'Monday Night Football' highlights: Lions win 42-29 over Seahawks; Titans beat Dolphins 31-12

After a bizarre fourth and goal for Seattle that started with an early snap that caught quarterback Geno Smith by surprise, Detroit got the ball back with two minutes to play and a 15-point lead.

But in another instance where Detroit simply cannot put away the Seahawks, Jared Goff was sacked for a safety, allowing Seattle to pull within 42-29 with 1:59 to play. The Seahawks will now get the ball back.

A balletic, eight-yard touchdown grab by Detroit’s Amon-Ra St. Brown pushes Detroit ahead by 15 and now the pressure is really on Seattle if it wants to extend its unbeaten start to the season.

With just over five minutes to play in the fourth quarter, St. Brown placed both feet just inside the out-of-bounds line with inches to spare for the touchdown from Goff (which followed St. Brown’s own pass to Goff for a score earlier). Goff still hasn’t thrown an incompletion, standing at 18-for-18 with 292 yards and two touchdowns.

Jared Goff is a perfect 15-for-15 passing, for 225 yards and a touchdown, and has caught another touchdown.

One might assume that would lead to mop-up duty for his backup in the fourth quarter of an easy win. And yet, the Lions are in a fight, clinging to an eight-point lead, and just gave the ball back to Seattle with 12:49 to play in the fourth quarter.

It was Detroit’s first drive to end without points in the second half.

This one is over, officially.

The Titans win after a pitiful showing by the Dolphins offense. Miami had 169 yards total in a dispiriting performance.

Mason Rudolph spelled Will Levis — who left the game in the first quarter with a shoulder injury — and led Tennessee to the win.

The Titans improve to 1-3, while the Dolphins fall to the same mark.

The Seahawks aren’t done yet.

Kenneth Walker’s 21-yard touchdown run that started on the left side of the formation but ended, several missed tackles later, on the right side of the field, pulls the Seahawks within eight. It's Walker's third score of the evening.

After attempting, and missing, a two-point conversion in the third quarter, the Seahawks kick the PAT this time.

Given how comfortable Detroit has looked offensively tonight while scoring on four of its seven possessions, Seattle likely must earn points from every drive it has remaining in the final quarter to have a chance at a comeback.

The Seahawks’ season-high for points scored in a single quarter is 17.

Miami’s touchdown in the 4th quarter tonight was its first in 18 days. The Dolphins hadn’t scored since the first quarter of their Week 2 game against the Bills, which was on a Thursday night.

It had been 10 quarters since Miami’s last touchdown.

The Dolphins offense is giving up points now!

A Tyler Huntley intentional grounding from the end zone gives the Titans two more points.

If you’re watching the offensive slog that has been Tennessee’s game at Miami tonight, flip over to watch an offensive showcase happening in Detroit.

The Lions needed just one play to answer with a touchdown to lead by 15. Jared Goff hit Jameson Williams on a crossing route that Williams turned into a 70-yard touchdown.  

For the game, Detroit is averaging 8.3 yards per play, including 11.7 yards per pass. 

The Dolphins finally score a touchdown!

Tyler Huntley ran it in from a yard out to end an 11-play, 70-yard drive. Miami could not convert the two-point conversion, however, and that should really do it.

Detroit has had opportunities to put this game out of reach, but Seattle has answered.

After an eight-play, 80-yard touchdown drive, Seattle had two chances for a two-point conversion when Lions corner Carlton Davis drew his third pass-interference call while trying to defend D.K. Metcalf.

But Seattle’s next conversion attempt was also incomplete, and the lead is eight.

The Titans take advantage of solid field position and hit their fifth field goal of the night.

Let’s see what new level of ineptitude the Dolphins offense can reach on its next drive.

Now he is, after catching a seven-yard touchdown to push the Lions’ lead back to two touchdowns.

Amon-Ra St. Brown motioned into the backfield, was flipped the ball by Goff, who then ran undetected toward the end zone and caught St. Brown’s high-arcing pass. It was Goff’s second career reception in nine seasons.

Goff has thrown for 188 career touchdown passes. Now he adds his first as a receiver. 

David Montgomery should have been dropped close to the line of scrimmage after he was thrown a short pass into the flat, and Seattle’s defenders immediately converged.

Except Montgomery, the Lions’ tough running back, bounced off his first would-be tackler and evaded several more in easily the game’s most improbable play.

Officially, it goes down for a gain of 40 yards. The box score doesn’t do the play justice, however.

With less than a yard to go on fourth down, the Dolphins went backward. The Titans take over inside Miami territory.

Detroit corner Carlton Davis has battled with D.K. Metcalf one-on-one most of the night, and had done a good job limiting Metcalf. But his pass-interference penalty early in the third quarter led to a gain of 21 and set up Seattle close to the goal line, and the Seahawks scored one play later on Geno Smith’s 9-yard touchdown pass. 

