NFL ROUNDUP: GIANTS’ JAXSON DART WINS 1ST START OVER PREVIOUSLY UNBEATEN CHARGERS
Rookie quarterback Jaxson Dart ran for a 15-yard touchdown on the opening drive of his first career start and the New York Giants earned a 21-18 victory over the Los Angeles Chargers in East Rutherford, N.J on Sunday.
Dart was 13-of-20 passing for 111 yards and another touchdown as the Giants (1-3) won for the first time after turning away from veteran QB Russell Wilson, who started the first three games. Dart added 54 yards rushing, while rookie Cam Skattebo added 79 yards on the ground.
Justin Herbert completed 23 of 41 passes for a season-low 203 yards and two interceptions for the Chargers. His two picks came after he recorded just one over the first three games of the season and led to 11 points. Rookie running back Omarion Hampton ran for 128 yards and scored a touchdown for Los Angeles (3-1).
Both teams lost an important player to injuries during the game. Giants standout receiver Malik Nabers left the game with a knee injury that is reportedly feared to be a torn ACL. Chargers left tackle Joe Alt, who moved from right tackle to replace Rashawn Slater after his season-ending injury during training camp, left the game with a high ankle sprain, according to reports.
Eagles 31, Buccaneers 25
Jalen Hurts and Philadelphia started strong and held on for a tense victory over host Tampa Bay in a clash of unbeaten teams.
Hurts had more touchdown passes (two) than incompletions (15 of 16) in the first half as the Eagles (4-0) built a 24-6 lead. He was shut out in the second half, finishing 15-of-24 passing for 130 yards. Dallas Goedert caught both touchdowns. Saquon Barkley was held to 43 rushing yards but scored a touchdown.
After last-minute wins in their first three games, the Buccaneers (3-1) fell behind quickly on a blocked punt returned for a TD and never led. Baker Mayfield threw for 289 yards with two TDs and one interception. Rookie Emeka Egbuka recorded his first career 100-yard game and caught his fourth touchdown pass in four games. Bucky Irving had 165 yards from scrimmage (63 rushing, 102 receiving).
Chiefs 37, Ravens 20
Patrick Mahomes tossed four touchdowns to become the youngest quarterback to reach 250 for his career, as Kansas City overwhelmed visiting Baltimore.
Mahomes went 25-for-37 passing for 270 yards with his first four-TD game since October 22, 2023. In his return to action, speedster Xavier Worthy caught five passes for 83 yards. Isiah Pacheco, JuJu Smith-Schuster, Tyquan Thornton and Hollywood Brown caught TDs for the Chiefs (2-2).
Ravens’ quarterback Lamar Jackson left the game in the third quarter with a hamstring injury. The two-time NFL MVP finished the game 14 of 20 for 147 yards with a touchdown and an interception. Justice Hill had two touchdowns. Baltimore (1-3) has allowed 37 or more points in each of its three losses.
Rams 27, Colts 20
Matthew Stafford connected with Tutu Atwell on an 88-yard touchdown pass with under two minutes remaining as Los Angeles rallied for a victory over visiting Indianapolis.
Stafford was 29-of-41 passing for 375 yards and three touchdowns, while Puka Nacua had 13 receptions for a career-high 170 yards. Nacua and Davante Adams also caught touchdowns as Los Angeles won after blowing a 19-point second-half lead in a loss at Philadelphia in Week 3.
Daniel Jones was 24-of-33 passing for 262 yards with one TD and two interceptions for the Colts, while Jonathan Taylor had 76 yards rushing on 17 carries.
Lions 34, Browns 10
Kalif Raymond returned a punt for a touchdown and Amon-Ra St. Brown caught two scoring passes to lead Detroit over visiting Cleveland.
Jared Goff completed 16 of 27 passes for 168 yards, two touchdowns and one interception for Detroit (3-1), which won its third straight game. Aidan Hutchison had two sacks and a forced fumble, Jahmyr Gibbs rushed for 91 yards and a score and Brown had seven catches for 70 yards and has six touchdown catches in four games.
