Record 5 NFL games end on FGs as time expires

SEATTLE — Jason Myers sent the Seattle Seahawks to a 29-26 win over the Washington Commanders on Sunday at Lumen Field when he hit a 43-yard field goal in the final seconds.

That kick also sent Week 10 of the NFL season into the record books.

The Seahawks’ win over Washington was the fifth game of the day that was decided on a made field goal as time expired, joining the Cleveland Browns over the Baltimore Ravens, the Houston Texans over the Cincinnati Bengals, the Arizona Cardinals over the Atlanta Falcons and the Detroit Lions over the Los Angeles Chargers.

According to Elias Sports Bureau research, the five matchups decided by a game-winning score as time expired in regulation was the most on a single day in NFL history. The previous record was three such games, which happened several times.

The Browns trailed for 59 minutes and 20 seconds before Dustin Hopkins‘ 40-yard field goal secured them a 33-31 win. According to ESPN Stats & Information, no other team this millennium has won while trailing for that long in a game. Cleveland also became just the fourth team in the Super Bowl era to win after trailing in the opening minute and not leading until the final minute of regulation, according to Elias.

“No one ducked their head or shied away from the moment,” Browns defensive end Myles Garrett said. “We have been here before, and we knew exactly how to fight back in this game. Everybody was relentless.”

After Detroit’s Amon-Ra St. Brown recorded a career-best 156 receiving yards — his fourth straight game with at least 100 — Riley Patterson hit a 41-yard field goal to give the Lions a 41-38 win. They improved to 7-2 for only the second time in the past 30 seasons.

“You win close games, low-scoring games, but to win a shootout, this is one of those things we haven’t done a lot of — is win the close shootout,” Lions coach Dan Campbell said. “So, I think every time you win it, no matter how you have to get it done, you learn from it and you gain something out of it. The good and the bad.”

C.J. Stroud‘s return to Ohio was in danger of being ruined when the Texans lost their 10-point fourth-quarter lead. But after the Bengals tied the game at 27-27 with 1:37 left, Stroud led a six-play, 55-yard drive to set up Matt Ammendola‘s 38-yard winner.

The Texans signed Ammendola earlier this week after Ka’imi Fairbairn landed on injured reserve.

Sunday marked quarterback Kyler Murray‘s first game since tearing his ACL last December, but 39-year-old kicker Matt Prater stole the show in the Cardinals’ 25-23 win. Murray led an 11-play, 70-yard drive to set up Prater’s 23-yard winner. He made three other field goals — from 51, 46 and 56 yards out.

“Let’s go score,” center Hjalte Froholdt said of the Cardinals’ mindset when they took over on their final drive. “In a perfect situation for us. We were down by two, so, luckily we got Matt, who’s got a hell of an old leg, straight power. It’s always nice to feel like, ‘OK, we just need to get in field goal range,’ which is basically about the 50 for him.”

All four of those games were over when Myers and the Seahawks capped a wild Sunday in Seattle and across the NFL.

Geno Smith and Sam Howell traded 10-play touchdown drives, leaving the score tied at 26-26 with 1:02 remaining. Smith, who has come under fire of late for his shaky play, went 4-of-6 for 50 yards to set up Myers’ winner. Two of his completions went to DK Metcalf for gains of 27 and 17 yards, and one of his incompletions was a spike.

The Seahawks needed Myers to deliver on a day in which Smith and their offense were up-and-down before the final two drives, and he did. Before his winning kick, Myers hit from 45, 43, 33 and 45 yards out.

“He’s the real deal, and he’s a great kicker, and shoot, he showed you again today,” Seahawks coach Pete Carroll said. “It doesn’t mean everybody hits everything forever. They go up and down and they have a couple misses here and there and then you fight your way back to who you are, and he’s a fantastic player.”

ESPN’s Jake Trotter, Eric Woodyard and Josh Weinfuss contributed to this report.

Source: www.espn.com