The Titans added another field goal to take a 13-point lead.

The idea of the Dolphins offense scoring two touchdowns the rest of the season let alone the rest of this game seems farfetched, but let’s see what Tyler Huntley and Co. can do.

The Dolphins lost seven yards on their most recent drive and punted.

A 15-yard penalty on Miami on the punt already has the Titans in Dolphins territory.

The Titans have scored the first touchdown of the game!

Tyjae Spears scored on a direct snap on 1st-and-goal. Tennessee was setup inside the 10 after a 41-yard run by Tony Pollard.

The Lions lead 21-7 at halftime against Seattle. The Seahawks had a slim chance to cut into the lead after getting the ball back with 14 seconds left in the first half. After moving into deep field-goal range. Kicker Jason Myers tried a 62-yard kick, but it was short. It would have been a franchise-record field goal.

The biggest difference thus far is how Seattle has been unable to support QB Geno Smith on the ground, with only 18 rushing yards, and Smith accounting for 12 of them. Smith has completed 17 of his 24 passes, while Lions quarterback Jared Goff is 12-for-12.

A Jason Sanders 56-yard field goal has made it a one-field goal game.

The Dolphins went only 10 yards in five plays after starting their drive in Titans territory. It was one yard shy of Sanders' career long.

In case you missed it — Mason Rudolph was back in at QB for Tennessee on its first drive of the second half.

Head coach Brian Callahan left the door open for Will Levis going into halftime, but I’d be surprised if we see him again.

A Braxton Berrios 27-yard punt return means the Dolphins will start their next drive in Titans territory.

Can Miami finally score a touchdown?

Seattle just pulled off a tricky lateral for a 19-yard gain. But that’s not all…

Look familiar? Seattle was apparently taking notes while scouting Detroit’s game last week.

Miami picked up one yard on its first possession of the second half. Jaylen Waddle dropped a potential first down on second down.

The Dolphins punted and the Titans will take over.

The Lions’ offense rolled to a touchdown on a third consecutive drive, this time a nine-play, 70-yard march that ended with Jahmyr Gibbs’s one-yard dive for the score. Sam LaPorta, the tight end who was questionable this week because of an ankle injury, was key again with catches of 13 and nine yards.

This is already more points than Seattle has allowed in any single game this season. Its defense had allowed an average of 14.3 points.

Titans coach Brian Callahan didn’t commit to a starter at quarterback for the second half, as Mason Rudolph came in for Will Levis after the latter sustained a shoulder injury.

Callahan said “we’ll see” when asked who would start the second half. He added it would depend if Levis is physically ready to go.

The Titans lead 9-3 at halftime.

Tennessee raced to get a field goal right before halftime. Taking over with 16 seconds left, the Titans completed a pass to the middle of the field and spiked the ball with one second left to get a field goal off in time.

The Dolphins, who have only 77 total yards at half, will receive to start the second half.

Mason Rudolph is the game’s leading passer with 79 yards. Tyler Huntley has only 35 for Miami.

D.K. Metcalf, after being responsible for the turnover that led to Detroit’s second touchdown, returned to set up Seattle’s first points.

Metcalf’s pirouette at the end of a 29-yard catch from Geno Smith gave the Seahawks first-and-goal inside the 1-yard line. A few plays later, Kenneth Walker bounced a run outside for a touchdown.

The Titans punted, but after a misplay by the Dolphins on a bouncing ball, Tennessee was initially ruled to have recovered the ball.

Replay showed the Titans just barely touched the ball first, so Miami will take over to try to score before the half.

Seattle hasn’t been challenged like this so far this season. Barely 16 minutes into this game, the undefeated Seahawks trail 14-0 after Jahmyr Gibbs runs in from three yards out. Detroit was in this position after forcing D.K. Metcalf’s fumble. 

Through one quarter, the discrepancy in rushing yards is stark. One rush attempt for a loss of one yard for Seattle, versus 11 rushes for 66 yards by the Lions.

Lions linebacker Jack Campbell’s hit on Seahawks receiver D.K. Metcalf, just before Metcalf’s right knee could hit the turf and end a 14-yard gain, caused a fumble that was returned 49 yards down to the Seattle 14.

That’s a 52-yard change in momentum and it’s set the Lions up to potentially go up two scores.

The Dolphins will punt after mustering only six yards on their most recent drive. Miami can’t do anything in the passing game right now.

The Titans will take over on their own 34 with 1:40 left in the half.

The Titans opted to punt on 4th-and-2, and now the Dolphins have a chance to drive for a tie or take the lead with a little over two minutes left in the half.