Joe Flacco was 16-of-34 passing for 184 yards and two interceptions for the Browns (1-3). Quinshon Jenkins rushed for 82 yards and a score for Cleveland.
Patriots 42, Panthers 13
Marcus Jones sparked New England with a pair of huge punt returns, including one for a touchdown, and quarterback Drake Maye accounted for three scores as the Patriots beat visiting Carolina.
Jones set a franchise record with 167 punt return yards on three attempts. Maye threw touchdown passes to Hunter Henry and Mack Hollins and added a rushing score of his own. Stefon Diggs gained 101 receiving yards on six catches for New England (2-2).
After driving for points on the game’s opening possession, Carolina (1-3) didn’t score again until backup Andy Dalton’s 2-yard fourth-down pass to Mitchell Evans on the first play following the two-minute warning. Quarterback Bryce Young was 18 for 30 for 150 yards and a touchdown in the loss.
Steelers 24, Vikings 21
Kenneth Gainwell rushed for 99 yards and two touchdowns, Aaron Rodgers passed for another score and Pittsburgh escaped with a win over Minnesota in the NFL’s first-ever regular-season game in Dublin, Ireland.
Rodgers completed 18 of 22 passes for 200 yards along with one touchdown for Pittsburgh (3-1). DK Metcalf caught five passes for 126 yards and a touchdown. DeShon Elliott and T.J. Watt had one interception apiece for the Steelers. Pittsburgh’s defense constantly hounded Wentz, sacking him a half-dozen times.
Carson Wentz completed 30 of 46 passes for 350 yards, two touchdowns and two interceptions for Minnesota (2-2). Justin Jefferson had 10 receptions for 126 yards.
Falcons 34, Commanders 27
Michael Penix Jr. completed 20 of 26 passes for 313 yards, two touchdowns and an interception on Sunday, as Atlanta posted a victory over visiting Washington.
Bijan Robinson had four catches for 106 yards, while rushing for 75 yards and a score as the Falcons (2-2) beat Washington for the first time since 2018 following four straight losses in the series. Drake London had eight catches for 110 yards and a score in the win.
Former Atlanta quarterback Marcus Mariota started for Washington in place of the injured Jayden Daniels for the second straight week. Mariota threw for 156 yards, two touchdowns and an interception for the Commanders (2-2). Matt Gay went 4-for-4 on field goal attempts in the loss.
Bills 31, Saints 19
Josh Allen threw two touchdown passes, ran for a touchdown and Buffalo held off New Orleans in Orchard Park, N.Y.
Allen completed 16 of 22 passes for 209 yards and the Bills (4-0) overcame their first turnover of the season as well as 11 penalties after committing just 14 through three games. Spencer Rattler passed for 126 yards and a touchdown for the Saints (0-4), who rushed for a season-best 189 yards.
Allen threw touchdowns to Dalton Kinkaid and Khalil Shakir and scored on a 5-yard run in the third to give the Bills a 21-10 lead. The Saints closed within two before Buffalo scored 10 unanswered points to seal the victory.
Jaguars 26, 49ers 21
Travis Etienne ran for 124 yards and a touchdown, Trevor Lawrence added a passing touchdown and visiting Jacksonville handed San Francisco its first loss this season.
Improving to 3-1 under first-year coach Liam Coen, Jacksonville secured the win with a big defensive play on a day that they forced four turnovers. Arik Armstead sacked 49ers quarterback Brock Purdy, causing a fumble that teammate Foyesade Oluokun recovered at the San Francisco 47 with 2:47 left.
Purdy finished 22-of-38 passing for 309 yards with two touchdowns and two interceptions after missing the previous two games due to injury.
Texans 26, Titans 0
CJ Stroud threw for two touchdowns and Houston’s defense limited visiting Tennessee to 175 total yards as the Texans claimed their first victory of the season.
Stroud completed 22 of 28 passes for 233 yards as Houston (1-3) ended a three-game skid. Stroud’s 12-yard strike to Woody Marks on the first play of the fourth quarter was Houston’s first touchdown in the red zone this year. Nico Collins finished with four catches for 79 yards and Marks also racked up 69 yards on 17 carries, including an 18-yard scoring jaunt with 4:51 left.
