Sunday NFL early games: four tight finishes and a Patriots rout

Nine 1 p.m. Eastern games are final. The Colts, Steelers, Commanders and Browns won by three or fewer, while Jacksonville beat New England by 29.

Nine games kicked off at 1 p.m. Eastern on Sunday, and all nine are final. Four finished within three points, while Jacksonville delivered the window's largest margin against New England. The official scoreboard shows the range: a 19-17 Colts win over Houston, a 33-31 Commanders win over Seattle, 30-27 for Pittsburgh over Cincinnati, 21-18 for Cleveland over Carolina, and a 35-6 Jaguars rout of the Patriots.

The close finishes

Indianapolis needed Spencer Shrader's 53-yard field goal with 16 seconds remaining to beat the Texans. Pittsburgh protected its three-point lead when Derrick Harmon forced a late strip-sack, completing a 30-27 win over the Bengals. In Washington, a Medrano interception return helped the Commanders build a cushion they needed to hold off Seattle 33-31. Cleveland supplied another late turn: Harold Fannin Jr.'s second touchdown catch, followed by a two-point pass to Denzel Boston, put the Browns past the Panthers 21-18.

The Giants added the day's lowest-scoring result, beating Tennessee 12-7. New York did not score a touchdown, but Jevón Holland ended Tennessee's last drive with an end-zone interception.

A win despite mistakes, and two clear gaps

Buffalo's offense turned the ball over five times but still beat the Chargers 24-16 behind 154 rushing yards from James Cook and two Josh Allen rushing touchdowns. Detroit leaned on three Jahmyr Gibbs scores to survive the Jets 31-24. Kansas City gave Miami less room to recover, with Kenneth Walker III scoring twice in a 24-10 Chiefs win.

New England's afternoon was harsher. Drake Maye threw two interceptions and lost a fumble as Trevor Lawrence threw three touchdowns in the Jaguars' 35-6 win. The Patriots and Bills meet next week, and Sunday's results leave one team searching for an offensive response while the other remains unbeaten despite its turnover problems.

These are the early-window finals. The later Sunday games are separate from this roundup, and their scores are not included here.

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