The Buffalo Bills claimed a statement win as John Allen threw three touchdown passes as they improved to 5-1 with a 24-20 victory over the Kansas City Chiefs on Sunday.

Allen, who completed 27 of 40 attempts for 329 yards with no interceptions, found Dawson Knox for the game-winning touchdown with 1:04 left in the fourth quarter at Arrowhead Stadium.

The Bills sealed the win when Von Miller broke a double team to apply pressure on Chiefs QB Patrick Mahomes whose pass for Skyy Moore was picked by cornerback Taron Johnson with 0:41 remaining.

It ended a seesawing contest that had four lead changes, was tied at every change and was within one score throughout, with the AFC East-leading Bills moving ahead of the AFC West-leading Chiefs who fall to 4-2.

Mahomes made 25 of 40 attempts for 338 yards with two touchdowns and two interceptions, with Bills rookie Kaiir Elam picking off a redzone pass in the first quarter. Chiefs wide receiver Travis Kelce made franchise history by reaching the record for consecutive games with a reception (132), finishing with eight receptions for 108 yards but no TDs.

JuJu Smith-Schuster, who had five receptions for 113 yards, spun past two defenders after receiving a Mahomes pass for the opening TD, before Allen found Gabe Davis to reply before half-time, with Harrison Butker's franchise-record 62-yard field goal tying it up at half-time.

Stefon Diggs, who had 10 receptions for 148 yards, added his sixth receiving touchdown this season when Allen found him for 17-yard score but the Chiefs responded again as Mahomes punched a pass to Mecole Hardman.

Butker put the Chiefs up 20-17 in the fourth quarter, but Allen found Knox in the endzone to flip the script.

Rams respond as Anderson thrown out by Panthers

The Los Angeles Rams ground their way to a 24-10 victory over the Carolina Panthers to snap their two-game skid and move to 3-3.

Scores were locked at 10-10 with 16 seconds remaining in the third quarter when wide receiver Ben Skowronek swept down the outside and into the endzone for his career-first TD.

Matthew Stafford shook off the Rams' offensive issues to complete 26 of 33 passes for 253 yards and one touchdown for Allen Robinson, while Darrell Henderson rushed a fourth-quarter TD to pad the win.

Amid the Panthers' own offensive struggles, interim coach Steve Wilks threw Robbie Anderson out of the game after a heated argument with position coach Joe Dailey.

Bill Belichick celebrated his 324th career NFL win on Sunday as Bailey Zappe led the New England Patriots to a 38-15 victory at the Cleveland Browns.

This latest success moved Belichick into a tie for second for the most all-time coaching wins across the regular season and postseason.

The Patriots legend is now level with George Halas, trailing only Don Shula's 347.

The dominant defeat of the Browns was Belichick's 293rd regular season win, which has him third behind Halas (318) and Shula (328), while he leads all coaches with 31 playoff victories.

"I've got a ton of respect for coach Halas and the McCaskey family and what he did for professional football," Belichick said.

"The way that he and, since we're here, [first Browns coach] Paul Brown and others like them paved the way for us, as coaches, and paved the way for the National Football League to grow to what it is today. They laid down a lot of the building blocks."

Meanwhile, Zappe was as impressive in his second NFL start as he had been in his first, a 29-0 rout of the Detroit Lions last week.

The rookie fourth-rounder, who against the Lions became the fifth of five Patriot quarterbacks selected by Belichick outside the first round to win his first start, threw for 309 yards and two touchdowns in Cleveland, achieving a 118.4 passer rating.

Zappe is therefore the first rookie to win his first two career starts while recording a rating of at least 100 in both games since Hall of Famer Sonny Jurgensen in 1957.

Kenny Pickett could not finish his second NFL start after going into concussion protocol, but the Pittsburgh Steelers ensured their quarterback could celebrate an unlikely first win against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers.

Pickett – the first QB off the board in the 2022 NFL Draft – started for the first time in last week's big defeat to the Buffalo Bills.

But the rookie bounced back in some style against Tom Brady, securing a narrow lead before exiting the game midway through the third quarter. The Steelers protected that advantage to win 20-18.

