The Latest: Afternoon of routs followed by close calls

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Houston Texans quarterback Deshaun Watson (4) celebrates after an NFL football game against the Jacksonville Jaguars at Wembley Stadium, Sunday, Nov. 3, 2019, in London. The Houston Texans won 26-3. (AP Photo/Ian Walton)

The Latest on Week 11 in the NFL (all times EST):

8:10 p.m.

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An NFL afternoon of blowouts was followed by three nail-biting finishes.

The AFC-leading New England Patriots were assured of their 19th consecutive winning season following a 17-10 win over the Philadelphia Eagles in a rematch of the 2018 Super Bowl.

The NFC-leading San Francisco 49ers scored twice in the final minute, including a fumble return for a touchdown on the final play, to pull out a 36-26 win over the Arizona Cardinals.

And the Oakland Raiders hung on for a 17-10 win over the Cincinnati Bengals, who dropped to 0-10 and became the NFL’s first team mathematically eliminated from playoff contention.

The closely contested late-afternoon games followed an early afternoon series of routs featuring six decided by 17 or more points.

The tightest game featured Minnesota overcoming a 20-point first-half deficit to pull out a 27-23 win over Denver. Dallas also hung on to beat Detroit 35-27.

In other games, Lamar Jackson threw four touchdowns passing in Baltimore’s 41-7 win over Houston.

Josh Allen threw three touchdowns passing and scored another rushing in Buffalo’s 37-20 win over Miami.

The other results were:

Indianapolis 33, Jacksonville 13

Atlanta 29, Carolina 3

New Orleans 34, Tampa Bay 17

N.Y. Jets 34, Washington 17

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7:55 p.m.

The New England Patriots are assured of their NFL record 19-consecutive winning season after improving to 9-1 with a 17-10 win over the Philadelphia Eagles.

The Patriots streak ranks tied for seven among North America’s four professional sports, matching the NBA’s Utah Jazz, who enjoyed a 19-year streak of winning seasons from 1985-86 to 2003-04).

Patriots receiver Julian Edelman threw a go-ahead 15-yard touchdown pass to Phillip Dorsett on the opening drive of the third quarter.

The game was a rematch of the 2018 Super Bowl, which the Eagles won 41-33 at Minnesota.

This meeting was more of a defensive struggle with the teams combined for just 553 yards offense. That’s a considerable drop-off from the last meeting when the tow combined for Super Bowl record of 1,151 net yards.

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7:40 p.m.

The Cincinnati Bengals dropped to 0-10 and became the NFL's first team this season to be eliminated from playoff contention following a 17-10 loss at the Oakland Raiders.

The game was decided with 1:17 remaining when rookie quarterback Ryan Finley's deep pass was intercepted by Trayvon Mullen at the Bengals 36.

Oakland quarterback Derek Carr had a touchdown passing and scored on a 3-yard run in a game the Raiders overcame an early 7-0 deficit.

7:25 p.m.

Jimmy Garoppolo hit Jeff Wilson for a go-ahead 25-yard touchdown pass with 31 seconds remaining, and Damontre Moore forced a fumble to secure the San Francisco 49ers a 36-26 victory.

The teams traded leads five times in the second half. Moore forced a fumble by KeeSean Johnson on the first snap from scrimmage following Wilson’s touchdown.

The Cardinals got the ball back with 6 seconds remaining, and the game ended safety D.J. Reed returning a fumble 4 yards for a touchdown on the final play.

San Francisco overcame a 16-0- first-half deficit and improved to 9-1 and bounced back after a 27-24 overtime loss to Seattle.

Garoppolo finished 34 of 45 for 424 yards passing, with four touchdowns and two interceptions.

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7:10 p.m.

Cincinnati Bengals wide receiver Auden Tate has been carted off the field after taking a hard hit to the back of the head while making a catch in the fourth quarter against Oakland.

Tate had just caught a 20-yard pass from quarterback Ryan Finley to give the Bengals a first down when he was hit hard from behind by Raiders safety Curtis Riley. Tate stayed down for several moments as players from both sides kneeled.

Tate was able to raise his hand after being placed on a stretcher and carted to the locker room. Oakland cornerback Daryl Worley walked over to Tate and tapped him before the cart drove away.

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6:30 p.m.

Julian Edelman has one more touchdown pass than Tom Brady in putting the New England Patriots up 17-10 on the Philadelphia Eagles.

Edelman capped the Patriots’ opening drive of the second half taking Tom Brady’s pitch and hitting Phillip Dorsett for a 15-yard touchdown. James White than scored on a two-point conversion to put the AFC-leading Patriots up 17-10.

It was Edelman’s second career touchdown pass. He hit Danny Amendola for a 51-yard touchdown in New England’s 35-31 win over Baltimore a 2015 AFC Division championship game.

