OAKLAND, California (AP) Oakland pulled off its biggest come-from-behind victory in 16 years, recovering from a 15-point deficit in the third quarter to overrun Buffalo 38-24 on Sunday and maintain its one-game lead in the AFC West division.
Derek Carr threw for 260 yards and two touchdowns for the Raiders (10-2), who stayed in front of Kansas City (9-3), which pulled off a dramatic victory at Atlanta by intercepting a late two-point conversion attempt by the Falcons and taking it back the length of the field.
Elsewhere, Pittsburgh beat the New York Giants to retain its share of the AFC North lead along with Baltimore, which emphatically ended Miami’s long winning streak.
Oakland fell behind 24-9 following touchdowns on the first two drives of the second half for Buffalo (6-6) but then took the game over with 29 straight points and won their sixth straight.
Oakland scored touchdowns on three straight drives, including scoring strikes from Carr to Michael Crabtree and Amari Cooper for his sixth fourth-quarter comeback of the season. This was the biggest comeback for the Raiders since overcoming a 21-point deficit to Indianapolis to win 38-31 in 2000.
Kansas City snatched a memorable 29-28 victory at Atlanta to stay right on Oakland’s tail in the division race.
The Falcons (7-5), rallying from a 27-16 deficit, went ahead 28-27 on Matt Ryan’s touchdown pass to Aldrick Robinson with 4:32 remaining.
Atlanta decided to go for a 2-point conversion, looking to stretch the margin to three. But Eric Berry intercepted Ryan’s pass and ran 99 yards the other way to give the Chiefs (9-3) their winning margin. Under the new rule, a team that returns an attempted 2-point conversion to the other end zone gets two points.
Berry had another huge play with less than a minute to go in the first half, picking off Ryan’s pass and bringing it back 37 yards for a touchdown.
Pittsburgh’s Ben Roethlisberger passed for 289 yards and two touchdowns to lead the Steelers over the Giants 24-14.
Le’Veon Bell rolled up 182 yards of total offense, while tight end Ladarius Green had six receptions for 110 yards – both career highs – and a touchdown.
New York quarterback Eli Manning completed just 24 of 39 passes for 195 yards with two touchdowns and two interceptions in the red zone as the Giants’ (8-4) six-game winning run ended with a thud.
Miami’s six-game streak also came to a sudden halt with a 38-6 loss at Baltimore.
Ravens quarterback Joe Flacco threw for 381 yards and four touchdowns as the hosts overwhelmed the Dolphins (7-5) in the first half.
Baltimore (7-5) led 24-0 at halftime as Flacco completed 27 of 34 pass attempts for 258 yards and three scores over the first 30 minutes, whilst the Ravens defense yielded only 115 yards and intercepted a pass.
New England’s Tom Brady became the NFL’s career leader in victories by a quarterback, earning his 201st in a 26-10 win against Los Angeles.
Brady threw for 269 yards and a touchdown, completing 33 of 46 pass attempts, to move one win ahead of Peyton Manning.
The Patriots (10-2) have won seven of their past eight while the Rams (4-8) have lost seven of eight.
Detroit’s Matthew Stafford passed for 341 yards and two touchdowns to lead the Lions over New Orleans 28-13.
The Lions, who’ve won seven of eight, dominated statistically, but four opportunities inside the New Orleans 20 ended only in field goals, allowing the Saints (5-7) to stay close until the fourth quarter.
Golden Tate exploited a coverage breakdown on third-and-long for a 66-yard touchdown early in the fourth quarter. That allowed Detroit (8-4) to pull away from its most comfortable victory of the season; their seven previous victory margins had been by seven points or less.
It was the first time in 60 home games for the Saints that Drew Brees did not throw a touchdown pass.
Seattle’s Thomas Rawls ran for 103 yards and two touchdowns in the first half and Tyler Lockett returned an interception 75 yards for a score to open the second half as the Seahawks thrashed Carolina 40–7.
Rawls finished with 106 yards on 15 carries, quiet in the second half after briefly being checked for a concussion.
The Seahawks (8-3-1) rolled up a season-high 534 yards and kept a three-game lead in the NFC West with four remaining.
Arizona prevented Seattle from clinching the division by beating Washington 31-23, with Carson Palmer throwing for 300 yards and three touchdowns.
Tampa Bay’s Jameis Winston threw a go-ahead touchdown pass to Cameron Brate midway through the fourth quarter and Keith Tandy made an interception in the end zone with 2:56 left to give the Buccaneers a 28-21 win against San Diego and a fourth straight victory.
Green Bay’s Aaron Rodgers threw for 209 yards and two touchdowns, and the Packers pulled away with two fourth-quarter touchdowns to defeat Houston 21-13.
Denver gained ground in the AFC playoff picture by winning 20-10 at Jacksonville, with Bradley Roby returning an interception 51 yards for a touchdown.
Cincinnati’s Andy Dalton threw a pair of touchdown passes and the Bengals finally got their depleted offense moving without receiver A.J. Green and won 32-14 against Philadelphia.
Chicago handed San Francisco its 11th straight loss, with Jordan Howard running for 117 yards and a career-high three touchdowns in a 26-6 win for the Bears.
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