NFL
The Times, Gainesville, Georgia | gainesvilletimes.com
Monday, December 3, 2018 4B
SAM CRAFT I Associated Press
Houston Texans quarterback Deshaun Watson (4) celebrates after rushing for a first down against the Cleveland
Browns Sunday, Dec. 2, in Houston.
Texans continue streak
Watson throws for 224 yards and a touchdown in the win
BY KRISTIE RIEKEN
Associated Press
HOUSTON — After the Houston
Texans extended their franchise
record with a ninth straight win
on Sunday, J.J. Watt was asked to
reflect on how far the team has
come in the past year.
“I was on the couch a year ago so
this is a lot better,” said Watt, who
missed the last 11 games of Hous
ton’s 4-12 2017 season with a broken
leg. “I was in a lot of pain. So it’s
good for us to be winning.”
Deshaun Watson threw a touch
down pass and the Texans inter
cepted rookie Baker Mayfield three
times, returning one for a score,
to get the 29-13 victory over the
Cleveland Browns on Sunday that
extended the streak.
The Texans (9-3), who opened the
season 0-3, haven’t lost since Sept.
23 to take a commanding lead atop
the AFC South. While they appreci
ate what they’ve done to turn things
around, they’re quick to note that
they still have plenty of work left to
do.
“It means a lot especially from
where we came from 0-3.” receiver
DeAndre Hopkins said.
Houston raced out to a 23-0 half
time lead and added two second-
half field goals by Ka’imi Fairbairn
to give him five on Sunday.
Mayfield, the top overall pick
in this year’s draft, had his worst
game of the season, throwing three
interceptions for the first time since
he was a freshman at Texas Tech
in 2013. He entered the game hav
ing thrown nine touchdown passes
with just one interception in the past
three games as the Browns (4-7-1)
won consecutive games for the first
time since 2014.
Mayfield lamented the mistakes
he made in this one.
“(If) I would’ve taken care of the
ball, this game would’ve been very
close,” he said.
He finished with 397 yards pass
ing and had a touchdown pass in
the fourth quarter after throwing a
career-best four in a win over the
Bengals last week. Houston’s fear
some pass rush, led by Watt and
Jadeveon Clowney didn’t sack May-
field, but they hurried and harassed
him for much of the day.
His interceptions all came before
halftime to help the Texans build
the big early lead.
“He probably wasn’t feeling too
dangerous in the first half, but he
was feeling a little more dangerous
in the second half,” Watt
said.
Houston was up 3-0 after
an early field goal when
Watson, who finished with
224 yards, connected with
rookie Jordan Thomas on
an 11-yard touchdown pass.
Hopkins set up that score
when he made a 24-yard
reception after T.J. Carrie
grabbed his dreadlocks in
an attempt to slow him down two
plays earlier.
Zach Cunningham made it 17-0
when he grabbed his first career
interception and ran 38 yards for a
touchdown in the second quarter.
Officials first ruled him down at the
1, but the play was reviewed and
changed to a touchdown.
Kareem Jackson was called for
a 47-yard pass interference penalty
on Cleveland’s next drive to put the
Browns at their 20. But Mayfield
threw another interception two
plays later and it was returned 18
yards by Johnathan Joseph.
Houston added another field goal
to make it 20-0 with about three min
utes left in the second quarter.
Mayfield’s third interception
came late in the second quarter
when Andre Hal grabbed the ball in
the end zone.
Lamar Miller had 103 yards rush
ing for his second straight 100-yard
game and fourth of the season and
Hopkins had seven receptions for 91
yards.
Cleveland continued to struggle in
late-season games, and the Browns
fell to 9-39 in December and Janu
ary games since 2008.
Nick Chubb got the Browns on the
board in the third quarter when his
2-yard TD run cut the lead
to 23-7 with about 9 minutes
left. Rashard Higgins had a
17-yard touchdown recep
tion in the fourth quarter,
but the 2-point conversion
failed to leave the Browns
down 29-13.
Houston added another
field goal after that before
a mistake-filled posses
sion by the Browns. First Mayfield
threw what looked to be a 76-yard
touchdown pass to rookie Antonio
Callaway, but it was brought back
because of a holding penalty by left
tackle Greg Robinson. Two plays
later, Mayfield connected with Cal
laway again and he gained 71 yards
before rookie Justin Reid chased
him down from behind and knocked
the ball out of his hands just before
he would have scored.