On first down, Tyler Huntley missed Tyreek Hill on a go route.

Sam LaPorta, Detroit’s tight end, is playing tonight after injuring an ankle last week in Arizona. He has already caught one pass, and his blocking helped the Lions rush for 59 yards on their second drive alone en route to a touchdown.

David Montgomery ends a 93-yard drive with a one-yard touchdown run.

Detroit’s second drive of the night was a case in point as to why its offensive coordinator, Ben Johnson, was interviewing for head-coaching jobs last season.

The Lions made adjustments between drives to go from looking fooled early by Seattle to moving steadily down the field by mixing in passes with runs. Detroit didn’t face a third down until the drive’s 12th play. 

Thanks in part to a taunting penalty and a Tyler Huntley third-down scamper, the Dolphins are finally on the board!

Miami ends a 10-play, 44-yard drive with a 44-yard field goal by Jason Sanders.

The Titans are up 6-0 thanks to another Nick Folk field goal. The kick capped off an eight-play, 19-yard drive that stalled because of a holding penalty.

Six points may be enough tonight. Let’s see what the Dolphins have on their next drive.

Seattle coach Mike Macdonald took over with high expectations this offseason after the success of his defense in Baltimore. So far, the Seahawks have looked as stingy as his old squad.

Entering tonight through a 3-0 start, Seattle’s defense had allowed the lowest passer rating in the NFL. And on Detroit’s opening drive, Jared Goff couldn’t find any open room to operate and was sacked on third down.

The Dolphins can’t pick up a 4th-and-1, as Tyreek Hill was stopped short on an end around.

The Titans will take over on their own 47.

The Seattle Seahawks were expected to be a middle-of-the-pack squad this season with outside playoff hopes.

But featuring a defense that's yielded only 14.3 points and 248.7 yards per game so far this young season, Seattle has become one of the NFC's surprise teams. The Seahawks could be two games ahead of the powerful San Francisco 49ers in the NFC West by the end of Monday night.

The Seahawks have been particularly tough against the pass, limiting opponents to an NFL-best 4.7 yards per throw. But those small numbers were built on games against the Broncos, Patriots and Tua-less Dolphins, so tonight's game against Jared Goff's Detroit Lions will easily be Seattle's toughest test yet.

Mason Rudolph has led the Titans to the first points of the game. A relatively short field ultimately led to a Nick Folk 53-yard field goal.

The Dolphins — who’ve gone 22 straight possessions without a touchdown — will now look to answer.

We’re scoreless after one quarter, and this game has turned into a battle of backup quarterbacks.

The Titans are in Dolphins territory, though, with a chance to break that tie as the second quarter begins.

Titans quarterback Will Levis is questionable to return, per the ESPN broadcast.

Miami goes three-and-out, and the Titans take over with Mason Rudolph at quarterback.

Will Levis appeared to hurt himself after taking a hard fall on his right shoulder while trying to run for a first down.

Miami’s fumble didn’t hurt them, after all.

With Will Levis still unable to generate any easy yardage for Tennessee, the Titans went three-and-out before a punt. Levis has completed three of his first four passes but for little impact.

Miami quarterback Tyler Huntley threw a backward pass that Tyreek Hill dropped. Tennessee’s Arden Key was the only player on the field who had the awareness that the pass could be a live ball as he recovered it. It took a referee review to confirm the turnover. Each team has had one head-scratching turnover so far.

The Titans were having success on their first drive, but Will Levis was picked off by Emmanuel Ogbah. Levis has had a penchant for turnovers so far this season, and he coughs the ball up on Tennessee’s opening drive.

It’s Tyler Huntley time for the Dolphins.

With Tua Tagovailoa under center, the Miami Dolphins were a playoff team and possible Super Bowl contender.

Without him, the Dolphins haven't scored a touchdown in almost 80 miles of play.

Tagovailoa suffered a head injury in Miami's Week 2 loss the Buffalo Bills, and his replacements Skylar Thompson and Tim Boyle couldn't guide the Dolphins to the end zone in a Week 3 loss to Seattle.

Tyler Huntley, who was signed away from the Baltimore Ravens practice squad, gets his chance to lead Miami tonight.

Tyler Huntley will start at quarterback for the Miami Dolphins tonight.

Huntley was born in Dania Beach, about 15 miles from the Dolphins’ home stadium. He attended high school at Hallandale High School, which is even closer to Miami’s home field.

The Dolphins signed Huntley to their practice squad after Tua Tagovailoa suffered a concussion in Week 2. He was named the starter after backup Skylar Thompson suffered a rib injury against the Seahawks in Week 3.

Huntley has a 3-6 career record.

At $111 billion over 11 years, the NFL’s media rights deal is the biggest in the U.S. That deal has an out clause after the 2029 season with all of its media partners except Disney (which can opt out one year later). 

