Sep 22, 2014 7 min read

The Baltimore Ravens aren’t letting anything distract them from winning.

While there are still questions about how their handling of Ray Rice’s case, it’s clear the Ravens haven’t changed on the field.

With Rice’s troubling situation lingering over them, they pulled off a comeback win Sunday as Justin Tucker kicked a 32-yard field goal as time expired to give Baltimore a 23-21 win over the Cleveland Browns.

Tucker’s boot capped another challenging week for the Ravens (2-1), who continue to be dogged by their management of Rice’s domestic violence arrest and suspension.

But for the second straight game, the Ravens blocked out any external noise and knocked off another division rival.

Ravens coach John Harbaugh is impressed with his team’s ability to focus on the task at hand.

“The best way to silence it (distractions) is handle it with class,” he said. “There’s always going to be in life, challenges and attacks and consequences and all those kinds of things that we’ll talk about I’m sure probably this week and ongoing forever. You just gotta stand up, be accountable and be who you are and try to stand for the right things.

“And our guys do that.”

Joe Flacco set up Tucker’s game-winner with a 32-yard pass to Steve Smith with 1:28 left. Smith beat Pro Bowl cornerback Joe Haden before hauling in Flacco’s pass and taking it to Cleveland’s 13. The Ravens ran the clock down before bringing in Tucker, who split the uprights and sent the Browns (1-2) to another tough loss.

Cincinnati 33, Tennessee 7: Andy Dalton caught a touchdown pass, the first Bengals quarterback to pull off that feat, as Cincinnati stayed undefeated on Sunday, beating Tennessee 33-7 a few hours after the Titans got sad news. The Bengals (3-0) head into their bye week with their best start in eight years.

A few hours before kickoff, the Titans (1-2) learned that kicker Rob Bironas had died overnight in a one-car crash in Nashville. He’d been released in March after his ninth season with Tennessee.

Philadelphia 37, Washington 34: Rookie Jordan Matthews, the receiver who replaced DeSean Jackson in Philadelphia, caught two touchdown passes, and the Eagles beat Jackson and his Washington Redskins 37-34 in a nasty game marred by a fourth-quarter brawl.

Jackson had his own big play, an 81-yard TD that tied it at 27. But it was not enough to offset Matthews and Jeremy Maclin, whose 27-yard scoring reception gave Philadelphia (3-0) the lead. Rookie Cody Parkey’s third field goal, a 51-yarder with 5:55 remaining, put the game out of reach.

The game was slowed by several injuries and disrupted by a sideline brawl with about 10 minutes remaining. Eagles quarterback Nick Foles was blindsided by Chris Baker during an apparent interception return by Bashaud Breeland. Baker and Philly left tackle Jason Peters were ejected.

Dallas 34, St. Louis 31: Terrance Williams scored the go-ahead touchdown late in the fourth quarter, and Bruce Carter returned an interception 25 yards for a TD on the next snap, capping the Dallas Cowboys’ comeback from a 21-0 deficit to stun the St. Louis Rams 34-31 on Sunday.

DeMarco Murray’s 1-yard run late in the first half began the rally for Dallas (2-1). Dez Bryant caught a 68-yard scoring pass in the third quarter, and Carter’s first career interception and touchdown came not long after he was evaluated for concussion-like symptoms on the bench.

New Orleans 20, Minnesota 9: Drew Brees passed for 293 yards and two touchdowns, and the New Orleans Saints won for the first time this season, 20-9 over the Minnesota Vikings.

For the Vikings, the loss capped a week of distractions as the club first announced that star running back Adrian Peterson would play, then later changed course and said Peterson would leave the team indefinitely to deal with child abuse allegations.

Minnesota then lost starting quarterback Matt Cassel with a toe injury early in the second quarter.

Indianapolis 44, Jacksonville 17: Andrew Luck threw four touchdown passes three of them in a lopsided first half and the Indianapolis Colts dominated the Jacksonville Jaguars 44-17 for their first win of the season. It was a home opener to forget for the Jaguars (0-3), who trailed 30-0 at the break and benched quarterback Chad Henne.

Detroit 19, Green Bay 7: Don Carey returned a fumble 40 yards for a touchdown, and Detroit’s defensive front smothered Green Bay, leading the Lions to a 19-7 victory over Aaron Rodgers and the Packers.

The Lions (2-1) came into the game with a secondary decimated by injuries, but that didn’t much matter with Rodgers under constant pressure. He was sacked twice and threw for only 162 yards, and Green Bay (1-2) wasn’t any better running the ball.

San Diego 22, Buffalo 10: Philip Rivers threw two touchdown passes to Eddie Royal in leading the San Diego Chargers to a 22-10 win over the Buffalo Bills.

Malcom Floyd had two catches for 98 yards, and the Chargers overcame the loss of running back Danny Woodhead, who hurt his right ankle in the first quarter. Donald Brown stepped in and finished with 31 carries for 62 yards and five catches for 27 yards.

N.Y. Giants 30, Houston 17: Rashad Jennings ran for a career-high 176 yards and a touchdown and Eli Manning threw two TD passes as the New York Giants overcame some early mistakes and beat the suddenly error-prone Houston Texans 30-17.

The victory not only put some life back into the Giants (1-2) after two disappointing efforts, it also ended any chance of a second straight 0-6 start for Tom Coughlin’s team.

Seattle 26, Denver 20, OT: Marshawn Lynch scored on a 6-yard TD run on the first possession of overtime and the Seattle Seahawks beat the Denver Broncos 26-20 in a Super Bowl rematch that lived up to expectations.

Seattle (2-1) blew a 17-3 fourth-quarter lead, watching Denver tie the game at 20 on Peyton Manning’s 26-yard touchdown pass to Jacob Tamme with 18 seconds left in regulation and his 2-point conversion pass to Demaryius Thomas.

New England 16, Oakland 9: Tom Brady threw a touchdown pass, Stephen Gostkowski kicked three field goals and the sluggish New England Patriots held on to beat the Oakland Raiders 16-9 when defensive tackle Vince Wilfork intercepted a pass near his goal line.

Darren McFadden’s potential tying touchdown run was nullified by a holding penalty. A play later, Wilfork grabbed the ball when Logan Ryan jarred it loose from intended receiver Denarius Moore with 51 seconds left.

Arizona 23, San Francisco 14: Drew Stanton threw a pair of third-quarter touchdown passes to rookie John Brown and Arizona rallied to beat San Francisco 23-14, snapping a four-game losing streak to the 49ers.

Tommy Kelly blocked a field goal for the Cardinals (3-0), who outscored San Francisco 17-0 in the second half.

Kansas City 34, Miami 15: Alex Smith shook off five sacks to throw three touchdown passes and help the Kansas City Chiefs earn their first victory by beating the Miami Dolphins 34-15.

Smith led touchdown drives of 62, 76 and 66 yards in a span of four possessions as Kansas City took leads of 14-0 and 21-10.