Howard Leads Bears To OT Win, NFL Scores

By ESPN

Jordan Howard pushed through the pain in his right shoulder to give the Bears the lift they needed.

Howard scored on a 19-yard run in overtime to lead Chicago to a 23-17 victory over the Pittsburgh Steelers on Sunday.

Howard's winning score came two plays after rookie Tarik Cohen broke off an electric run for what appeared to be a 73-yard game-winning touchdown . But he was ruled out at the Pittsburgh 37. Howard took over from there and got a big assist as he ran along the left side. Deonte Thompson might have grabbed Pittsburgh's Artie Burns while pushing him out of bounds. But no flag was thrown, and the Bears (1-2) came away with a surprising victory.

"You always dream about stuff like that but it never happens so it was real crazy," Howard said. "Definitely, it was a very wacky game but through everything that happened we found a way to win."

Howard came up clutching his right shoulder -- which has bothered him since the opener -- several times and wasn't sure he would make it through this game.

He wound up with 138 of Chicago's 220 yards rushing and two touchdown runs. It was just what the Bears needed with quarterback Mike Glennon delivering another lackluster performance.

The Steelers (2-1) stayed off the sideline for the national anthem in the wake of President Donald Trump's comments that players who kneel in protest should be fired. Left tackle Alejandro Villanueva -- an Army veteran -- stood near the tunnel with his hand over his heart.

Once the game ended, they found themselves in a familiar spot -- losing to a lesser team and losing in Chicago, where they are 1-13 against the Bears.

The Steelers have had at least one head-scratching loss every year going back to 2012.

Last year, Pittsburgh fell 34-3 to Philadelphia, which finished with a losing record. In 2015, the Steelers were surging toward a playoff spot, when they lost late in the season to a Baltimore team that went 5-11.

Despite the victory, Glennon did nothing to stop the calls in Chicago for No. 2 overall draft pick Mitchell Trubisky, throwing for just 101 yards with a touchdown and interception.

Marcus Cooper committed an inexplicable fumble after the Bears blocked a field goal in the closing seconds of the half. With a clear path to the end zone, he slowed down and had the ball poked away at the 1.

But the Bears won for just the first time in nine September games over three seasons under coach John Fox.

Ben Roethlisberger blamed himself for Pittsburgh's loss.

"I think I was off today," he said after throwing for 235 yards and a touchdown. "For whatever reason, I did not make all the throws I normally would and make the plays I normally should."

Antonio Brown had 110 yards receiving and a touchdown. And Le'Veon Bell ran for 61 yards and a TD for Pittsburgh.

KEEP GOING

The Bears led 17-7 at halftime following a wild sequence in the closing seconds that included Cooper's fumble after Chicago's Sherrick McManis blocked a 35-yard field goal. After Cooper slowed down, the Steelers' Vance McDonald knocked the ball out of his hands at the 1.

With the ball bouncing in the end zone, holder Jordan Berry swatted it out the back with his right hand.

The officials initially ruled a touchback. Fox argued, and after a lengthy review, the ball was placed about a half yard from the goal line.

Chicago settled for a field goal after left tackle Charles Leno Jr. got flagged for a false start.

"It was just a mistake on my part," Cooper said. "I didn't think he was that close to me and slowed down and the guy made a great play."

Colts 31, Browns 28

Jacoby Brissett ran for two touchdowns, threw for another and the Colts defense held off Cleveland's late charge Sunday to preserve a 31-28 victory.

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.

Brissett was the primary reason for the Browns latest loss.

He started the scoring with a 5-yard TD run, broke a 7-7 tie by spinning away from pressure and scooting 7 yards for his second score and then hooked up with T.Y. Hilton on a 61-yard TD pass to make it 21-7 -- all in the first half.

Frank Gore's 4-yard scoring run made it 28-7.

Cleveland spent the rest of the game playing catch-up, but had two second-half scoring chances snuffed out by Rashaan Melvin's interceptions.

It's the best the Colts have looked this season, and it was largely because of steady progress Brissett's made since being traded from New England to Indy on Sept. 2.

After acknowledging he spent his first two weeks in Indy learning new names, new faces and a new playbook, Brissett managed to get in sync with Hilton and it made a huge difference.

Hilton caught seven passes for 153 yards. He scored on a nifty catch-and-run by cutting from the sideline across the field to take advantage of the over-pursuing safety Jabrill Peppers. And Hilton set up a second score by drawing a pass interference penalty at the Browns 11-yard line.

The Browns got a 19-yard TD run from Duke Johnson Jr. and two touchdown passes from DeShone Kizer -- a 1-yarder to David Njoku just before halftime and an 11-yarder to Kenny Britt. Kizer scored on a 1-yard plunge with 2:04 left to cut the deficit to 31-28.

Cleveland got one last chance after stopping Indy on the Browns 45. But Malik Hooker picked off Kizer's desperation heave on the game's final play.

Kizer finished 22 of 47 with 242 yards and threw three interceptions. He also ran seven times for 44 yards.

MR. 3,000

Gore ran 25 times for 57 yards and became the ninth player in NFL history to record 3,000 carries. He has 3,011, and the milestone came on his 4-yard TD run.

Sunday, September 24 Scoreboard

Jacksonville 44, Baltimore 7

Buffalo 26, Denver 16

Chicago 23, Pittsburgh 17 (OT)

Atlanta 30, Detroit 26

Indianapolis 31, Cleveland 28

Minnesota 34, Tampa Bay 17

New England 36, Houston 33

New York Jets 20, Miami 6

Philadelphia 27, New York  Giants 24

New Orleans 34,  Carolina 13

Tennessee 33, Seattle 27

Green  Bay 27, Cincinnati 24 (OT)

Kansas City 24, Los Angeles Chargers 10

Washington 27, Oakland 10

Monday, September 24 Schedule (Time Central)

Dallas at Arizona, 7:30 p.m.

Thursday, September 28 Schedule (Time Central)

Chicago at Green Bay, 7:25 p.m.

Sunday, October 1 Schedule (All Times Central)

New Orleans at Miami, 8:30 a.m.

Buffalo at Atlanta, noon

Cincinnati at Clevleand, noon

Los Angeles at Dallas, noon

Detroit at Minnesota, noon

Carolina at New England, noon

Jacksonville at New York Jets, noon

Pittsburgh at Baltimore, noon

Tennessee at Houston, noon

San  Francisco at Arizona, 3:05 p.m.

Philadelphia at Los Angeles Chargers, 3:05 p.m.

New York Giants at Tampa Bay, 3:05 p.m.

Oakland at Denver, 3:25 p.m.

Indianapolis at Seattle, 7:30 p.m.