Kirk Cousins threw two second-half touchdown passes, including the go-ahead score to Drake London with 34 seconds remaining, to earn his first win as an Atlanta Falcon with a 22-21 comeback victory over the Philadelphia Eagles on Monday.
With his new team down 21-15 with under two minutes left, Cousins completed 5 of 6 passes on a six-play, 70-yard drive he capped with a 7-yard strike to London in the final minute. Younghoe Kim then converted a lengthy extra-point try from 48 yards out, with the distance increased due to a 15-yard penalty called on London after the touchdown, to break a 21-21 tie.
Jessie Bates sealed the win for Atlanta (1-1) by intercepting Jalen Hurts with 19 seconds left to send the partisan crowd at Philadelphia's Lincoln Financial Field home stunned.
Cousins finished with 241 yards on 20-of-29 passing in his second start since signing a four-year, $180 million contract with the Falcons in March. Darnell Mooney, another of Atlanta's offseason additions, caught a 41-yard touchdown pass from Cousins in the third quarter and ended with 88 yards on three catches.
Hurts threw for 183 yards and a touchdown and added another TD on the ground while recording 85 rushing yards. His 1-yard touchdown run on the Eagles' patented "Tush Push" quarterback sneak play gave Philadelphia (1-1) an 18-15 lead with 6:47 remaining after Saquon Barkley successfully ran in the ensuing 2-point conversion.
The Eagles appeared headed for a third straight 2-0 start after stuffing Atlanta's Bijon Robinson on a 4th-and-1 run on the following possession to get the ball back at the Falcons' 39-yard line with 5:38 to go.
Philadelphia then moved to the Atlanta 10, but Barkley dropped a short pass from Hurts on third down and the Eagles settled for Jake Elliott's 28-yard field goal and a six-point lead with 1:39 left.
Cousins responded by quickly driving the Falcons inside the Eagles' 10 with four consecutive completions, including gains of 21 and 26 yards to Mooney.
Mooney had given the Falcons a 15-10 edge late in the third quarter when he got behind Philadelphia's defence and hauled in a deep pass from Cousins for a 41-yard score. Atlanta failed to convert the resulting 2-point attempt.
The Eagles also came up empty in the red zone early in the contest, passing up a short field goal try from the Atlanta 9-yard line and throwing an incomplete pass on 4th-and-4 that kept the game scoreless after one quarter.
Atlanta opened the scoring on Koo's 39-yard field goal with 11:22 left in the second, but the Eagles answered with an 11-play, 70-yard drive culminating in Hurts' 7-yard touchdown pass to Devonta Smith.
The Falcons pulled within 7-6 at half-time after Koo's 22-yard field goal ended a 15-play series. Another Koo field goal, a 34-yard kick, put Atlanta in front early in the third quarter before Philadelphia took a 10-9 lead on Elliott's 29-yard field goal with 4:28 left in the period.
Barkley rushed for 95 yards on 22 attempts in his first home game since leaving the NFC East-rival New York Giants for the Eagles in the offseason. Robinson had 97 rushing yards for Atlanta on 14 carries.
Cousins throws for 509 yards, 4 touchdowns in Falcons' OT win over Buccaneers
Kirk Cousins passed for a career-high 509 yards and four touchdowns, the last of them a 45-yard scoring pass to KhaDarel Hodge in overtime that gave the Atlanta Falcons an improbable 36-30 victory over the Tampa Bay Buccaneers on Thursday night.
After a wild fourth quarter that featured a blocked field goal, a fumble and an interception, Cousins and the Falcons (3-2) got the ball back at their own 20 with 1:14 remaining in regulation and no timeouts, trailing 30-27.
Cousins completed five passes to push Atlanta to the Buccaneers 29, then hustled to the line to spike the ball with a single second on the clock. In all the confusion, the Falcons were called for delay of game as they lined up for a tying field goal, but it didn't cost them.