Pickett had thrown his first career touchdown pass to Najee Harris on Pittsburgh's first drive.

A sloppy end to the first half allowed the Bucs to close the gap, but they headed in at halftime without having scored a TD – a first for a Brady team against the Steelers.

Pittsburgh lifted their game again following the restart, trading field goals before a hit on Pickett saw him leave the game, and was then ruled out.

Mitch Trubisky picked up the baton, though, connecting with Chase Claypool for another TD before Brady and Leonard Fournette belatedly responded.

A successful two-point conversion would have tied the game with time left for the Bucs to win it, but Brady's attempt was batted away, and Trubisky saw out only a second Steelers win of the year.

Another New York defeat for Packers on return to Lambeau

The Green Bay Packers gave up a home game to play in London for the first time in franchise history last week, losing to the New York Giants. And a return to Lambeau Field did little to lift Aaron Rodgers and Co., who fell to 3-3 with a 27-10 home loss to the New York Jets.

In fact, the Packers crowd appeared to turn on their team when a blocked punt gifted the Jets – now 3-0 on the road to start a season for the first time since 2010 – a two-TD lead their opponents could not recover from.

The Giants built on their upset of the Packers by doing the same to the Baltimore Ravens. They had trailed Green Bay 20-10 at halftime in Week 5 and were this time down by the same score in the fourth quarter, recovering for a 24-20 win to move to 5-1.

The Atlanta Falcons lost in Week 5 but also had momentum to carry into a matchup with the San Francisco 49ers after a 15-point fourth quarter against the Bucs. Following five straight games decided by seven points or fewer, the Falcons coasted to a 28-14 success.

Ryan extends Jags' miserable road run in AFC South

The Jacksonville Jaguars have not won a road game against an AFC South rival since 2017, a losing sequence of 13 games heading into Sunday's trip to the Indianapolis Colts.

It appeared as though Trevor Lawrence was to lead the Jags to a long-awaited win when the Colts trailed by a point at the Jacksonville 33 with just 23 seconds to play.

But Matt Ryan, having earlier passed Dan Marino (61,361) to climb to seventh all-time for passing yards, completed a pivotal TD pass to Alec Pierce to prolong the Jags' misery.

Washington Commanders quarterback Carson Wentz is facing a spell out of action after fracturing his finger, according to reports.

The Commanders beat the Chicago Bears 12-7 on Thursday to move 2-4 for the season, with Wentz playing the whole game. He was sacked three times and did not make a touchdown pass, throwing for just 99 yards.

However, on Saturday NFL media reported the 29-year-old – who was traded from the Indianapolis Colts ahead of the 2022 season – had suffered a fracture to the ring finger on his right hand.

Wentz, who had been suffering with a bicep issue before the game, played on with the fracture, despite being in clear pain, and will now see a specialist in Los Angeles to determine the next step in his treatment.

The injury comes after Commanders coach Ron Rivera hit back at suggestions he was not enthusiastic about the signing of Wentz.

Rivera said during his post-game news conference after the win over the Bears: "Everybody keeps wanting to say, I didn’t want anything to do with Carson.

"Well bull****. I'm the f****** guy that pulled out the sheets of paper, that looked at the analytics, that watched the tape when we were in Indianapolis.

"That's what p***** me off, because the young man doesn't deserve to have that all the time. I'm sorry, I'm done."

Rivera's outburst came after he had claimed a reason behind his team's poor start compared to the rest of the NFC East was at "quarterback", though he subsequently apologised and insisted he had not meant to disparage Wentz, who has thrown for 10 touchdowns this season.

Miami Dolphins quarterback Tua Tagovailoa has cleared the NFL's concussion protocol.

ESPN's Adam Schefter reported on Saturday that Tagovailoa had been cleared after sustaining a concussion in the Dolphins' Week 4 loss to the Cincinnati Bengals.

Tagovailoa will not play in Sunday's game against the Minnesota Vikings, in which third-string quarterback Skylar Thompson is expected to start. Thompson previously filled in for backup Teddy Bridgewater, who suffered a concussion on the first play of last Sunday's loss to the New York Jets.