Ward hit on just 10 of 26 passes for 108 yards as Tennessee fell to 0-4 and is 3-18 since the start of last season. The Titans managed only 10 first downs and converted just 2-of-11 third downs. Tony Pollard rushed 14 times for 64 yards for Tennessee.
Bears 25, Raiders 24
D’Andre Swift rushed for a go-ahead 2-yard touchdown with 1:34 remaining and Josh Blackwell blocked a potentially game-winning kick to boost visiting Chicago to a win against Las Vegas.
Chicago (2-2) forced four turnovers, two of which were first-half interceptions by Kevin Byard III. Rome Odunze had 69 yards and a touchdown, becoming the NFL’s only receiver to catch one touchdown pass in each of the first four weeks this season.
Las Vegas (1-3) lost for the third straight week despite a monstrous effort from rookie running back Ashton Jeanty. He ran for 138 yards and a touchdown and caught two more touchdown passes from Geno Smith, who was intercepted three times to raise his season total to seven.
JAGS COACH LIAM COEN, 49ERS DC ROBERT SALEH IN HEATED EXCHANGE AFTER GAME
Previously unbeaten San Francisco’s loss to Jacksonville on Sunday included a heated exchange after the game between 49ers defensive coordinator Robert Saleh and Jaguars head coach Liam Coen, who had to be separated.
Saleh had raised Coen’s ire on Thursday when he remarked about the Jaguars coaches being adept at “legally” stealing opponents’ signs, which he framed as a compliment. Coen didn’t take it as such and apparently let Saleh know after Jacksonville’s 26-21 win over the 49ers in Santa Clara, Calif.
Saleh was restrained by a Niners staff member, and Coen by Jaguars offensive lineman Robert Hainsey, according to multiple reports of the midfield encounter when coaches and players from both teams more typically exchange pleasantries and congratulations.
“Not a big deal,” Coen, a first-year head coach whose team is 3-1, told reporters after the game. “I’m just going to keep that between us right now. That’s it.”
Saleh, a former New York Jets head coach and longtime NFL assistant, was not available to media after the game.
San Francisco head coach Kyle Shanahan, whose squad fell to 3-1, had said on Friday that Saleh was praising the Jaguars’ ability to pick up on opponents’ signs. He said on Sunday that he didn’t see their Sunday meeting.
“I don’t think you should be that sensitive about it, but it is what it is,” Shanahan said. “I’m not too worried about it.”
Shanahan said his organization doesn’t care if Saleh’s comments upset the Jaguars’ coaching staff.
“It has no effect on the game,” Shanahan said. “I think Saleh was paying them a big compliment in what they’re good at doing. It’s not illegal. He said (there is) nothing illegal about it. I think you use the word sign stealing and what the headlines get with those type of words, I think the perception of that becomes wrong.”
The origin of the comments goes back to when Saleh was asked on Thursday about the main challenge for the 49ers’ defense against the Jaguars.
“They’ve got, legally, a really advance signal-stealing type of system where they always find a way to put themselves in an advantageous situation,” Saleh said Thursday. “They do a great job with it.”
Saleh traced Coen’s coaching history with Los Angeles Rams head coach Sean McVay, and Jaguars offensive coordinator Grant Udinski’s time coaching under Minnesota Vikings head coach Kevin O’Connell. Both McVay and O’Connell have worked with Shanahan or in his systems.
SEVEN FROM SUNDAY
A look at seven statistical highlights from games played during the 9:30 a.m., 1:00 p.m. and 4:00 p.m. ET windows on Sunday, September 28, the fourth week of the 2025 season.
- With three games remaining in Week 4, 10 games were within one score in the fourth quarter and eight games were decided by one score (eight points or fewer), including three games – wins by Chicago, the Los Angeles Rams and Seattle – that featured the game-winning score in the final two minutes of the fourth quarter.
The Rams’ 88-yard game-winning touchdown pass from Matthew Stafford to Tutu Atwell with 1:33 remaining in the fourth quarter marked the longest game-winning scrimmage touchdown in the final two minutes of the fourth quarter since 1960. It also marked the third-longest game-winning touchdown of any kind in the final two minutes of the fourth quarter since 1960.
