Sunday's NFL: Brady rallies New England past Houston

Foxborough, Mass. — Brandin Cooks started his day by being booed. He ended it with one of the biggest moments of his short Patriots tenure.

Cooks was on the receiving end of a 25-yard, toe-tapping touchdown pass from Tom Brady with 23 seconds left in the game as the Patriots rallied to beat the Texans 36-33.

Brady finished with five TD throws. Cooks caught five passes for 131 yards and a pair of scores. It was the fifth multi-touchdown game and eighth 100-yard game of his career.

Brady finished 25 of 35 for 378 yards as New England (2-1) won its fifth straight regular-season meeting with Houston (1-2) and seventh of eight overall.

“I think no matter how you get it, you’ve got to figure out how to win the game,” Brady said.

Texans rookie Deshaun Watson was strong in his second career start, completing 22 of 33 passes for 301 yards and two touchdowns.

But he did have two interceptions, including one that set up a New England first-half touchdown.

“It was really painful. That’s all I can really say about that,” Watson said.

The Patriots extended their halftime lead to 28-20 in the third quarter before Houston used a 12-yard TD pass from Watson to Ryan Griffin, and a 31-yard Ka’imi Fairbairn field goal to edge back in front 30-28 early in the fourth quarter.

(At) Green Bay 27, Cincinnati 24 (OT): Mason Crosby kicked a 27-yard field goal with 6:26 left in overtime set up by Aaron Rodgers’ 72-yard pass to Geronimo Allison, and Crosby’s kick completed the Packers’ comeback from a 21-7 halftime deficit.

On third-and-10 from his 21, Rodgers took advantage of yet another free play after defensive end Michael Johnson was whistled for offside. Officials let the play continue and the two-time NFL MVP found Allison on about a 40-yard pass before the receiver beat a couple of defenders for more yards.

Crosby took care of the rest for the Packers (2-1).

The winless Bengals (0-3) won the toss in overtime but went three-and-out on their opening drive.

(At) Chicago 23, Pittsburgh 17 (OT): Jordan Howard scored on a 19-yard run in overtime to lead the Bears.

Howard’s winning score came two plays after Tarik Cohen broke off what appeared to be an electric 73-yard touchdown run. He was ruled out at the Pittsburgh 37, but Howard took over from there and the Bears came away with a surprising victory.

Howard had 138 of Chicago’s 220 yards rushing, making up for a lackluster performance by quarterback Mike Glennon.

(At) Tennessee 33, Seattle 27: Marcus Mariota threw for 225 yards and two touchdowns, and the Titans scored 21 straight points in rallying to beat the Seahawks.

Pro Bowl running back DeMarco Murray rushed for 115 yards, including a 75-yard TD run . Ryan Succop also kicked four field goals as Tennessee (2-1) scored at least 30 points for a second straight week.

The Seahawks (1-2) finally scored a bunch of touchdowns with Russell Wilson throwing for 373 yards and four TDs. His second TD, a 10-yarder to Chris Carson, put Seattle up 14-9 in the third quarter.

New Orleans 34, (at) Carolina 13: Drew Brees shredded the league’s top-ranked defense, throwing for 220 yards and three touchdowns as the Saints defeated the previously unbeaten Panthers.

Brees led six scoring drives and threw TD passes to Michael Thomas, Brandon Coleman and ex-Panthers wide receiver Ted Ginn Jr. as the Saints avoided an 0-3 start. Rookie Alvin Kamara put the game away with a 25-yard TD run with 4:42 left.

Kansas City 24, (at) L.A. Chargers 10: Alex Smith threw two touchdown passes in the first 9 ½ minutes against what used to be his hometown team, Terrance Mitchell had two interceptions and rookie Kareem Hunt scored on a 69-yard run to seal the Chiefs’ victory.

The Chiefs (3-0) beat the Chargers for the seventh straight time and have won 12 straight AFC West games.

Los Angeles’ Philip Rivers threw three interceptions and the Chargers fell to 0-3 in their first season playing in the 27,000-seat StubHub Center after moving from San Diego.

(At) Washington 27, Oakland 10: Kirk Cousins threw for 365 yards and three touchdowns, Chris Thompson had 188 all-purpose yards and a score and Washington sacked Derek Carr four times and held the Raiders to 128 yards in a dominating victory.

Cousins (Michigan State) was a spectacular 25-of-30, including TD passes to Thompson, Vernon Davis and a 52-yarder to Josh Doctson. Thompson had 150 yards receiving and 38 yards rushing, joining Jamaal Charles as the only running backs to put up 150 yards receiving against the Raiders (2-1) since they moved to Oakland in 1995.

Thompson was again a difference maker and has four of Washington’s seven offensive touchdowns this season. The Redskins (2-1), who piled up 472 yards, improved to 4-6 in prime-time games under coach Jay Gruden and tied the Philadelphia Eagles for first place in the NFC East.

(At) N.Y. Jets 20, Miami 6: Josh McCown threw a 69-yard touchdown pass to Robby Anderson, Bilal Powell ran for a score, and the Jets’ defense dominated Jay Cutler and the Dolphins.

McCown finished 18 of 23 for 249 yards, Chandler Catanzaro kicked two field goals, and the Jets (1-2) forced Cutler and the Dolphins (1-1) into mistakes all game. The Jets also avoided their first 0-3 start since 2003.

Jacksonville 44, Baltimore 7: At London, Marcedes Lewis caught three of Blake Bortles’ four touchdown passes for the Jaguars.

Allen Hurns and Leonard Fournette also scored for the Jaguars (2-1), who have won each of their last three games played at the venue.

The Ravens (2-1) managed just 186 yards of total offense, including minus-1 yard in the first quarter.

They managed 15 yards in the first half, and picked up only 12 first downs.

(At) Indianapolis 31, Cleveland 28: Jacoby Brissett ran for two touchdowns, threw for another and the Colts held off Cleveland’s late charge.

Brissett, acquired in a trade with New England earlier this month, looked much more comfortable in his second start, going 17 of 24 with 259 yards and running five times for 14 yards. Indy (1-2) avoided its first 0-3 start in six years.

Cleveland (0-3) lost its 15th consecutive road game despite being favored for the first time since 2015 and a road favorite for the first time since 2012.

(At) Buffalo 26, Denver 16: Tyrod Taylor threw two touchdowns and the Bills (2-1) intercepted Trevor Siemian twice in the final 19 minutes.

Taylor went 20 of 26 for 213 yards with a 2-yard touchdown to Andre Holmes and a 6-yarder to Charles Clay.

Taylor got lucky on the touchdown pass to Holmes, as the ball deflected off the hands of Zay Jones and bounced directly to Holmes in the back of the end zone.