However, Tagovailoa looks set to return for the Week 7 meeting with the Pittsburgh Steelers.

The Tagovailoa saga has led to a change in the NFL's concussion protocols, with the league and the NFLPA agreeing his return to play against the Buffalo Bills in Week 3 after an apparent head injury was "not what was intended when the protocols were drafted".

Tagovailoa was visibly unsteady on his feet after having his head slammed to the turf; however, he surprisingly returned for the second half.

He was flung to the turf in similar fashion by Bengals defensive lineman Josh Tupou and exhibited the fencing response, leading to him being taken from the field on a stretcher and transported to hospital.

Tagovailoa's response in the Bills game, known as ataxia, has now been added to the NFL's list of no-go symptoms. Bridgewater was ruled out against the Jets under this change.

A post on Twitter from Schefter read: "Since suffering a concussion in Week 4, Tua Tagovailoa, the Dolphins and his team of independent doctors followed a thorough process that far exceeded the NFL's concussion protocol, per sources.

"He received four outside opinions, in addition to team doctors, who unanimously cleared him from protocol and all agreed that his scans showed no signs of long-term impact on the brain."

Schefter also reported that Bridgewater has been cleared from the protocol and will serve as Thompson's backup against the Vikings.

With the Washington Commanders beating the Chicago Bears on Thursday, the NFC East improved to a league-leading 15-6 on the year.

The 2-4 Commanders are joined by three of the NFL's six teams with four wins or more, including the 5-0 Philadelphia Eagles – the only remaining unbeaten outfit.

Pre-season excitement centred on the AFC West and its potential to dominate the NFL, but the NFC East has instead surprisingly come to the fore, tallying five more wins through five weeks.

Of the six defeats for its four teams, three have been against division rivals.

There is therefore great anticipation for the fourth such matchup of the season on Sunday, when the Eagles play the Dallas Cowboys at Lincoln Financial Field.

With the Kansas City Chiefs also facing the Buffalo Bills, there is a compelling case to be made for fans this week getting to watch games between the best two teams in the NFC and the best two teams in the AFC.

Of course, the neutral may prefer to focus on the AFC tussle, where two of the leading quarterbacks in the sport will renew a rivalry last seen in their playoff epic.

But the supporting casts of the Eagles and the Cowboys might make them equally credible candidates as the league's best team come Monday.

It is certainly difficult to argue against the Eagles' start.

Their 5-0 record is their best since kicking off 7-0 in 2004; in fact, that was the last time any NFC East team won more than five games straight at the start of the year. The Eagles have already matched the 2009 New York Giants – the previous most recent example of a 5-0 start.

Outside the NFC East, such streaks have been far more commonplace. There has been at least one 5-0 team in every season since 2015, when there were six, including Super Bowl 50 champions the Denver Broncos.

That the 2015 Broncos were the last team to start 5-0 and then win the title suggests these stretches do not always mean a great deal in the long term, however.

Perhaps then the Eagles would be better served getting the first defeat out the way now, although that would mean losing control of this suddenly fiercely competitive division.

Either way, the Cowboys represent a far more serious threat than their opponents through Week 5.

The Eagles so far rank second in total offense – their 419.8 net yards per game topping the 2021 Cowboys' league-leading 407.0 – but have played defenses ranking 31st, 24th, 19th, ninth and 18th. The Dallas defense ranks seventh, and they have held each of their first five opponents to under 20 points for the first time since 1972.

As Stats Perform's efficiency versus expected model (EVE) ranks the Eagles' offense fourth and the Cowboys' defense fourth, it is clear where this game will be won and lost.

Previously, the Cowboys have had the tools to outgun their NFC East rivals. They have won their last three games against the Eagles by 20, 20 and 25 points – only once before (also versus the Eagles in the 1960s) winning four in a row by 20-plus points against any one team.

This time, with quarterback Dak Prescott still out, the Cowboys will instead focus on capitalising on the Eagles' own injury issues on their offensive line, where there are concerns around center Jason Kelce, tackle Jordan Mailata and guards Landon Dickerson and Isaac Seumalo.

Another big game from six-sack, second-year sensation Micah Parsons could be pivotal.