Sources tell me the opt-out also affects “Sunday Ticket,” the league’s out-of-market package for which Alphabet’s YouTube paid about $2 billion. That means that after the 2029-30 Super Bowl, the NFL has the right to completely rejigger the media landscape, if it so chooses. 

Five years is a lifetime in the media industry given the rapid pace of change. To put that timeframe in perspective, if you rewind five years from today, Disney+, NBCUniversal’s Peacock, Paramount+ and Max (formerly known as HBO Max) all hadn’t launched. Now they have more than 300 million subscribers combined.

But it’s not too early to start thinking about what 2029 symbolizes. I don’t think it’s hyperbole to say 2029 could be the end of the modern media era. It’s at least plausible that by that time, streaming has become so dominant that the NFL feels comfortable moving some Sunday afternoon packages away from broadcast TV, especially given the superior balance sheets and potential global reach of companies such as Netflix, Google, Apple and Amazon.

Read the full story here

The biggest name not playing on "Monday Night Football" will be Miami Dolphins QB Tua Tagovailoa, who suffered a head inquiry in Week 2.

Miami is also expected to play without OT Terron Armstead, while RB Raheem Mostert is questionable for the Dolphins game against Tennessee. Titans DT Jeffery Simmons has been listed as doubtful.

Then in the Seahawks-Lions game at 8:15 p.m., Detriot will be without center Frank Ragnow.

Seattle gets running back Kenneth Walker III back after missing the last two, but defensive linemen Leonard Williams and Byron Murphy III and outside linebackers Boye Mafe and Uchenna Nwosu are unlikely to play.

Brian Callahan, the first-year head coach of the Tennessee Titans, is overseeing aspects he didn’t have to think about before as an assistant. He’s managing practice schedules, strength training and his staff — which happens to include his father, Bill Callahan, as offensive line coach. 

“It’s a dream come true,” Bill said. “We’re proud of Brian, as we are of all of our children, but this is really a unique and a rare situation that we’re in right now.”

Now a father and son from the same family tree — but slightly different coaching trees — are trying to get the Titans on track for success.

Their similarities and unique dynamic have led to a few misunderstandings and jokes along the way.

Read the full story here

Calvin Johnson, who holds just about every receiving record for the Detroit Lions, will be honored at tonight's game by being inducted into the Pride of the Lions.

Johnson, who was inducted into the Hall of Fame in 2021, played in Detroit from 2007 till his retirement after the 2015 season.

Kansas City won its 11th consecutive road game over the Chargers yesterday, 17-10.

Rallying back from an early 10-point deficit, both teams were tied late in the fourth quarter. Chiefs running back Samaje Perine scored a 2-yard touchdown that gave Kansas City its first lead of the game, and when wide receiver Xavier Worthy later hauled in quarterback Patrick Mahomes' third-down pass, the Chiefs earned their fourth straight victory of the year.

But it wasn't all reason to celebrate for the Chiefs. Wide receiver Rashee Rice exited the game early in the first quarter with a knee injury that may be serious.

Previously unbeaten, the Steelers fell to the Indianapolis Colts 24-27 last night after a rocky defensive performance.

Even with Colts' quarterback Anthony Richardson's injury in the first half, the team was able to dominate thanks to 39-year-old Joe Flacco subbing in to relive Richardson - and throwing two touchdown passes of his own.

It might be a jarring sight for many casual football fans to see Mike Macdonald prowling the Seattle Seahawks sideline and not gum-chewing, cocksure Pete Carroll.

Macdonald, at 37, is the NFL's youngest head coach and one of the few to have a head coaching job with no significant playing experience beyond high school.

And while he's been a coordinator and assistant coach in the NFL and at colleges for several years, he's never been the man in charge. Seattle earlier this year hired him away from the Baltimore Ravens, where he was the defensive coordinator.

No one is feeling more heat in Nashville than mistake-prone Titans quarterback Will Levis.

He's thrown five interceptions in just 94 passes for a 5.3% pick rate, third highest in the NFL and Tennessee's team offense of 260.3 yards per game is ranked No. 29.

But as shaky at those numbers have been, the 25-year-old QB, who graduated in the same high school class as Brock Purdy and Trevor Lawrence, has arguably fared worse in the eye test.

In a 24-17 loss to the New York Jets on Sept. 15, Levis made the blooper reel with a ridiculous, improvised lateral deep in New York territory that resulted in a turnover.

The Baltimore Ravens dominated the Buffalo Bills at home last night with a 35-10 victory.

The most notable moment of the game was Henry's 87-yard run on Baltimore's first offensive play, breaking the previous 82-yard record that was shared by Jamal Lewis and Le’Ron McClain.