Watt
FALCONS
■ Continued from 1B
tough when you really are not mov
ing it and you’re letting them kind of
dictate the game. That’s a tough pill
to swallow.”
The Ravens (7-5) have bolstered
their AFC wild-card position since
Jackson took over at quarterback
for the injured Joe Flacco. The
rookie had some shaky moments —
and left for one series to be checked
for a possible concussion after get
ting hit in a head by a teammate —
but he was good enough to send the
Falcons (4-8) to their fourth straight
loss.
“I wanted to get back out on the
field and help my team win,” Jack-
son said.
Justin Tucker connected on field
goals of 41,21,45 and 47 yards.
The Falcons, mired in their lon
gest losing streak since a six-game
skid in 2015, played before thou
sands of empty seats at Mercedes-
Benz Stadium and heard plenty of
boos with the clock winding down.
“This is as challenged as we’ve
been in a while, certainly since I’ve
been here,” said Dan Quinn, in his
fourth season as the Falcons coach.
The only excitement was pro
vided by defensive end Vic Beasley,
who picked up a fumble after Grady
Jackson knocked the ball loose
from Jackson. Beasley took off on a
74-yard return, huffing and puffing
toward the end but finding enough
energy to spike the ball over the
goalposts, giving the Falcons a short
lived 10-7 lead. The Ravens tied it
up before halftime and dominated
the final two quarters, outgaining
Atlanta 193-44.
The Falcons finally scored their
lone offensive touchdown on Ryan’s
1-yard touchdown pass to Austin
Hooper with 4:18 remaining, getting
a big assist from a pass interference
penalty.
RAVENS’ OTHER ROOKIE
Baltimore continued to get good
production out of rookie running
back Gus Edwards, who followed
up two straight 100-yard perfor
mances by grinding out 82 yards on
21 carries.
Edwards is an undrafted player
out of Rutgers who spent the first
five games on Baltimore’s practice
squad.
An injury to Alex Collins, whose
season ended Saturday when he
was put on the reserve list, opened
the door for the 238-pound Edwards.
He’s sure taken advantage of his
opportunity.
INJURY REPORT
Ravens: Jackson missed one
series in the third quarter, clear
ing the way for Robert Griffin III to
get his first significant playing time
since 2016. Griffin went 2 of 4 for 21
yards, guiding the Ravens to a field
goal before Jackson returned to the
field. Also, G Alex Lewis left with a
shoulder injury.
Falcons: TE Logan Paulsen went
out in the second quarter with a
knee injury.
UP NEXT
Falcons: Travel to Green Bay to
face the slumping Packers, knowing
they must win their final four games
just to avoid their first losing season
since 2014.
REY DEL RIO I Associated Press
Los Angeles Rams running back Todd Gurley (30) pushes Detroit
Lions cornerback Darius Slay (23) during the game, Sundayin
Detroit.
Rams beat Lions,
clinch NFC West
Associated Press
DETROIT — Todd Gur
ley ran for 132 yards and two
touchdowns to help the Los
Angeles Rams overcome a sput
tering start to beat the Detroit
Lions 30-16 Sunday and clinch
the NFC West title for a second
straight season.
The Rams (11-1) also moved
a step closer to earning home-
field advantage in the NFC
playoffs, taking a one-game
lead over New Orleans after
it lost to Dallas on Thursday
night. It is a cushion Los Ange
les needs because its only loss
was against the Saints last
month.
The Lions (4-8) have lost five
of six since a surge of success
gave them a winning record in
late October.
Detroit’s defense held Los
Angeles’ high-powered offense
in check for three quarters, giv
ing the slumping team a shot to
potentially pull off a stunning
upset. The Lions, though, failed
to make the most of the oppor
tunity because their offense
struggled to move the
ball and score.
Aaron Donald
helped seal the win
by forcing Matthew
Stafford to fumble
midway through the
fourth quarter. The star
defensive tackle had
two strip-sacks in his
last game on Nov. 19, a
54-51 win over Kansas City.
The Rams were able to lean
on Gurley, who has a single
season franchise record with 15
rushing touchdowns. The stand
out running back also caught
three passes for 33 yards.
GIANTS 30, BEARS 27
EAST RUTHERFORD,
N.J. — Aldrick Rosas kicked
a 44-yard field goal in overtime
and the Giants beat NFC North
leading Chicago, snapping
the Bears’ five-game winning
streak.
