MIAMI GARDENS, Fla. — Jason Sanders nailed a 52-yard field goal as time expired, and the Miami Dolphins rallied past the Jacksonville Jaguars 20-17 on Sunday to win their fourth straight season opener.
Fresh off a big offseason payday, Tua Tagovailoa threw for 336 yards and a touchdown and led Miami on an 8-play, 31-yard drive over the final 2:09.
Tyreek Hill started the comeback with 80-yard touchdown catch that sparked Miami’s sluggish offense in the third quarter and got the Dolphins within 17-14. After the score, Hill placed his hands behind his back as if to simulate being handcuffed, hours after he was placed facedown and handcuffed on a street by Miami-Dade Police officers after being stopped for a traffic violation near Hard Rock Stadium.
Hill finished with seven catches for 130 yards. Devon Achane seven catches for 75 yards and ran for 25 yards and a touchdown on 10 carries.
Sanders tied the game with a 36-yard field goal with 4:22 left, and the Dolphins’ defense stepped up from there, sacking Trevor Lawrence on consecutive plays to set up Tagovailoa for the winning drive.
BILLS 34, CARDINALS 28: Josh Allen had three of his four touchdowns in the second half and Buffalo overcame a 14-point deficit to defeat Arizona in Orchard Park, New York.
Greg Rousseau had a career-best three sacks, including one that forced a fumble. The defense preserved the Bills’ win when Damar Hamlin and Ja’Marcus Ingram broke up Kyler Murray’s pass attempt to Greg Dortch near the goal line on fourth-and-7 from Buffalo’s 29 with 26 seconds remaining.
VIKINGS 28, GIANTS 6: Sam Darnold threw two touchdown passes in a highly efficient performance and Andrew Van Ginkel scored on a spectacular one-handed 10-yard interception return to lead Minnesota to an easy victory over woeful New York in East Rutherford, New Jersey.
Darnold, who played his home games at MetLife Stadium for three seasons after being taken No. 3 overall by the Jets in 2018, had touchdown passes of 3 yards to Justin Jefferson and 21 to Jalen Nailor in his Vikings debut.
Darnold also had a 22-yard pass to Josh Oliver to help set up Aaron Jones’ 3-yard TD run that put Minnesota ahead 7-3 late in the first quarter and got Kevin O’Connell’s team off to a good start as it looks to rebound from a disappointing 7-10 season.
CHARGERS 22, RAIDERS 10: J.K. Dobbins rushed for 135 yards, including a 12-yard touchdown, and Los Angeles had a successful debut under Jim Harbaugh, rallying in the second half to beat Las Vegas in Inglewood, California.
All 10 of Dobbins’ carries came in the second half. It was the fifth 100-yard rushing game for Dobbins, who signed a one-year deal with the Chargers during the offseason after beginning his career in Baltimore.
BUCCANEERS 32, COMMANDERS 20: Baker Mayfield threw for 289 yards and four touchdowns to lead host Tampa Bay to a rout of new-look Washington, spoiling the NFL debut of No. 2 overall draft pick Jayden Daniels on Sunday.
COWBOYS 33, BROWNS 17: Dak Prescott threw a touchdown pass hours after agreeing to a four-year, $240 million contract with Dallas and the Cowboys’ defense roughed up Deshaun Watson in his return, throttling the Browns in Cleveland.
Prescott’s deal makes him the first player to average $60 million per season and ends months of speculation about his future with the Cowboys, who have won 12 games in each of the past three years with him.
Earlier this week, Prescott, coming off his best season and entering his final year under contract, said he wants to be the quarterback to finally end the team’s Super Bowl drought. He’ll get the chance.
He completed 19 of 32 passes for 179 yards, and relaxed for much of the second half.
BEARS 24, TITANS 17: Caleb Williams had a rough debut for Chicago but got bailed out by his defense, with Tyrique Stevenson returning an interception 43 yards for the go-ahead touchdown to give the Bears a victory over Tennessee in Chicago.
STEELERS 18, FALCONS 10: With Russell Wilson’s Pittsburgh debut put on hold by a calf injury, Justin Fields stepped in to lead the Steelers to a victory over the Falcons in Atlanta – with a big assist from Chris Boswell’s strong right leg.
Boswell booted six field goals, three of them longer than 50 yards, and the Steelers made life miserable for Kirk Cousins in his first game as Atlanta’s big-money quarterback.
Send questions/comments to the editors.
We invite you to add your comments. We encourage a thoughtful exchange of ideas and information on this website. By joining the conversation, you are agreeing to our commenting policy and terms of use. More information is found on our FAQs. You can modify your screen name here.
Comments are managed by our staff during regular business hours Monday through Friday as well as limited hours on Saturday and Sunday. Comments held for moderation outside of those hours may take longer to approve.
Join the Conversation
Please sign into your Sun Journal account to participate in conversations below. If you do not have an account, you can register or subscribe. Questions? Please see our FAQs.