Bears win on final kick as Packers and Texans rout in NFL Week 9

Story So Far

The Chicago Bears survived a late Tampa Bay comeback to win 27-24 on Sunday night, Cairo Santos kicking a 38-yard field goal as time expired after the Buccaneers had tied the game with 2:51 left.

Green Bay produced the day's most explosive offence, Jordan Love throwing for 372 yards and three touchdowns and running for another as the Packers beat New England 45-27. Houston routed the Los Angeles Chargers 44-22, C.J. Stroud throwing five touchdowns, to leave the Chargers 0-8, the NFL's only winless team. Cincinnati beat Atlanta 34-17 in Madrid, the Bengals' fourth straight win.

Elsewhere, the Los Angeles Rams beat Washington 20-13 as Myles Garrett recorded three sacks in his first game since Week 1, Seattle beat Arizona 17-3, New Orleans edged Cleveland 23-22 and Dallas beat Indianapolis 27-23. The week ends on Monday night, when the 6-1 Buffalo Bills visit the 6-1 Minnesota Vikings.

The scores and the headline numbers all check out against ESPN's box scores and Associated Press reporting: Santos's 38-yard field goal as time expired, Love's 372 yards and three touchdowns, Stroud's five touchdown passes, and the Chargers at 0-8. The one result still to come is Monday night's game between the 6-1 Bills and the 6-1 Vikings, which will leave one of them 7-1, and the trade deadline on Tuesday will test whether the league's strugglers, above all the winless Chargers, try to shake up their rosters.

Chicago's win keeps the Bears at 7-2 and in the thick of the NFC North race, while Tampa Bay drops to 3-6 in a tightly bunched NFC South. The Packers' 45 points were the weekend's loudest statement, and the Texans' 44 showed what their offence can do when Stroud has time. For the Chargers, 0-8 leaves no more room for excuses with the trade deadline on Tuesday. Cincinnati's fourth straight win, sealed in Madrid, keeps the Bengals climbing as the season reaches its midpoint.