecutive defeat. The Giants entered the week tied with Las Vegas for the league's worst record before the Raiders posted a 19-14 victory over the Jacksonville Jaguars on Sunday.

Penix did lead two long scoring drives that Robinson capped with short touchdown runs en route to a 22-carry, 94-yard day for the second-year running back.

Lock threw a 2-yard touchdown pass to Tyrone Tracy early in the second quarter that gave the Giants a brief 7-0 lead, and ended with 210 yards while completing 22 of 39 attempts.

Cowboys play spoiler, hand Buccaneers costly loss

The Buccaneers let sole possession of the NFC South lead slip away with a 26-24 loss to the Cowboys, who won for the fourth time in five games behind strong performances from quarterback Cooper Rush and kicker Brandon Aubrey.

Rush completed a sharp 26 of 35 attempts, including a 10-yard touchdown pass to Jalen Tolbert, for 292 yards and no interceptions to help Dallas (7-8) end the Buccaneers' four-game winning streak despite being eliminated from play-off consideration prior to kickoff. Aubrey tacked on four field goals, including a pair 58 yards out.

The Cowboys also got 105 receiving yards from CeeDee Lamb on seven catches and a strong effort from a defence that sacked Baker Mayfield four times and forced two turnovers, including a game-sealing fumble with 1:31 remaining when cornerback DaRon Bland stripped Tampa Bay's Rachaad White of the ball following a short catch.

Mayfield had touchdown passes to Jalen McMillan and Ryan Miller and finished with 303 yards on 31-of-43 passing, but also was intercepted in Dallas territory with the Bucs trailing 26-17 in the fourth quarter.

Christmas came early for @dallascowboys fanspic.twitter.com/IxsxwOOYJ7
— NFL (@NFL) December 23, 2024

Tampa Bay (8-7) played from behind the entire game, as the Cowboys scored on their first two drives to build a 10-0 lead after one quarter. Aubrey finished the first with one of his 58-yard kicks, and the Cowboys stopped the Bucs on downs near midfield on the ensuing possession before marching 52 yards on five plays on a series capped by Tolbert's touchdown catch.

The Buccaneers closed the gap on Bucky Irving's 2-yard touchdown run early in the second quarter, but Aubrey's 49-yard field goal and a nine-play, 80-yard drive that ended in Ezekiel Elliott's 1-yard touchdown run extended Dallas' lead to 20-7 late in the first half.

Bills withstand Allen injury scare, upset bid from Patriots

The Buffalo Bills kept their hold on the AFC's No. 2 seed by persevering through an off day and an elbow injury to Josh Allen to come away with a 24-21 win over the New England Patriots.

Allen completed just 16 of 29 passes for 154 yards with one touchdown and one interception and spent some time in the medical tent in the fourth quarter after taking a shot to his right elbow on a running play.

The current NFL MVP favourite remained in the game, however, and was picked up by a defence that forced three turnovers to help Buffalo (12-3) overcome an early 14-0 deficit and win for the ninth time in 10 games.

The biggest takeaway came from cornerback Taron Johnson, who recovered an errant backwards pass from Patriots quarterback Drake Maye in the end zone to give the Bills a 24-14 lead with 10:10 left to play.

James Cook also provided the Bills with a lift with two touchdowns and 100 rushing yards on 11 attempts. His 46-yard run in the second quarter got Buffalo on the board, and he hauled in Allen's 4-yard pass with 9:41 left in the third quarter to tie the game at 14-14.

The Bills then recovered a fumble by New England's Rhamondre Stevenson on the following series, leading to Tyler Bass' go-ahead 50-yard field with 6:02 remaining in the third quarter.

12-3.#GoBills | #BillsMafia pic.twitter.com/3JIfQHveW2
— Buffalo Bills (@BuffaloBills) December 23, 2024

Stevenson did have a 14-yard touchdown run in the opening minute of the second quarter that staked New England (3-12) to a 14-0 advantage. The Patriots went ahead less than three minutes into the contest when Maye hit Kayshon Boutte for a 28-yard touchdown on the game's initial drive.

Maye also threw a touchdown pass to Hunter Henry in the fourth quarter while recording 261 yards on 22-of-36 passing with one interception. Boutte had five catches for 95 yards, both career highs.

Rams rally past Jets, take sole possession of NFC West lead

Matthew Stafford's tie-breaking 11-yard touchdown pass to Tyler Higbee with 10:11 left highlighted a fourth-quarter comeback that lifted the still-surging Los Angeles Rams to a 19-9 win over the New York Jets.

The Rams scored 13 unanswered points in the fourth quarter to erase a 9-6 deficit and enhance their chances of a second straight post-season appearance. Los Angeles (9-6) has now won eight of 10 following a 1-4 start and has assumed a one-game lead on the second-place Seattle Seahawks in the NFC West.

Los Angeles also overcame a season-low 110 passing yards from Stafford, who was intercepted once and completed 14 of 19 attempts in cold conditions. Kyren Williams helped pick up the veteran quarterback by generating 122 yards and a touchdown on 23 rushes.

Aaron Rodgers threw for 256 yards and a touchdown without an interception in 42 attempts for the Jets (4-11), but the expected championship contenders were left with another frustrating defeat after the offence failed to reach the end zone after Davante Adams' 11-yard scoring catch late in the first quarter.

Adams' grab gave New York a 6-0 lead after the extra point was missed, but running back Breece Hall was stuffed on 4th-and-1 from the Jets' 33-yard line to set up the Rams' first score. Three plays later, Williams crossed the goal line from two yards out to tie the game after the Rams missed the extra-point try as well.

The Jets took a 9-6 edge into half-time on Anders Carlson's final-play 21-yard field goal, and they held that advantage until Los Angeles' Joshua Karty knocked home a 38-yard field goal with 12:44 left.

Rodgers was then sacked and fumbled on the following series, with the Rams recovering at New York's 21-yard line. The turnover led to Higbee's touchdown in the tight end's first game since tearing his ACL in last season's play-offs.