If the Eagles can negotiate that threat, though, a two-game lead even in this division might be enough to start planning for the playoffs now, given their schedule.

After the Cowboys, the Eagles have a bye week before playing teams ranking 32nd, 30th, 27th, 11th, 16th, 31st, 19th and 24th by overall EVE ahead of facing Dallas again in Week 16.

The NFC East's record winning start belongs to the 1991 Washington team, and the Eagles for now remain a way off the 11-0 sequence that preceded a Super Bowl triumph in a period of domination for this division.

But victory against the Cowboys would at least mean clearing the most significant hurdle in this young team's path.

Aaron Rodgers is off the Green Bay Packers injury report and expected to play on Sunday against the New York Giants although he may need to tape his right thumb.

Rodgers missed practice earlier in the week after injuring the thumb on his throwing hand on the final play of Sunday's 27-22 defeat to the New York Giants at Tottenham Hotspur Stadium.

The four-time NFL MVP was a full participant in practice on Thursday and Friday however, and the Packers removed him from their injury report on Friday.

"He threw the ball really well yesterday, so he's confident," Packers head coach Matt LaFleur told reporters on Friday.

The 38-year-old quarterback practiced with tape wrapped on his thumb on Friday, raising concerns it may impact his ability to make throws.

When asked if Rodgers will wear tape on the thumb in Sunday's game, LeFleur replied: "No idea."

Rodgers has made 114 of 168 attempts with a 67.9 per cent completion rate for 1157 yards and eight touchdowns with three interceptions this season.

The Packers, who are 3-2 and second in the NFC North, have ruled out rookie receiver Christian Watson and linebacker Tipa Galeai due to hamstring injuries.

Linebacker Rashan Gary, who has had five sacks this season, was listed as questionable on the injury report with a toe concern.

"It's the next man up and the standard doesn't change, but let's face it, the guy is pretty impactful I'd say when he's out on the grass," LaFleur said about Gary.

"Certainly he's a guy that we definitely want in there. When he's not in there I think you can feel the effects of that."

 

Andy Dalton is set to meet his former team the Cincinnati Bengals for a third successive season, and he could join a historic club.

Quarterback Dalton left the Bengals in 2020 after spending nine years with the team. He is Cincinnati's all-time passing touchdown leader (204).

The 34-year-old spent the 2020 season with the Dallas Cowboys before heading to Chicago and the Bears last year. He is now at the New Orleans Saints, and with Jameis Winston questionable due to back and ankle injuries, is expected to start in the Week 6 clash against his old team.

Having helped the Cowboys and the Bears to wins over the Bengals over the past two seasons, Dalton could become the fourth QB since 1950 to go 3-0 or better against the team he was drafted by.

Joe Burrow replaced Dalton in Cincinnati and was the key to their charge to the Super Bowl last season.

Burrow has completed at least 60 per cent of his passes in 22 successive regular-season games, which ties him level with Steve Young for the second-longest streak in NFL history behind Drew Brees, who went 31 straight between 2018 and 2020.

The Bengals are 4-2 all-time on the road against the Saints, their second-best road record against a single opponent, yet in Taysom Hill they face a player who made history last week. 

In New Orleans' 39-32 win over the Seattle Seahawks, Hill became the first player in the league to rush for 100+ yards on 10+ yards per carry, rush for three or more touchdowns and also throw a TD pass in the same game.

Cam Akers will miss the Los Angeles Rams' Week 6 clash against the Carolina Panthers for personal reasons.

Rams coach Sean McVay revealed running back Akers will play no part when the Panthers visit SoFi Stadium on Sunday.

McKay stated that the situation is "uncharted territory" for Akers and the Rams (2-3) amid reports he could be traded.

Asked about Akers' future with Los Angeles, he replied: "We're working through some different things right now, so hopefully you guys understand and respect that."

Akers missed the majority of last season due to an Achilles injury.

The 23-year-old has made only 151 yards from 51 carries in five games in 2022, scoring just one touchdown. 

McKay will be looking for a big contribution from Darrell Henderson in the absence of Akers this weekend, while Malcolm Brown is also on the active roster. 

