A last-play stop, a 96-yard winner and 59 Bears points: Sunday’s early games

Detroit survived the last play. Buffalo needed a 96-yard drive and a strip-sack. Chicago scored 59 points and still spent part of the second half tied. The NFL’s first Sunday window delivered eight finals, with very different ways to reach 1–0.

Here are the moments that decided each game, with highlights and links to all eight individual recaps. All scores below are final.

Lions 31, Saints 30 (OT): one stop saves Detroit

Detroit led 21–0 and still needed its defense to win the final snap. Amon-Ra St. Brown caught Jared Goff’s four-yard overtime touchdown, but Tyler Shough answered with an eight-yard pass to Noah Fant. New Orleans went for two and the win. The Lions stopped it.

Jahmyr Gibbs supplied 156 rushing yards and two touchdowns, while St. Brown caught 10 passes and scored twice. The other side of the escape was just as striking: Shough threw for 410 yards and Chris Olave caught 10 passes for 182. Watch Detroit’s final stand below.

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Bears 59, Panthers 37: Chicago runs out of reach

At 31–31, Carolina was still trading punches. Then D’Andre Swift scored, the Panthers failed on fourth down and Kyle Monangai broke free for a 61-yard touchdown. Chicago turned a tie into a 14-point lead and kept scoring.

Swift finished with three rushing touchdowns; Monangai joined him above 100 yards. Caleb Williams threw for two scores and ran for two more. The Bears’ 291 rushing yards overwhelmed an afternoon in which Bryce Young still threw for 361 yards and Jalen Coker caught two touchdowns.

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Bills 36, Texans 31: Palmer wins it, Rousseau closes it

Buffalo started its winning possession at its own four-yard line. Josh Allen finished it with a 34-yard touchdown to Joshua Palmer with 1:36 left, but Houston still reached the Bills’ nine on its answer.

Greg Rousseau’s strip-sack and Terrel Bernard’s recovery finally ended the contest. Allen accounted for four touchdowns, while Dalton Kincaid and DJ Moore each topped 100 receiving yards. Palmer needed only one catch to deliver the lead Buffalo kept. The NFL’s original clip captures the last defensive stop.

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Ravens 41, Colts 23: Henry keeps the points coming

Zay Flowers had 150 receiving yards before halftime, then left with a hamstring injury. Derrick Henry gave Baltimore a way to finish: 144 rushing yards and three touchdowns on 24 carries.

Lamar Jackson threw for 324 yards and ran for a touchdown in Jesse Minter’s first win as Ravens coach. Jonathan Taylor scored twice for Indianapolis, but the Colts never got the deficit below 14 after Henry’s second touchdown. Flowers’ health is the important follow-up to Baltimore’s 506-yard afternoon.

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Jaguars 34, Browns 10: four touchdowns, four receivers

Trevor Lawrence found Parker Washington, Josh Cameron, Brenton Strange and Jakobi Meyers for touchdowns. Jacksonville scored on its first four possessions, led 24–0 at halftime and added another touchdown before Cleveland scored.

Washington led the receiving work with five catches for 83 yards. Five sacks and two takeaways kept the Browns from mounting an answer. Lawrence finished 18 of 23 for 245 yards without an interception, and his fourth quarter ended early because the result was already settled.

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Bengals 33, Buccaneers 27: turnovers outweigh the comeback

Tampa Bay lost four fumbles, and Cincinnati turned the giveaways into 24 points. Even then, the Buccaneers got back within six on Baker Mayfield’s late touchdown run.

Joe Burrow’s 18-yard completion to Tee Higgins helped Cincinnati keep possession and close out the game. Evan McPherson made four field goals, including a 58-yarder, while Josiah Trotter’s interception-return touchdown had given Tampa Bay a route back. Productive passing could not erase the possessions the Bucs surrendered.

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Steelers 20, Falcons 13: Watt supplies the separation

Pittsburgh’s offense produced one touchdown. T.J. Watt delivered another, intercepting Cooper Rush and returning it 35 yards early in the fourth quarter. A three-point advantage became a 10-point lead.

Bijan Robinson kept Atlanta dangerous with 83 rushing yards and 90 receiving yards, but the Falcons converted only two of 12 third downs. Aaron Rodgers threw for 221 yards, with Pat Freiermuth catching Pittsburgh’s offensive touchdown. Watt’s return made that enough.

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Jets 23, Titans 10: Hall and Smith control the opener

Geno Smith completed 19 of 24 passes without an interception, Breece Hall rushed for 102 yards and the Jets kept Tennessee out of the end zone until the fourth quarter.

Kenyon Sadiq scored on a three-yard run to open the game. Hall’s four-yard touchdown made it 17–3 after Smith’s downfield completions to Garrett Wilson and Adonai Mitchell. New York did not need a passing shootout: it protected Smith, ran effectively and left Cam Ward with few scoring opportunities.

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