Jake Bates’ last-gasp field goal earns Detroit Lions top spot in NFC North

Jake Bates kicked a 44-yard field goal with 15 seconds remaining as the Detroit Lions beat the Minnesota Vikings 31-29 to move top of the NFC North.

The Vikings looked set to maintain their unbeaten record when Ivan Pace returned a fumble 36 yards for a touchdown in the fourth quarter, but Jared Goff drove the Lions down the field to set up Bates for the decisive kick.

Jahmyr Gibbs had earlier rushed for two touchdowns, including one from 45 yards, as the Lions improved to 5-1.

Quarterback Geno Smith threw for 207 yards and two touchdowns as the Seattle Seahawks eased to a 34-14 victory over the Atlanta Falcons, leaving both teams with a 4-3 record.

DK Metcalf caught a 31-yard touchdown pass in the first half and had 99 yards receiving in total, but suffered a knee injury in the fourth quarter and was forced to miss the rest of the game.

Amari Cooper enjoyed a winning debut for the Buffalo Bills following his move from the Cleveland Browns, the wide receiver scoring a 12-yard touchdown with his first catch against the Tennessee Titans.

Josh Allen also threw a touchdown pass to Ty Johnson as the Bills cruised to a 34-10 win over the Titans, who failed to score a point in the second half.

Cleveland quarterback Deshaun Watson suffered an Achilles injury late in the first half as the Browns suffered a 21-14 defeat at the hands of the Cincinnati Bengals.

Watson collapsed to the turf after attempting a run to the right and was initially replaced by Dorian Thompson-Robinson, only for Thompson-Robinson to suffer a finger injury in the fourth quarter.

Third-choice quarterback Jameis Winston connected with tight end David Njoku for a fourth-quarter touchdown but an onside kick attempt failed and the Bengals held on for the win.

Brandon McManus kicked a field goal on the last play of the game to give the Green Bay Packers a 24-22 win over the Houston Texans.

McManus made no mistake from 45 yards on his debut for the franchise after the Texans had taken the lead on their previous possession thanks to Ka’imi Fairbairn’s third field goal of the game.

Texans quarterback CJ Stroud passed for just 86 yards as he came under almost constant pressure from the Packers’ defence.

Anthony Richardson passed for 129 yards and rushed for 56 on his return from injury to help the Indianapolis Colts beat the Miami Dolphins 16-10.

Richardson had missed the previous two games with an oblique injury but helped the Colts win their second straight game, with Tyler Goodson running for a score and Matt Gay kicking three field goals.

Saquon Barkley shrugged off boos from the New York Giants crowd to run 17 times for 176 yards and a touchdown as the Philadelphia Eagles cruised to a 28-3 win over Barkley’s former team.

Quarterback Jalen Hurts ran for two scores from a yard out in the second half and also hit AJ Brown with a 41-yard touchdown pass in the first half as the Eagles improved to 4-2.

Giants quarterback Daniel Jones was sacked seven times before being replaced in the fourth quarter.

The Kansas City Chiefs remain the only unbeaten team in the NFL after winning their Super Bowl rematch with the San Francisco 49ers 28-18.

Patrick Mahomes threw two interceptions but grabbed his first rushing touchdown in two years with Kareem Hunt scoring two others.

The 49ers, who drop to 3-4, lost star receiver Brandon Aiyuk with a knee injury.

A rib injury to rookie quarterback Jayden Daniels was not enough to stop the Washington Commanders from easing to a 40-7 win over the struggling Carolina Panthers.

Experienced back-up Marcus Mariota threw for two touchdown passes while Dante Fowler returned an interception 67 yards for a touchdown.

The LA Rams avoided a third straight defeat with a 20-15 win over the Las Vegas Raiders, who lost starting quarterback Aidan O’Connell to an early hand injury.

The Rams’ defence forced four turnovers from his replacement Gardner Minshew.

The Jacksonville Jaguars secured a vital 32-16 victory over the New England Patriots in front of a record 86,651 crowd at Wembley to conclude the NFL’s 2024 trilogy of London games.

New England struck first before the Jags exploded in the second quarter, scoring 22 points with no reply, including Parker Washington’s 97-yard punt return for the longest touchdown in NFL international games history.