Brady is 16 of 32 for 156 yards.

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6:15 p.m.

The Philadelphia Eagles soft pass defense is holding firm against Tom Brady and the New England Patriots.

Brady has been limited to going 11 of 25 for 103 yards passing and the Patriots have settled for scoring three field goals in trailing Philadelphia 10-9 at the half. All three field goals came on drives that stalled inside the Eagles 21.

Philadelphia entered the game with the NFL’s 17th ranked pass defense.

The Eagles went ahead 10-0 on Carson Wentz’s 5-yard touchdown pass to Dallas Goedert and Jake Elliott’s 42-yard field goal. The game is a rematch of the 2018 Super Bowl, which the Eagles won 41-33.

Both teams are coming off their bye weeks.

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6 p.m.

Jimmy Garoppolo’s 5-yard touchdown pass to tight end Ross Dwelley on the opening drive of the second half has the San Francisco 49ers pulling ahead 17-16 on the Arizona Cardinals.

San Francisco overcame a 16-0 first-half deficit after Kyler Murry went 15 of 21 for 108 yards and two touchdowns.

The NFC-leading 49ers opened 8-0 before a 27-24 overtime loss to Seattle last week.

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5:50 p.m.

Derek Carr’s first rushing touchdown of the season has the Oakland Raiders leading the winless Cincinnati Bengals 14-7 at the half.

Carr scored by sidestepping numerous Bengals defenders before leaping head first across the goal line from 3 yards out with 1:37 left. Carr finished the half 14 of 15 for 151 yards passing, including a 2-yard touchdown to tight end Foster Moreau.

The Bengals opened the scoring on Joe Mixon’s 3-yard run. Cincinnati kicker Randy Bullock closed the half by missing a 53-yard field goal attempt wide left.

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5:25 p.m.

Close games might have been the norm through the first 10 weeks of the NFL season.

Week 11 is bucking the trend with six of eight early afternoon games decided by 17 or more points, and following the Cleveland Browns 21-7 win over Pittsburgh on Thursday night.

The league entered the week with 77 games decided by seven points or less, which marked the second-most in league history through 10 weeks.

The closest game of the day featured the Vikings overcoming a 20-point first-half deficit for a 27-23 win over the Denver Broncos. It marked the 37th time this season a team has overcome a fourth-quarter deficit — four of those wins coming against Denver.

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5:10 p.m.

John Brown’s 137 yards receiving in Buffalo’s 37-20 win over the Miami Dolphins are the most by a Bills player in nearly three years, and the third-best total of his six-year career.

Brown scored twice on nine catches. And his yardage total was the most since Sammy Watkins had 154 yards in a 34-31 loss to Miami on Dec. 24, 2016.

He’s upped his team-leading total to 817 yards receiving, which is already the most by a Bills player since Watkins finished the 2015 season with 1,047.

Brown is an offseason free-addition who has now topped 100 yards twice this season. He has 123 yards in a season-opening win at the New York Jets.

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4:45 p.m.

Lamar Jackson and the Baltimore Ravens are making a claim to be the AFC's top team after rolling over the Houston Texans.

Jackson finished 17 of 24 for 222 yards and four touchdowns and added another 86 yards rushing in a 41-7 win by thoroughly outplaying Texans starter Deshaun Watson.

In winning their sixth straight, the Ravens improved to 8-2 by topping 30 points for the fourth straight game and fifth time this season.

Their rout highlighted an early afternoon slate of blowouts, with six of eight games decided by 17 or more points.

The Atlanta Falcons, coming off a 26-9 win over New Orleans, stunned Carolina by beating the Panthers 29-3.

The Saints bounced back with a 34-17 win over NFC South rival Tampa Bay.

The Buffalo Bills improved to 7-3 to match their best start since 1999 with a 37-20 win at Miami.

Jacoby Brissett's return led Indianapolis to a 33-13 win over Jacksonville, in Nick Foles' return as the Jaguars' starter.

Sam Darnold saw no ghosts by throwing a career-best four touchdowns in leading the New York Jets to a 34-17 win over Washington.

In Minnesota, the Vikings overcame a 20-0 first-half deficit by scoring touchdowns on each of their four second-half possessions to pull out a 27-23 win over Denver, which squandered a fourth-quarter lead for the fourth time this season.

In Detroit, Dak Prescott went 29 of 46 for 444 yards and three touchdowns in the Dallas Cowboys 35-27 win over the Lions.

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4:20 p.m.

The Minnesota Vikings overcame a 20-0 first-half deficit and their defense hung on in a 27-23 lead over the Denver Broncos.

The Vikings improved to 8-3 by scoring touchdowns on each of their four second-half possessions and capped by Kirk Cousins’ 32-yard touchdown pass to Kyle Rudolph with 6:01 remaining.

