Raheem Morris’ club played host to the Buccaneers, a team they will face twice in a three-week span. And stop if you have read this before as the Falcons twice owned 17-point leads and could not hold them. Julio Jones did not play but Matt Ryan threw for 356 yards and three scores. But Atlanta’s running game managed a mere 37 yards on 13 attempts. Calvin Ridley caught 10 passes for 163 yards and one touchdown in the Falcons’ latest losing effort.
Make it a fourth consecutive losing season for a franchise that had high hopes after a solid finish in 2019. Vic Fangio’s club spotted the visiting Bills a 14-0 second-quarter lead before getting on the scoreboard. The Broncos were down just eight points at intermission but were outscored a combined 27-6 in the final 30 minutes. Melvin Gordon ran for 61 yards and a pair of touchdowns but Denver’s defense surrendered a whopping 534 total yards.
Jalen Hurts would make his second start as the Eagles headed to the desert to take on the improving Cardinals. The rookie quarterback took his lumps, sacked six times and fumbling on three occasions. But Doug Pederson’s club did not turn over the football and Hurts would not only throw for 338 yards and three touchdowns but ran 11 times for 63 yards and one score. But Philadelphia’s defense was tagged by Kliff Kingsbury’s team for 526 total yards.
The Texans’ defense had another rough outing as Anthony Weaver’s unit gave up 425 total yards, finished with one sack and zero takeaways. Houston fell behind 14-0 in the first quarter but quarterback Deshaun Watson rallied the team and they were in position to possibly send the game into overtime. In the closing moments, Keke Coutee caught a pass and headed for the end zone. The ball was punched out and a touchback sealed Houston’s fate.