The Dallas Cowboys have listed quarterback Dak Prescott as questionable for Sunday's meeting with the Philadelphia Eagles.

Prescott has not featured since Week 1 due to a thumb injury, and Cowboys coach Mike McCarthy told the press earlier this week that the 29-year-old was unlikely to be fit to return in Week 6.

However, Dallas have not yet ruled their QB out of contention, instead listing Prescott as questionable for the game in Philadelphia.

Cooper Rush, though, is still expected to start, with the stand-in QB having led the Cowboys to four successive wins in Prescott's absence.

Rush is the third QB in NFL history, since statistics were first tracked in 1950, to win on his first five career starts while throwing no more than one interception over that span, after Kyle Allen and Patrick Mahomes.

The Cowboys head into the game with recent history on their side, having won their past three meetings with the Eagles by 20, 20 and 25 points. The last time any NFL team had four straight 20-point wins against an opponent was the Colts against the Jaguars from 2013-14.

Philadelphia are the NFL's only unbeaten team, however, and are the first side in league history to win their opening five games of a season while averaging 400+ yards of offense and not losing a single fumble.

The Buffalo Bills will have revenge on their mind against the Chiefs, having seen their past two seasons reach a disappointing climax in Kansas City – including a 42-36 overtime defeat in the divisional round this year.

Widely tipped as the favourites to go all the way this season, the Bills enter the Week 6 contest on the back of a 38-3 drubbing of the Pittsburgh Steelers last week. 

That was their second win by at least 34 points this season – having had multiple such wins in just two previous seasons (1992 and 2021).

Against the Steelers, Gabe Davis had two touchdown receptions of at least 60 yards and finished with 171 yards, taking his yardage for the season to 309. An in-form Davis is a frightening prospect, particularly when paired with Josh Allen – who leads the NFL for passing yards this season (1651).

The Chiefs have a devastating weapon of their own to lead the offense though, with Patrick Mahomes fresh from guiding his side to a 30-29 victory against the Las Vegas Raiders in Week 5 – the 40th occasion the Chiefs have scored at least 30 points since Mahomes took over as the full-time starter in 2018.

Ranking fifth for passing yards this season (1398), Mahomes has thrown more TD passes than anyone else in 2022 (15) and has a TD with 7.9 per cent of his passes, behind only Lamar Jackson (8.1 per cent).

In Travis Kelce, the Chiefs also boast the player with the most receiving touchdowns in 2022, with four of his seven coming last week – despite totalling just 25 receiving yards over the course of the game.

With elite quarterbacks and receivers on both sides, the defenses could decide the outcome of the game and the Bills have been relentless with their ability to keep opposing offenses at bay, allowing 61 total points across five games – only the San Francisco 49ers (61) having less.

On top of that, the Bills defense has allowed only three passing TDs this season, again behind only the 49ers (two), and rank second for the least yards allowed per game on average (260.4), meaning it could be a frustrating game for Mahomes and company come Sunday.

The NFL season is well under way, with Week 6 set to mark the point where over a third of the regular season has been played.

Playoff hopes are starting to rise and crucial games are on the horizon, with the Minnesota Vikings looking to provide a further boost against a Miami Dolphins side that have lost their rhythm after a perfect start.

Elsewhere, revenge is on the cards for the Buffalo Bills against the Kansas City Chiefs, who have shattered their dreams in back-to-back seasons, while there is plenty on the line in the NFC East contest between the Philadelphia Eagles and the Dallas Cowboys.

With a wealth of entertainment on offer, Stats Perform has crunched the Opta data to preview this weekend's contests.

Minnesota Vikings (4-1) @ Miami Dolphins (3-2)

After starting the season 3-0, the Dolphins have suffered back-to-back defeats by 12 and 23 points respectively, becoming only the second team in the Super Bowl era to start a campaign 3-0 but then lose their next two games by at least a dozen points – the other being the 1994 Chiefs.

However, the Dolphins have won their last three games against NFC teams by double-digit scores, marking the first time they have had such a streak against the NFC since a five-game stint from 1978 to 1979.