The New York Giants (1-3), in rookie quarterback Jaxson Dart’s first career start, defeated the Los Angeles Chargers (3-1), 21-18, to earn their first win of the season and became the first 0-3 team to defeat a 3-0 team in exactly 17 years (Sept. 28, 2008 – Kansas City 33, Denver 19).
Dart is the first quarterback to win his first career start against a team that was 3-0 or better in 23 seasons [Marc Bulger with the St. Louis Rams on Oct. 13, 2002, against the Oakland Raiders (4-0)].
The Philadelphia Eagles improved to 4-0 for the third time in their past four seasons with a 31-25 win at Tampa Bay in Week 4. Philadelphia, with a blocked field goal touchdown in Week 3 and a blocked punt touchdown in Week 4, became the fourth team since 2000 with a blocked field goal or punt return touchdown in consecutive games, joining the 2014 Philadelphia Eagles (Sept. 28-Oct. 5), 2008 San Francisco 49ers (Oct. 12-19) and 2002 Baltimore Ravens (Nov. 24-Dec. 1).
The Buffalo Bills defeated New Orleans, 31-19, and are 4-0 the fifth time since 1990 and the first since 2020. Buffalo, from Week 11 of the 2023 season through Week 4, are the fourth team ever to win 14 consecutive home regular-season games and score at least 24 points in each game, joining the 1997-98 Denver Broncos (15 consecutive home wins), 2017-19 New England Patriots (15) and 2022-23 Dallas Cowboys (14).
- Pittsburgh quarterback Aaron Rodgers completed 18 of 22 pass attempts (81.8 percent) for 200 yards and one touchdown, an 80-yard touchdown pass to wide receiver DK Metcalf, and linebacker T.J. Watt had a sack and interception in the Steelers’ 24-21 win over Minnesota in Dublin.
Rodgers’ 81.8 completion percentage in Dublin is the highest ever by a starting quarterback in an international game, surpassing Tom Brady [81.1 percent (30 of 37) on Nov. 19, 2017 with New England in Mexico City].
Rodgers has 91 career completions of 50-or-more yards and surpassed Drew Brees (90 completions) for the most completions of at least 50 yards in NFL history.
Per Next Gen Stats, Rodgers recorded an average time to throw of 2.17 seconds in Week 4, his quickest average time to throw in a game since at least 2016. On quick throws (under 2.5 seconds), he completed 13 of 16 pass attempts for 174 yards and a touchdown.
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Watt has 111 sacks in 125 career games and surpassed Pro Football Hall of Famer DeMarcus Ware (110.5) for the second-most sacks by a player in his first 125 career games since 1982, when the individual sack became an official statistic, trailing only Pro Football Hall of Famer Reggie White (125.5 sacks).
Minnesota wide receiver Justin Jefferson had 10 receptions for 126 yards against Pittsburgh in Dublin, his 35th career game with at least 100 receiving yards, tied with Julio Jones (35 games) for the second-most such games by a player in his first six seasons in NFL history, trailing only Pro Football Hall of Famer Randy Moss (38 games).
- New England quarterback Drake Maye completed 14 of 17 pass attempts (82.4 percent) for 203 yards with two touchdowns and no interceptions for a 155.6 rating in the Patriots’ 42-13 win over Carolina.
Maye, who is 23 years and 29 days old, is the first player ever under the age of 24 with at least two touchdown passes and a completion percentage of 75-or-higher in three consecutive games, minimum 15 pass attempts in each game. Maye completed 82.6 percent of his attempts (19 of 23) with two touchdown passes in Week 2 and completed 75.7 percent of his attempts (28 of 37) with two touchdown passes in Week 3.
- Kansas City quarterback Patrick Mahomes passed for 270 yards and four touchdowns with no interceptions for a 124.8 rating in the Chiefs’ 37-20 win over Baltimore.
Mahomes has 252 career regular-season touchdown passes in 116 games and surpassed Aaron Rodgers (121 games) for the fastest player in NFL history to reach 250 career touchdown passes.
