Mayfield, Hurts Defeated By Lions, Jets But Still Lead Respective NFC Divisions

A shocking upset and an offensive letdown resulted in a loss for both former Oklahoma quarterbacks starting for NFL teams on Sunday.

Entering the day, Jalen Hurts' Eagles were undefeated at 5-0 while Baker Mayfield's Tampa Bay Buccaneers were 3-1 after a bye week.

By night's end, Philadelphia had lost to the New York Jets for the first time in franchise history and Tampa Bay was soundly defeated by the red-hot Detroit Lions.

Mayfield's Buccaneers Fall Flat Against Goff, Red-Hot Detroit Lions

Jared Goff and the streaking Detroit Lions keep finding different ways to win.

A week after improving on their best start in more than a decade without injured star receiver Amon-Ra St. Brown, the NFC North leaders used Goff’s arm and a stingy defense to overcome the loss of leading rusher David Montgomery to beat the sputtering Tampa Bay Buccaneers 20-6 on Sunday.

With Montgomery (ribs) sidelined after the second quarter and injured backup Jahmyr Gibbs (hamstring) also unavailable, Goff threw for 353 yards and two touchdowns to help the Lions win their fourth straight game following an overtime loss to the Seattle Seahawks.

At 5-1, the Lions are off to their fastest start since 2011 and share the NFL’s best record.

“We’ve played well for six weeks. It’s four in a row for us. It’s a pretty good feeling, yeah, it certainly is,” Goff said.

“I can’t say enough about our defensive performance today and really for five games this year, to be honest with you,” Lions coach Dan Campbell said. “Man, we’re just playing as one unit right now. When your defense only gives up six points it’s saying a lot.”

Goff tossed TD passes of 27 yards to Amon-Ra St. Brown and 45 yards to Jameson Williams, converting on third-and-13 in one instance and third-and-10 on the other as Detroit won for the seventh time in eight road games dating to last season.

Image Provided By: Associated Press

The Lions’ defense did its part by intercepting Baker Mayfield once, limiting the Bucs (3-2) to 251 yards of total offense and forcing Tampa Bay to settle for field goals of 33 and 36 yards on its only possessions that ended in Detroit’s red zone.

“It was awful,” Mayfield said. “We didn’t start fast, we didn’t pick it up in the middle and we didn’t close strong. The Lions are a good ball club, but if we play like that we’ll lose every time.”

Will Harris intercepted a Mayfield pass that was tipped at the line to set up Riley Patterson’s 30-yard field goal for an early 3-0 lead. Goff put Detroit ahead for good by finishing an eight-play, 75-yard drive with his TD throw to St. Brown on third-and 13 from the Bucs 27.

St. Brown caught a short throw on the left, took off across the middle of the field and picked up a key block from running back Craig Reynolds, who flattened cornerback Carlton Davis III to allow the receiver to turn the corner and not only pick up the first down but make it to the end zone for a 10-3 lead.

“They did a good job on third down. I think we were 2 for 12 on third down, which is not very good at all,” Bucs coach Todd Bowles said, adding he felt his team, which leads the NFC South, was sluggish coming out of its bye week.

“We weren’t very good on first or second down either,” Bowles continued, “so you can say the whole game was a wash from an offensive standpoint.”

Goff completed 30 of 44 passes without an interception and was sacked three times. St. Brown, who missed Detroit’s lopsided win over Carolina the previous week due to an abdomen injury, finished with 12 receptions for 124 yards, both season highs.

Mayfield was 19 of 37 for 206 yards and one interception. The Bucs were limited to 46 yards rushing on 16 attempts.

The Lions, meanwhile, were held to 40 yards rushing on 22 attempts. Montgomery carried six times for 14 yards before being injured on his only reception. Reynolds filled in with a team-high 15 yards on 10 carries and caught two passes for 28 yards.

Reynolds’ block that helped St. Brown score was his most impressive contribution.

“I was like, ‘Know what, go cut across the field, I’m going to try and score,’” St. Brown said. “So I cut across and I see 24 (Davis). I see Craig come out of nowhere and I kind of point at 24 and Craig just zoom, boom. He’s the reason I scored.”