With quarterback duo Tua Tagovailoa not expected to return this weekend and Terry Bridgewater out due to concussion, rookie Skylar Thompson looks set to make his first career start against the Vikings and will need help from Tyreek Hill, who is the only player in NFL history with at least 7,000 receiving yards, 7,000 rushing yards and 700 punt return yards in his career.

The Dolphins' clash with the Vikings could go down right to the wire, with Minnesota having trailed with less than five minutes remaining in the fourth quarter and come back to win in each of their last three matches for the first time in their franchise history, as well as being the first time any team has done so since the Lions in 2014.

The only team in NFL history to have such a comeback in four straight games was the Denver Broncos in 2011, led by quarterback Tim Tebow.

Buffalo Bills (4-1) @ Kansas City Chiefs (4-1)

The Chiefs have ended the Bills' season in each of the last two campaigns, including a 42-36 overtime win in the divisional round in 2021. In the last eight meetings, including the post season, Kansas City are 6-2, but one of those losses came at home in Week 5 last season.

Patrick Mahomes continues to be the leading man for the Chiefs, with the 30-29 victory over the Las Vegas Raiders last week marking the 40th time the Chiefs have had a game with at least 30 points since he became full-time starter in 2018. The only other team with more than 30 such games is the New Orleans Saints (35).

A tough test against the Bills defense awaits, however, with Buffalo allowing just three broken tackles this season, only the Washington Commanders having fewer (2). In contrast, the Chiefs' defense has allowed 12 broken tackles, only Houston and Las Vegas (both 15) having more.

Offensively, the Bills head to Kansas City on the back of a 38-3 triumph against the Pittsburgh Steelers in Week 5, marking their second win by at least 34 points this season, having beaten the Titans 41-7 in Week 2. Only in 1992 and 2021 have they had multiple such wins in a season (twice in each).

Dallas Cowboys (4-1) @ Philadelphia Eagles (5-0)

For the first time, the NFC East rivals will face off with both teams entering the contest on the back of a single-season winning streak of at least four games, and the Cowboys have a historical edge after three consecutive wins by a margin of 20 or more points.

The Cowboys have held each of their five opponents so far this season to 20 points or under for the first time since 1972, while only two teams in the last 10 years have done so in six straight games to start a season – the 2013 Chiefs (9) and 2019 New England Patriots (8).

Keeping Jalen Hurts and the Eagles offense at bay will be a stern test though, with Hurts setting an NFL record by becoming the first QB to have a five-start span, at any point, where he passed for 250+ yards per game, rushed for 50+ yards per game, rushed for 5+ touchdowns and went undefeated.

From the first five games of the season, the Eagles have averaged 400+ yards of offense and have not lost a single fumble during that span.

Elsewhere…

The Los Angeles Rams host the Carolina Panthers on the back of a 22-10 home defeat to the Cowboys in Week 5, with all three of their losses this season seeing the Rams score 10 or fewer points and lose by at least 10 points. From 2017-2021, they only had five such games.

The Arizona Cardinals head to the Emerald City boasting a strong record against the Seattle Seahawks, sitting 6-3 in the last nine road games. That is tied for the best record by any teams with at least two games played in Seattle since 2013 (Atlanta and New Orleans both 2-1).

The Cleveland Browns face the Patriots, having led at the start of the fourth quarter in all five games so far this season. However, they sit 2-3 (.400) in comparison to the rest of the NFL, which combines for 51-15-1 (.769).

Tampa Bay Buccaneers QB Tom Brady is tied with Charlie Conerly for most career passing touchdowns against the Steelers (29 each), who he faces in Week 6. With one more, the Steelers would become the fifth team Brady has thrown at least 30 TD's against – joining the Colts, Jets, Dolphins and Bills.

Ron Rivera angrily hit out as suggestions he was not an enthused as Washington Commanders owner Daniel Snyder by the signing of quarterback Carson Wentz.

In the wake of Thursday's 12-7 win over the Chicago Bears at Soldier Field, coach Rivera was in fiery form at his post-game press conference, eventually calling a halt to proceedings himself.

ESPN this week quoted an unnamed source as saying that the signing of Wentz in a March trade from the Indianapolis Colts was "100 per cent a Dan move".