Minnesota’s defense then stopped the Brandon Allen-led Broncos from scoring on their final drive, and after his 11-yard run converted a fourth-and-1 and put the ball on the Vikings 4 with 10 seconds left. Allen threw three incompletions, including the final two to tight end Noah Fant in the endzone.

It marked the fourth time Denver has blown a fourth-quarter lead this season.

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3:50 p.m.

The Washington Redskins' run of futility is over, but not before reaching a historic benchmark.

Derrius Guice's 45-yard touchdown run against the New York Jets ended a streak of 16 consecutive quarters without a touchdown of any kind, the longest by any NFL team since the 2000 Baltimore Ravens. The mark is a franchise record, passing the 1936 Boston Redskins who went 13 in a row without a TD.

The touchdown cut the Jets lead to 34-11.

Washington went more than a month without a TD, dating to Case Keenum’s 33-yard pass to rookie Terry McLaurin in the third quarter of a 17-16 win over Miami on Oct. 13.

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3:30 p.m.

The Philadelphia Eagles are missing three starters, including running back Jordan Howard, for their game against the New England Patriots.

Also ruled out are wide receiver Alshon Jeffery and linebacker Nigel Bradham. Howard has a shoulder injury, Jeffery and Bradham have ankle injuries

The AFC-leading Patriots are without starting safety Patrick Chung due to a chest injury.

In San Francisco, the 49ers will be without star tight end George Kittle for a second straight week because of injuries to his ankle and knee. San Francisco will have receiver Emmanuel Sanders active against the Arizona Cardinals after he left last week's game with injured ribs.

The 49ers also are without starting left tackle Joe Staley (finger) and running back Matt Breida (ankle).

The Cardinals are expected to have their original offensive line back with right tackle Justin Murray returning from a knee injury. Murray's return will allow Justin Pugh to go back to his original spot at left guard.

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3:15 p.m.

Colts running back Marlon Mack left the game against Jacksonville in the third quarter with a hand injury and has been ruled out.

Mack had run 14 times for 109 yards and one touchdown.

A few plays later, rookie cornerback Rock Ya-Sin also limped from the field straight to Indy’s locker room with an ankle injury. His return is questionable. Ya-Sin got his first career interception in the first half.

Nyheim Hines and Jonathan Williams will replace Mack in the lineup.

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3:10 p.m.

Dak Prescott has topped 300 yards passing for the ninth time of his career and third time this season.

The Cowboys starter has completed 19 of 31 for 319 yards and two touchdowns with Dallas up 27-21 over Detroit 10 minutes into the third quarter.

Michael Gallup has seven catches for 120 yards, while Randall Cobb has four catches for 115 yards and a touchdown for the Cowboys.

Prescott is coming off a game in which he went 28 of 46 for 397 yards and three touchdowns with an interception in a 28-24 loss to Minnesota.

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2:50 p.m.

The double-digit-point-underdog Denver Broncos are blowing out the Vikings in Minnesota. They’re up 20-0 at halftime.

Shelby Harris has two sacks for 18 yards, including one that forced a fumble by Kirk Cousins to set up a field goal. That was the first turnover by Cousins in five games.

The Broncos have held the Vikings to 47 total yards, after the Vikings topped 400 total yards in five of their first 10 games. The Vikings are 4-0 at home this season.

— Dave Campbell reporting from Minneapolis

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2:40 p.m.

Kyle Allen is struggling, again.

The Panthers second-year quarterback has thrown three interceptions in the first half against the Falcons, including one in the end zone and another at Atlanta's 3.

That continues a disturbing turnover trend for Allen, who took over when Cam Newton re-injured his foot in Week 2. In his first four games Allen threw seven touchdowns and had no interceptions. However, in his last 3 ½ games Allen has three touchdowns and seven interceptions.

Trailing 20-0, Carolina has just seven first downs and converted one of eight third-down attempts offense against a swarming Falcons defense, which seems to have carried momentum over from last week's 26-9 win over the Saints.

— Steve Reed reporting from Charlotte, North Carolina.

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2:35 p.m.

The Ravens have sacked Deshaun Watson five times in the first half and lead the Texans 14-0 at the break.

In what was expected to be a duel between Watson and Baltimore quarterback Lamar Jackson, the Ravens defense has played a huge role.

Watson has thrown for 102 yards, but the Texans went scoreless in the first half for the first time this year.

Jackson has thrown for a pair of touchdown passes to put Baltimore in position for its sixth straight victory.

— David Ginsburg reporting from Baltimore.

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2:25 p.m.

Michael Thomas' catch count keeps rising at a prolific pace.

With his fourth reception against Tampa Bay, the New Orleans Saints receiver reached 90 for the season. That's the most by any player through the first 10 games of a season.

