Panthers down Texans 16-10 despite Allen’s fumbles
By KRISTIE RIEKEN
HOUSTON (AP) _ Kyle Allen threw for 232 yards and the Carolina Panthers overcame his three fumbles with help from a big defensive play late to get a 16-10 win over the Houston Texans on Sunday.
The Panthers (2-2) took a 13-10 lead with a 55-yard field goal early in the fourth quarter. The Texans (2-2) were driving with about four minutes left when Deshaun Watson was sacked by Vernon Butler, who caused a fumble that was recovered by Eric Reid at the Houston 33.
Carolina pushed the lead to 16-10 when Joey Slye added a 26-yard field goal with 31 seconds left. Houston had a chance for the win, but Deshaun Watson’s desperation throw as time expired was knocked down in the end zone by Reid.
Allen was making his third career start and second this season in place of Cam Newton, who is out with a foot injury. Allen lost the ball three times on sacks, but the Texans were only able to get points out of the last one to allow the Panthers to keep it close until their defense came through with the big play late.
Allen had four touchdown passes last week to help the Panthers to their first win against Arizona. On Sunday, he didn’t have a touchdown and relied heavily on running back Christian McCaffrey, who had 93 yards rushing and a touchdown and led the team with 86 yards receiving.
Watson threw for 160 yards on a day the Texans had trouble sustaining drives even when given a short field after turnovers.
After failing to get any points out of the first two fumbles by Allen, the Texans got to him again early in the third quarter. Houston trailed 10-3 when J.J. Watt swatted the ball out of Allen’s hand and pounced on it to give the Texans the ball on the 18-yard line. They tied it when Watson dashed into the end zone for a 1-yard touchdown with about 81/2 minutes left in quarter.
Brennan Scarlett had a strip sack of Allen on Carolina’s first possession and it was recovered by Bernardrick McKinney. But the Texans couldn’t do much on the ensuing drive, which included two sacks, and had to punt it away.
The Panthers took a 3-0 lead on a 48-yard field goal with about 21/2 minutes left in the first quarter.
Houston got its running game going on the next drive with a 25-yard run by Carlos Hyde followed by a 40-yard gain by Duke Johnson on the next play. The drive stalled after that and the Texans settled for a 37-yard field goal to tie it with about eight minutes left in the second quarter.
The Texans forced another fumble by Allen later in the second quarter on a sack by Whitney Mercilus which was recovered by Carlos Watkins. Houston was unable to capitalize on that mistake when DeAndre Hopkins threw an interception on a trick play.
The Panthers took advantage of that mistake five plays later when McCaffrey ran three yards for a touchdown to make it 10-3 with about a minute left in the first half.
INJURIES
Houston WR Kenny Stills injured his hamstring on the last play of the first quarter and didn’t return. … Carolina TE Chris Manhertz sustained a concussion early in the second half.
UP NEXT
Panthers: Host Jaguars next Sunday.
Texans: Host Falcons next Sunday.
Saints top Cowboys in 12-10 defensive struggle
By BRETT MARTEL
NEW ORLEANS (AP) _ Vonn Bell’s forced fumble and two recoveries helped the Saints stifle a Dallas offense that had rolled through its first three games,and Wil Lutz kicked four field goals to lift New Orleans to a 12-10 victory over the Cowboys on Sunday night.
Dallas came in with the NFL’s third-ranked running game, averaging 179 yards.The Cowboys met much more resistance in the Superdome, where the Saints’defensive front was bolstered by the return of defensive tackle Sheldon Rankins from an Achilles tendon tear that had sidelined him since January.
Dallas (3-1) finished with 45 yards on the ground.
Dak Prescott gave Dallas one last shot when he found Randall Cobb over the middle for 32 yards to the Dallas 48 and spiked the ball with 2 seconds left.But his desperation heave was rushed by a Saints blitz and safety Marcus Williams came down with an interception and New Orleans’ third forced turnover of the game.
Teddy Bridgewater made his second start in place of Drew Brees, who attendedthe game with a cast on his surgically repaired right thumb. Bridgewater was 23 of 30 for 193 yards and was intercepted once, albeit on an accurate pass that bounced off of Ted Ginn Jr.’s hands near midfield in the first quarter.
Ezekiel Elliot scored the game’s only touchdown in the third quarter to give Dallas a 10-9 lead, but finished with just 35 yards and his longest run was 6 yards. He was also stripped by Bell on a fourth-and-short run.
Prescott finished 22 of 33 for 223 yards.
While the Saints (3-1) could not get in the end zone, they sustained several productive drives with the help of receiver Michael Thomas, who had nine catches for 95 yards, and running back Alvin Kamara, who had 69 yards rushing and 20 yards receiving.
The Saints were in range of a field goal that could have put them ahead by five when blitzing Jaylon Smith sacked Bridgewater back at the 47-yard line, forcing New Orleans to punt, up by less than a field goal, with 1:45 to go.
Defensive tackle David Onyemata had the Saints’ only sack of Prescott on the first play of Dallas’ final drive. The Cowboys briefly recovered with a first
down, but were pushed back on Amari Cooper’s offensive pass interference call with 30 seconds left.
Dallas’ defensive end Robert Quinn had two sacks, one week after he had a sack and a career-high seven QB pressures in his Dallas debut against Miami following a two-game suspension for violating the NFL’s policy on performance enhancers.
YELLOW FEVER
Only a few days before the game, Saints coach Sean Payton mentioned that New Orleans was 12-1 with the officiating crew headed by referee Carl Cheffers that worked the game, and joked that his players better be nice. The Saints were penalized nine times for 80 yards, and a pass interference call against linebacker Damario Davis on third down extended Dallas’ first touchdown drive in the third quarter. The Cowboys were penalized six times for 64 yards.
INJURIES
Cowboys: Reserve safety Kavon Frazier left the game in the first half with a pectoral injury.
Saints: Reserve defensive end Trey Hendrickson, who entered the game leading the Saints in sacks with three, was taken to the locker room with a neck injury in the second quarter and did not return.
UP NEXT
Cowboys: Host Green Bay on Sunday.
Saints: Open NFC South play at home against Tampa Bay on Sunday.