Younghoe Koo knocked it through from 52 yards to force overtime, one week after he made a 58-yarder with 2 seconds left to beat the New Orleans Saints.
The Falcons won the coin toss in overtime and made sure Baker Mayfield and the Buccaneers (3-2) didn't get their hands on the ball again. Cousins connected with Drake London on a couple of passes before throwing one over the middle to Hodge, who split the secondary and raced untouched to the end zone to end the game.
Chiefs place top wide receiver Rice on injured reserve
Kansas City Chiefs coach Andy Reid told the media Thursday the team was waiting for swelling to go down on Rashee Rice's knee before performing additional tests.
Three hours later, the Chiefs had enough information to know he'll be side-lined for at least one month.
The Chiefs placed Rice on injured reserve later Thursday, meaning he will out for a minimum of four weeks.
Rice was injured in last Sunday's 17-10 win over the Los Angeles Chargers, and it was reported he tore the anterior cruciate ligament in his right knee.
There has been no update on the extent of the injury, but a torn ACL would side-line him for the rest of the season.
The second-year receiver was injured on a bizarre play when he collided with Chiefs quarterback Patrick Mahomes, who inadvertently dove into Rice's knee as the two team-mates were attempting to tackle Chargers cornerback Kristian Fulton on an interception return.
Rice was carted off to the locker room shortly after leaving the field and eventually ruled out of the game.
His injury is the latest blow to a Kansas City team that is already without leading rusher Isiah Pacheco, who is recovering from a fractured fibula he sustained in Week 2.
It also leaves Mahomes without his top target, as Rice led the NFL with 24 receptions through this season's first three weeks.
No other Kansas City player had double-digit receptions entering Week 4, though Travis Kelce finally took on a larger role in the offence.
The veteran tight end had seven receptions for 89 yards against the Chargers after catching eight passes for 69 yards in the first three games.
Despite losing two of their top play-makers, the two-time defending Super Bowl champion Chiefs are 4-0 heading into their Week 5 Monday night game against the New Orleans Saints.
'It was a good day' - Goff proud of setting new NFL record
Jared Goff was proud of making history, as he set an NFL single-game record by completing all 18 of his pass attempts to help the Detroit Lions to victory.
The Lions beat the previously unbeaten Seattle Seahawks 42-29 on Monday, with Goff eclipsing Hall of Famer Kurt Warner's 10-for-10 performance in 2005, the previous standard for most passes in a game without an incompletion.
The quarterback threw for 292 yards, including touchdown passes to Jameson Williams and Amon-Ra St. Brown on his perfect evening, while also hauling in the latter's 7-yard toss for a touchdown in the third quarter.
That made him the first quarterback with a receiving touchdown since Zach Wilson in 2022, while he also became the first QB in NFL history with 15 or more pass attempts with no incompletions in a game.
Goff was aware that he was closing in on a perfect game, even if he had doubts at one point.
"I knew I did it in the first half last week, so I was aware of it then, and I was kind of aware of it today in the middle of the third quarter," he said.
"I couldn't think of one [incompletion], but then I threw the one out of bounds that ended up being offensive pass interference, and I was like, 'Does that count?' I didn't know if that counted or not.
"But yeah, it was a good day."
On his touchdown reception, he added: "No, I think that's my first one, too. Ever.
"And I'm saying all the way back to 7 years old, I think that's my first one."
Lions coach Dan Campbell did not realise how impressive Goff's performance had been after the game, choosing to give the game ball to Williams and safety Kerby Joseph for their strong play.
"I just gave the game ball to somebody else," Campbell laughed. "So, I feel awful right now.
"I knew he played a heck of a game. I did not realize he was perfect. I did not know he was literally 18 for 18.
"I thought what really kick-started him was that he had to move a little in the pocket, got spun around and hung with Jamo [Williams] and hit him on the hook for the first down, that was big because he was rolling after that."
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