The Giants (4-8) blew a
10-point lead in the final 1:13
of regulation. They didn’t
nail down the win until Jano-
ris Jenkins knocked away
a deep fourth-down pass to
Taylor Gabriel after quarter
back Chase Daniel fumbled
on consecutive plays on the
rainy afternoon to set up a
fourth-and-8.
Chicago (8-4) forced over
time by getting a 21-yard field
goal by Cody Parkey and a
1-yard touchdown pass from
halfback Tarik Cohen to
Anthony Miller as time expired
in the fourth quarter. The trick-
play touchdown was set up by a
recovered onside kick by Dan
iel Brown on a play Giants star
receiver Odell Beckham Jr. did
not dive for the loose ball. Then
came a questionable pass inter
ference call in the end zone
against cornerback B.W. Webb
with :03 to go.
JAGUARS 6, COLTS 0
JACKSONVILLE, Fla. —
Jalen Ramsey and the Jaguars
delivered one of the most domi
nant defensive performances
in franchise history. The Jag
uars (4-8) needed that kind of
effort to make up for a lack
luster offense and end a seven-
game losing streak. They also
snapped Indy’s five-
game winning streak.
Ramsey was the best
of the bunch, helping
hold T.Y. Hilton to six
catches for 56 yards.
Ramsey also made a
game-ending tackle
on Erik Swoope with 8
seconds remaining.
Ramsey hit Swoope
near the sideline at
the end of a third-and-6 play
at the Jacksonville 29, and the
tight end seemed to land out of
bounds. But an official ruled
him in and kept the clock run
ning. The Colts were out of
timeouts and could only watch
the clock wind down.
Andrew Luck completed 33
of 52 passes for 248 yards and
an interception. He was sacked
three times after getting hit just
five times in the entire month
of November.
CHIEFS 40, RAIDERS 33
OAKLAND, Calif. — Pat
rick Mahomes threw four
touchdown passes to join Pey
ton Manning and Tom Brady as
the only QBs to reach the 40 TD
mark through 12 games.
Donald
McCarthy fired following
Packers loss to Cardinals
BY GENARO C. ARMAS
Associated Press
GREEN BAY, Wis. — The
Green Bay Packers have fired
coach Mike McCarthy and
made offensive coordinator Joe
Philbin the interim head coach.
The move announced by
team president Mark
Murphy came after a
stunning 20-17 loss on
Sunday to the Arizona
Cardinals, dropping
Green Bay to 4-7-1.
Murphy, in a state
ment, said the 2018 sea
son “has not lived up to
the expectations and
standards of the Green
Bay Packers. As a
result, I made the difficult deci
sion to relieve Mike McCarthy
of his role as head coach, effec
tive immediately.”
Murphy said the process
of hiring the next head coach
would begin immediately.
McCarthy was in his 13th sea
son as coach. The Packers won
the Super Bowl under McCar
thy in the 2010 season. He fin
ishes with a record of 125-77-2.
“Mike has been a terrific
head coach and leader of the
Packers for 13 seasons, during
which time we experienced a
great deal of success on and off
the field,” Murphy said.
But this is a third straight
year in which Green Bay has
had extended struggles.
In 2016, the Packers started
4-6, then won eight straight
games to get to the NFC title
game, losing to the Atlanta Fal
cons. Green Bay finished 7-9
and missed the playoffs in 2017,
when Aaron Rodgers missed
extensive time with a broken
collarbone.
McCarthy shook up his
coaching staff, including bring
ing Philbin back as
offensive coordinator
and hiring Mike Pet-
tine to replace Dom
Capers as defensive
coordinator. Different
problems emerged.
This year, Rodgers
hurt his left knee in the
season opener, though
he is feeling better
now. Receivers Randall Cobb
and Geronimo Allison have
missed time with injuries. The
same issues kept popping up
for the offense, most glaringly,
empty third downs and a lack of
explosive plays.
Rodgers was asked after the
game — but before McCarthy’s
firing was announced — how
much blame offensive players
should get if the Packers made
a coaching change after the
season.
“Yeah, a lot probably. We
haven’t played very well,” Rod
gers said. “We all take part in
the disappointments and the
failures that we’ve had this
season. We’ve had a number of
opportunities. It’s not like we’re
getting blown out in a bunch of
games. We’re in games.”
McCarthy