Wentz came into the Bears game carrying a bicep injury, managing only 12 of 22 passes for 99 yards with no TDs.

However, Rivera wanted to make it clear that his own role in the signing of Wentz was integral to the trade going ahead.

"Everybody keeps wanting to say, I didn’t want anything to do with Carson," Rivera said.

"Well bull****. I'm the f****** guy that pulled out the sheets of paper, that looked at the analytics, that watched the tape when we were in Indianapolis.

"That's what p***** me off, because the young man doesn't deserve to have that all the time. I'm sorry, I'm done."

The expletive-laden torrent from Rivera followed an assessment of how the team's 1-4 start had been wearing on his players.

Finally getting a second win, after losing four straight games, came as a relief to Rivera, prompting him to unload.

Brian Robinson Jr scored the decisive touchdown, two months after being shot in the knee and glute in an attempted carjacking on August 28.

"Honestly it's been hard. It really has. You lose four games in a row and everybody wants to get on you," Rivera said.

"They've played their a**es off. They've played their a**es off for everybody. They come out, they show up, and they work hard, they don't complain.

"They hear all this stuff and they've got to deal with that. I respect them for that because they're resilient."

Suspended Cleveland Browns quarterback Deshaun Watson had another civil lawsuit filed against him, alleging he pressured a woman into oral sex in a massage session in 2020.

The lawsuit is the 26th known filed against Watson, who is currently serving an 11-game NFL-imposed suspension for violating the league's personal conduct policy by committing sexual assault on massage therapists.

Former Houston Texans QB Watson has settled 23 of the lawsuits over the past few months, with one outstanding and one dropped.

The latest lawsuit filed on Thursday evening stated Watson "continually pressured [the plaintiff] into massaging his private area" before he "removed his towel" and "offered to let her 'get on top'." The lawsuit added that the plaintiff refused to have sex with Watson but was pressured into performing oral sex.

The plaintiff has suffered from severe depression and anxiety since the alleged incident, according to the lawsuit.

"My client's experience with Deshaun Watson follows a series of disturbingly similar encounters reported by more than 20 women who have filed suit against the NFL superstar," the woman's lawyer, Anissah Nguyen told ESPN.

"Like so many others, my client spent nearly two years struggling to cope with the shame and trauma from all that he has stolen from her and the daily pain that has become her reality.

"Knowing her story will bring on the hard conversations, criticism and even victim-blaming, the strength and bravery of these other women gave my client the courage to stand up and speak out.

"She seeks justice not only for herself and her own healing, but for the more than 20 women who refused to be shamed into silence, and the victims who have yet to come forward."

The lawsuit comes in the same week that Watson was permitted to re-enter the Browns training facility, having been banned since August 30.

The Washington Commanders snapped their four-game skid in a dour 12-7 win over the Chicago Bears at Soldier Field with Brian Robinson Jr scoring the decisive touchdown two months after being shot.

Commanders running back Robinson finished with one TD from 17 carries for 60 yards in his career-first start and second game back since being shot in the knee and glute in an attempted carjacking on August 28.

The Bears almost snatched victory with their final drive when QB Justin Fields' fourth-down pass for Darnell Mooney was completed but juggled just short of the goalline. In the previous play, Dante Pettis had dropped a Fields' throw under pressure from Darrick Forrest, although no pass interference was called.

Robinson provided the highlight in a game where no touchdowns were scored in the first half, with Joey Slye's field goal late in the second quarter snapping the scoreless deadlock.

The Bears, who fell to their third straight defeat and a 2-4 record, had taken the lead in the third quarter when Fields found Pettis in the corner. Fields completed 14 of 27 attempts for 190 yards, with one TD pass and one interception, and had 88 running yards on 12 carries.

After Slye added a 28-yard chip-shot field goal, Chicago were undone when rookie Velus Jones Jr fumbled a punt, handing the Commanders position which Robinson capitalized on in two drives.

Slye missed the chance to move the lead to eight points when he missed a 48-yard field-goal attempt inside the final two minutes, but the Bears could not capitalise.

Commanders quarterback Carson Wentz came into the game carrying a bicep injury, managing only 12 of 22 passes for 99 yards with no TDs.

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