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New England Patriots beat Atlanta Falcons in Super Bowl rematch

NFL round-up: Broncos lose to Chargers, Seahawks consign Giants to sixth defeat

The New England Patriots beat the Atlanta Falcons in foggy Foxborough. Photograph: Billie Weiss/Getty

Mon Oct 23 2017 - 08:38

It may have been pretty foggy in Foxborough, but there was one clear winner as the New England Patriots took on the Atlanta Falcons in a rematch of last year's Super Bowl.

After a scoreless first quarter, the home side scored twice through Tom Brady passes — the first a short pass to Brandin Cooks with Rob Gronkowski clearing a path to the end zone — to put his side up 17-0 at the break.

Two field goals for Stephen Gostkowski in the second half sealed the win before Matt Ryan found Julio Jones for a consolation touchdown for the Falcons, who lost 23-7.

The Denver Broncos offence failed to fire up as they were shut out by the Los Angeles Chargers 21-0 in Carson on Sunday.

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But it was the defence that let them down early in the first quarter, when Travis Benjamin sailed through a wide-channel to return a punt for 65 yards and a touchdown.

Benjamin found the end zone again in the fourth quarter when Philip Rivers connected with a 42-yard pass.

Trevor Siemian completed 25 out of 35 attempted passes for 207 yards, but the Broncos failed to score after twice opting to go for it on fourth down instead of attempting long field goals.

Meanwhile, the New York Giants slumped to their sixth defeat of the season 24-7 to the Seattle Seahawks.

Russell Wilson found the end zone three times in the second half to put the visitors out of sight, after New York went into the break 7-3 up courtesy of a Evan Engram touchdown.

Ezekiel Elliott scored two touchdowns on the ground and one from the air as the Dallas Cowboys brushed aside the San Francisco 49ers 40-10.

Elliott, whose six-game suspension was put on hold earlier this week, doubled up in the first quarter with a one-yard and 25-yard run to put the Cowboys up 14-0.

Three further touchdowns in the second half — a 72-yard pass from Dak Prescott to Elliot, a Prescott run for two yards and a Dez Bryant pass for the same distance — condemned the 49ers to 0-7 for the season.

In Pittsburgh, Ben Roethlisberger threw two touchdowns as the Steelers beat the Cincinnati Bengals 29-14 to go 5-2 and lead the AFC North.

The Green Bay Packers were beaten by the New Orleans Saints in their first full game without star quarterback Aaron Rodgers.

Rodgers suffered a broken collarbone in last week’s defeat against the Minnesota Vikings that could see the two-time MVP miss the rest of the season.

And in Brett Hundley’s first NFL start, the 24-year-old rushed for a touchdown but could only complete 12 of his 25 pass attempts for 87 yards and threw for one interception as the Packers went down 26-17 to the Saints, who have won four straight games.

The Minnesota Vikings took full advantage of Green Bay's defeat by seeing off the Baltimore Ravens 24-16.

Latavius Murray rushed for Minnesota’s only touchdown while Kai Forbath kicked six field goals to improve the Vikings to 5-2 and give them a one-game lead at the top of the NFC North.

The Arizona Cardinals had a London trip to forget as they were shut out by NFC West rivals the Los Angeles Rams, who won 33-0 at Twickenham.

Jared Goff threw for one touchdown and rushed for another, while Todd Gurley ran for an 18-yard score to move the Rams to 5-2, two games clear of the Cardinals, who lost quarterback Carson Palmer to an arm injury.

Eddie Jackson returned a fumble 75 yards for a touchdown and scored after a 76-yard run having intercepted Cam Newton as the Chicago Bears stunned the Carolina Panthers 17-3.

The Miami Dolphins scored 17 unanswered points in the final quarter to beat the New York Jets 31-28 while Steven Hauschka kicked a field goal with 14 seconds left to give the Buffalo Bills a thrilling 30-27 win over the Tampa Bay Buccaneers.

The Cleveland Browns slipped to 0-7 after Ryan Succop kicked an overtime field goal to secure a 12-9 win for Tennessee and the Jacksonville Jaguars kept pace with the Titans in the NFC South by also improving to 4-3 thanks to a 27-0 rout of divisional rivals the Indianapolis Colts.

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