Patriots pounce on Chargers' mistakes, Eagles win again
Philadelphia Eagles wide receiver Alshon Jeffery falls into the end zone for a touchdown as San Francisco 49ers linebacker Brock Coyle defends during the third quarter of their NFL game at Lincoln Financial Field in Philadelphia on October 29, 2017. The Eagles won 33-10.
The Super Bowl champions New England Patriots took advantage of the Los Angeles Chargers' mistakes on Sunday to notch their fourth straight National Football League victory, 21-13 at Foxborough, Massachusetts.
Quarterback Tom Brady threw for 333 yards with a touchdown and Stephen Gostkowski kicked four fields goals for the Patriots, who improved to 6-2.
Brady, who threw a two-yard TD pass to tight end Rob Gronkowski, recorded his 81st career 300-yard game. His fifth this season matches his total of 300-yard games last year.
"I'm glad we won, that's the most important thing," Brady said. "Starting 0-1 and then being 6-2, a lot of mental toughness. That's good. We've got to keep it going. Our biggest games are ahead of us so we have to go play well."
The Chargers, who lost their first four games of a season that saw them relocate to Los Angeles from San Diego, had won their last three.
But any hope of shocking the reigning Super Bowl champions evaporated in a string of errors.
The worst of them came when punt returner Travis Benjamin fielded a Ryan Allen punt near the sideline at his own eight yard line.
He ran backward and wound up fumbling the ball at the goal line, recovering it inside the end zone for the first safety on a punt return in the NFL since 2003, one that gifted the Patriots a 9-7 lead.
In Philadelphia, Carson Wentz tossed two TD passes, Jalen Mills had a pick-6 and the NFL-leading Philadelphia Eagles beat the winless San Francisco 49ers 33-10.
The Eagles (7-1) overcame a slow start on their way to a sixth straight win. The 49ers are 0-8 for the first time in franchise history.
Wentz was 18 of 32 for 211 yards and one interception. He threw a 53-yard TD pass to Alshon Jeffery and 1-yard TD pass to Zach Ertz. He leads the NFL with 19 TD passes, most by an Eagles quarterback through eight games.
CJ Beathard shoveled a 21-yard TD pass to Matt Breida and finished 17 of 36 for 167 yards with two interceptions in his second career start.
The Eagles punted on six of their first eight possessions before opening it up in the third quarter.
Wentz hit Jeffery with a perfect pass to extend the lead to 27-7. After Derek Barnett blocked Robbie Gould's field goal, the Eagles drove 62 yards and LeGarrette Blount ran in from the 12 for a 33-7 lead.
The 49ers lost five straight games by a field goal or less before Dallas routed them 40-10 last week.
They stayed close until Wentz's TD pass to Ertz was followed by Mills' interception. Mills picked Beathard's pass at the 37 and ran it back, zig-zagging his way to the end zone. Wentz connected with Jeffery on a 2-point conversion to make it 17-0.
Week eight action kicked off in London, where the Minnesota Vikings shook off a slow start to beat the still winless Cleveland Browns 33-16 at Twickenham Stadium.
The Browns seized an early 6-0 lead, but after five lead changes it was the Vikings who emerged with the victory as the Browns fell to 0-8.
Elsewhere, it was: Steelers 20, Lions 15; Seahawks 41, Texans 38; Cowboys 33, Redskins 19; Bills 34, Raiders 4; Falcons 25, Jets 20; Saints 20, Bears 12; Bengals 24, Colts 23; and Panthers 17, Buccaneers 3.