Colts Hall of Famer Marvin Harrison, in 2002, and Atlanta's Julio Jones, in 2015, both had 89 catches through 10 games.

Thomas, who has five catches for 47 yards and a touchdown, into the second quarter, also became the NFL's first player with at least 90 catches in each of his first four seasons.

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2:15 p.m.

Colts kicker Adam Vinatieri broke Morten Andersen’s league record for career field goal attempts midway through the second quarter against Jacksonville.

Vinatieri made the 34-yarder to give Indianapolis a 10-7 lead over Jacksonville with 8:26 left in the first half.

He now has 710 attempts, one more than Andersen. Vinatieri already held the record for most field goals made, now at 597, and is the NFL’s career scoring leader with 2,660 points.

Earlier in the game, he became the first player in franchise history to make 500 extra points with the Colts and he's now the first player in Colts history to top the 1,500-point mark. He now has 1,502 since joining the Colts in 2006.

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2:05 p.m.

If almost losing to the Miami Dolphins on a 2-point conversion attempt wasn't rock bottom for the Washington Redskins, they found it against the New York Jets.

Already trailing the Jets 13-0 on two touchdown passes by Sam Darnold, Washington quarterback Dwayne Haskins found fellow rookie Terry McLaurin for a 67-yard completion.

And then it was promptly wiped out.

Pro Bowl-caliber left guard Brandon Scherff was penalized half the distance to the goal for holding and then another half the distance for unsportsmanlike conduct, a three-quarters distance to the goal penalty pileup for the 1-8 Redskins.

Things didn’t get much better despite Jon Bostic returning a Sam Darnold interception to the Jets 16. Haskins was sacked for a 15-yard loss on third-and-5. Washington settled for Dustin Hopkins hitting a 44-yard field goal.

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1:55 p.m.

So much for Josh Allen’s inability to hit a deep pass.

The Bills starter hit receiver John Brown for a 40-yard touchdown to put Buffalo up 13-0 early in the second quarter of their game at Miami.

Allen entered the game facing criticism about his inability to go deep. The touchdown to Brown was just Allen’s fifth of 40 yards or longer this season.

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1:45 p.m.

Nick Foles and Adam Vinatieri got back on track quickly in Indianapolis.

In his first appearance since breaking his left collarbone in the season opener, Foles threw a perfect 34-yard TD pass to DJ Chark on Jacksonville’s second possession to make it 7-0.

The Colts answered with a 13-yard TD run from Marlon Mack but the louder roar came when Vinatieri made his 500th extra point with the Colts to tie the score at 7 late in the first quarter. Vinatieri has missed five field goals and six extra points this season, which prompted the Colts to bring in kickers for tryouts on Tuesday. But they decided to stay with the NFL’s career scoring leader.

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1:15 p.m.

The Cleveland Browns have upgraded their draft position courtesy of their trade of running back Duke Johnson to the Houston Texans.

The Browns have now landed a third-round pick in the next year’s draft after Johnson dressed for his 10th game of the season for Houston playing at Baltimore. The Browns were initially assured a fourth-rounder in the deal struck in August.

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12:40 p.m.

Pro Football Hall of Fame coach Don Shula is making his season debut for the Miami Dolphins.

Shula attended a Dolphins game for the first time this year Sunday and was on the sideline in a golf cart before kickoff against the Buffalo Bills, greeting team executives and some of his former players, including quarterback Dan Marino.

Shula, who turns 90 in January, recently returned to South Florida from California, where he lives for much of the year.

Shula holds the NFL record for most coaching victories with 347. He retired following the 1995 season.

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12:30 p.m.

Gentlemen, start your engines.

An AFC showdown featuring Houston's Deshaun Watson and Baltimore's Lamar Jackson highlights the NFL's Week 11 schedule. It’s intriguing enough to overshadow a 2018 Super Bowl rematch between New England and Philadelphia.

Aside from a key matchup of two of the AFC's top three teams, the Watson-Jackson matchup of former first-round draft picks is the league's first between quarterbacks with at least 15 touchdowns passing, five rushing and a quarterback rating of 100 or higher through their first nine games.

Watson is two touchdowns passing from becoming the fifth player to have 20 and at least five TDs rushing through the first 10 games of a season. Carolina's Cam Newton was the previous to do so in 2015.

Jackson last week joined Ben Roethlisberger, who did it in 2007, to become the only players to post two games with a perfect quarterback rating of 158.3 in the same season.

The AFC North-leading Ravens are 7-2 and have won five straight. The South-leading Texans are 6-3 and have won four of five.

The AFC East-leading Patriots are coming off their bye week to face the Eagles, less than two years after Philadelphia won its first Super Bowl title by beating New England 41-33 in Minnesota.

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