THROWBACKS

The Bucs wore orange throwback jerseys and white helmets bearing the image of Bucco Bruce — a winking Pirate with a dagger clenched between his teeth — from a period many fans of the team prefer to forget. Tampa Bay had the worst winning percentage of any franchise in U.S. major sports while wearing the creamsicle uniforms from 1976 to 1996. The team’s primary colors have been red and pewter since 1997.

Jets Shock Eagles In East Rutherford After 3 INTs From Hurts

Jalen Hurts stepped back as the pocket began closing around him and launched a pass over the middle that sealed the game.

But for the New York Jets instead of the Philadelphia Eagles.

Hurts’ throw intended for Dallas Goedert was intercepted by Tony Adams and returned 45 yards to the Eagles 8 before Breece Hall ran it in for what turned out to be the winning score in New York’s 20-14 victory Sunday.

“I had an opportunity and I didn’t do my job on the play,” said Hurts, who matched a career-worst with three interceptions. “I don’t think I made the correct read on it. It happens and it’s an opportunity for us to learn from it.”

The loss was the first of the season for the Eagles (5-1), who were the NFL’s lone undefeated team after San Francisco lost to Cleveland earlier in the day. It was also Philadelphia’s first defeat against the Jets after winning the first 12 meetings.

Four turnovers, including a lost fumble by D’Andre Swift, can flip even the most seemingly lopsided of matchups.

“We have to look at everything and fix everything,” Eagles coach Nick Sirianni said. “Sometimes after bad losses, there is a great time for growth. That’s what our mission will be: to grow from this.”

Sirianni said he didn’t need to say much when he entered the locker room after the game. The players — and coaches — knew they had blown it.

“You look at this game,” Hurts said, “you have so many missed opportunities and really so many mistakes as if you’re kind of giving it away.”

The Eagles got the ball back after Hall’s touchdown with 1:46 left, but couldn’t do anything against a Jets defense that stymied them all game.

Hurts threw two incomplete passes before connecting with DeVonta Smith for a 2-yard gain. Facing fourth-and-8 from the Eagles 27, Hurts launched a deep pass for Smith but it was knocked away by Jordan Whitehead and ended Philadelphia’s chances.

“Whenever the game is within reach, mistakes are magnified,” said center Jason Kelce, who set the franchise record with his 145th consecutive regular-season start. “We’ve been disciplined and handled things well down the stretch. We didn’t necessarily do that and it ended up hurting us today.”

Philadelphia’s defense came up big several times against Zach Wilson and the Jets’ offense, which was able to turn New York’s first three takeaways into only three points.

Then came the disastrous final turnover by Hurts with the game on the line.

“I’m going to have to see that play again and see if there was something that flushed him out of the pocket,” Sirianni said. “He had to hold it for a tick longer. It looked like they played some kind of cover-4. We had a completion on that play earlier in the drive.

“I know Jalen is going to want that play back. I thought that was pretty much the only turnover that was on him.”

The first was an interception by Quinnen Williams in the second quarter after Hurts’ pass to Goedert was deflected by Jermaine Johnson and into the Jets defensive tackle’s hands. New York failed to score after the takeaway.

Swift had a 4-yard catch late in the first half when he had the ball knocked out of his arms by C.J. Mosley and recovered by Quincy Williams. The Jets got a 35-yard field goal as time expired in the second quarter to cut the deficit to 14-6.

With Philadelphia leading 14-12, Bryce Hall picked off Hurts early in the fourth quarter on another pass defensed by Johnson. The Jets went three-and-out on their next series — and the Eagles had a chance to widen the margin, but Jake Elliott missed a 37-yard field goal attempt.

That opened the door for New York to complete the comeback.

The Eagles will try to bounce back next Sunday night at home against Miami, which is also 5-1 and has scored 31 or more points in four of the victories.

“Something happened that kind of stalled drives,” Kelce said, “but we’ve got to, just everybody, look in the mirror and try to get better for next week.”

Image Provided By: Associated Press

___

AP NFL: https://apnews.com/hub/nfl