Read reports from Saturday’s NFL games.
Brock Purdy leads the 49ers to another victory
Brock Purdy again threw two long touchdown passes to George Kittle and the 49ers San Francisco beat the Washington Commanders 37-20 on Saturday to clinch their eighth straight win.
Purdy has continued to perform impressively since replacing the injured Jimmy Garoppolo at the start of the 13e activity week. The final pick in the 2022 draft certainly exceeded expectations.
“He manages to give us the ball,” Kittle said. He is excellent with the ball. He sends it where he wants. It allows guys to run with it. He’s super smart in the backfield and he causes mistakes.
“Her confidence is at an all-time high right now and I don’t see why it wouldn’t be. »
He threw two touchdown passes in four consecutive games for 49ers (11-4) and has won all three of his starts. The San Francisco club keeps the pressure on the Minnesota Vikings in the race for second place in the National Conference.
Purdy joined Hall of Famer Kurt Warner as the only quarterback — since starts began being tallied in 1950 — to earn his first three starts while throwing multiple touchdown passes in every game.
“I don’t really think about getting more and more comfortable or anything like that,” he admitted. I still have the same determination and the same motivation as before, when I was not playing. I want to go on the field and show my teammates my talent. I want to earn respect with every play, every throw-in, every possession. »
Taylor Heinicke threw two touchdown passes for the Commanders (7-7-1), but also had a fumble and one of his throw-ins was intercepted in the fourth quarter. He was replaced after his second turnover by Carson Wentz.
The Commanders haven’t won their last three meetings, but they still have a half-game lead over the Seattle Seahawks and Detroit Lions in the race for the final NL playoff spot.
The 49ers opened the game in the third quarter thanks to more crucial plays from Purdy. On the first possession of the second half, they scored a major when Kittle opened up deep for a 34-yard touchdown.
Kittle scored again later in the quarter on a catch and a 33-yard run, to make it 21-7. Kittle also caught two touchdown passes last week, setting a personal-best eight touchdowns in a season.
The 49ers capitalized on important plays throughout the game, also scoring their first touchdown on a 71-yard breakout from Ray Ray McCloud.
Nick Bosa and the defense of the 49ers did the rest of the work. Bosa got Robbie Gould a field goal with a sack over Heinicke and the 49ers added another field goal after a Jimmie Ward interception in Commanders territory.
Wentz, playing for the first time since Week 6, passed 20 yards to Curtis Samuel, but it was too little too late for the Commanders.
Josh Dubow, Associated Press
Dak Prescott and Brett Maher help Cowboys defeat Eagles 40-34
PHOTO KEVIN JAIRAJ, USA TODAY SPORTS
Dak Prescott (4) of the Dallas Cowboys hugs DeVonta Smith (6) of the Philadelphia Eagles after the game.
Dak Prescott threw for three touchdowns and 347 yards as the Dallas Cowboys defeated the Philadelphia Eagles 40-34 on Saturday.
Eagles backup quarterback Gardner Minshew threw two touchdown passes and added a rushing major to replace Jalen Hurts, but his second interception of the night set the stage for Brett Maher, who made the field goal that gave the Cowboys the lead.
Minshew put the Eagles just 19 yards from the game-winning touchdown potential in the dying seconds of the game, but his pass into the end zone on fourth down found no receiver.
The Eagles (13-2), who have the best record in the NFL, committed two turnovers in the last five minutes of the game and missed an opportunity to secure first place in the National Conference.
“We missed an opportunity,” said Minshew. You can’t commit four turnovers. We always avoid turnovers, that’s what has given us so much success. »
The Cowboys (11-4), who are the defending National East Division champions, kept their hopes of catching the Eagles at the top alive.
A victory for the Eagles or a defeat for the Cowboys in the last two games of the season will allow the Philadelphia team to secure the division title.
The Eagles had several chances to do so during the game, but instead saw their five-game winning streak come to an end. They also got off to a good start when Josh Sweat intercepted a pass from Prescott and brought it back 42 yards for a touchdown that extended the visitors’ lead to 10-0.
“I guess I misjudged the length, but he had a great catch,” Prescott said of Sweat. I chased after him wondering if it had happened again. I wanted to get back on the pitch and get the team back on track. »
In his first game with the Cowboys, TY Hilton caught a 52-yard pass on third down to set up CeeDee Lamb’s seven-yard touchdown, which tied the game 34-34 with 5:49 to go. This was Hilton’s first reception with its new team.
“I’m still able to play,” said Hilton, 33, who spent 10 years with the Indianapolis Colts. I don’t need to be quick. I can be slow and still be able to free myself. But I’m still fast. »
Rookie cornerback DaRon Bland stole the ball from Eagles receiver Quez Watkins on Minshew’s second interception, leading to a 48-yard field goal from Maher to give the Cowboys a 37-34 lead.
Following a fumble from Miles Sanders in the first play of the Eagles’ next offensive streak, the Cowboys had to settle for another field goal from Maher.
Needing a touchdown to win, the Eagles came close to the Cowboys 19-yard line when Minshew joined DeVonta Smith for a 22-yard gain. Smith finished the game with two receptions good for a major.
Prescott completed 27 of 35 passes for his first game of 300+ yards this season.
“Adversity, he eats it for dinner,” Cowboys head coach Mike McCarthy said of Prescott. Dak is the same person every day, in the heat of the moment, in training, in class. That says a lot about his approach. »
Minshew had 24 of 40 attempts from the air caught for 355 yards. It was his first start of the campaign.
Hurts suffered a right shoulder injury last week in the Eagles’ win over the Chicago Bears.
In addition, tight end Dallas Goedert was available for the Eagles. He had missed the last five games with a shoulder injury.
The Cowboys were without linebacker Leighton Vander Esch, who suffered a neck injury last week in a loss to the Jacksonville Jaguars.
Schuyler Dixon, Associated Press