Mahomes is the fourth player in NFL history with at least 250 regular-season touchdown passes in his first nine seasons, joining Pro Football Hall of Famers Peyton Manning (275 touchdown passes) and Dan Marino (266) as well as Russell Wilson (267).
Mahomes has 43 career games with at least three touchdowns and surpassed Pro Football Hall of Famer Peyton Manning (42 games) for the second-most by a player in his first nine seasons in NFL history, trailing only Pro Football Hall of Famer Dan Marino (46 games).
- Buffalo quarterback Josh Allen totaled three touchdowns (two passing, one rushing) while running back James Cook had 135 scrimmage yards (117 rushing, 18 receiving) and a rushing touchdown in the Bills’ 31-19 win over New Orleans.
Allen has 45 career games with both a touchdown pass and a rushing touchdown, tied with Cam Newton (45 games) for the most such games in NFL history.
Cook is the sixth player in the Super Bowl era with at least 100 scrimmage yards and a rushing touchdown in each of his team’s first four games of a season, joining Pro Football Hall of Famers O.J. Simpson (1975 with Buffalo) and Emmitt Smith (1995 with Dallas) as well as Christian McCaffrey (2023 with San Francisco), DeMarco Murray (2014 with Dallas) and Billy Sims (1981 with Detroit).
- Los Angeles Rams wide receiver Puka Nacua had 13 receptions for a career-high 170 yards and one touchdown in the team’s 27-20 win over Indianapolis.
Nacua has 42 receptions this season, tied with Cooper Kupp (2022 with the Los Angeles Rams) and Michael Thomas (2018 with New Orleans) for the most receptions by a player in his team’s first four games of a season in NFL history.
Nacua is the second player ever with at least 10 catches and 100 receiving yards in three of his team’s first four games of a season, joining Cooper Kupp (2022 with the Los Angeles Rams)
Nacua joined Eric Moulds (in 2002 with Buffalo) and T.J. Houshmandzadeh (in 2007 with Cincinnati) as the only players in NFL history with at least eight catches in each of his team’s first four games of a season.
- Atlanta running back Bijan Robinson had a career-high 181 scrimmage yards (106 receiving, 75 rushing) and a rushing touchdown in the Falcons’ 34-27 win over Washington.
Robinson, who also had 100 receiving yards in Week 1, is the fifth running back in the Super Bowl era with at least 100 receiving yards in two of his team’s first four games of a season, joining Alvin Kamara (2018 with New Orleans), Pro Football Hall of Famer Thurman Thomas (1991 with Buffalo), Paul Palmer (1988 with Kansas City) and Paul Hofer (1980 with San Francisco).
- Additional notes from Sunday include:
- Las Vegas rookie running back Ashton Jeanty had 155 scrimmage yards (138 rushing, 17 receiving) and three touchdowns (two receiving, one rushing) while defensive end Maxx Crosby had three tackles for loss, three passes defensed, an interception and a forced fumble in Week 4.
Jeanty is the third rookie running back ever with at least 100 rushing yards, a rush touchdown and two touchdown receptions in a single game, joining De’Von Achane (Sept. 24, 2023 with Miami) and Kareem Hunt (Sept. 7, 2017 with Kansas City).
Crosby has 112 tackles for loss since entering the NFL in 2019 and surpassed Von Miller (111) for the fourth-most tackles for loss by a player in his first seven seasons since 2000, trailing only J.J. Watt (136 tackles for loss), Aaron Donald (131) and Pro Football Hall of Famer DeMarcus Ware (127).
- Detroit running back Jahmyr Gibbs rushed for 91 yards and a touchdown in the Lions’ 34-10 win over Cleveland.
Gibbs – who turns 24 years old following the 2025 season – has 30 career rushing touchdowns and became the seventh running back in the Super Bowl era with at least 30 rushing touchdowns prior to his 24th birthday, joining Pro Football Hall of Famers Barry Sanders (43 rushing touchdowns), Emmitt Smith (41) and Walter Payton (34) as well as Maurice Jones-Drew (34), Clinton Portis (34) and Jonathan Taylor (33).
