Bills stun Falcons, Brady’s Patriots stumble at home

TheAtlanta Falcons saw their unbeaten start to the NFL season come to ashuddering halt Sunday with a 23-17 defeat to the Buffalo Bills on a dayof upsets.The Falcons, last season’s beaten Super Bowl finalists,saw their perfect start derailed after a gritty performance by theBills.Falcons quarterback Matt Ryan threw for 242 yards from 24 of 42 attempts, but only connected for one touchdown.Oppositenumber Tyrod Taylor finished with 182 yards, but it was good enough tosee the Bills improve to 3-1 to lead the AFC East.The key moment atAtlanta’s Mercedes Benz Stadium came in the third quarter whenTre’Davious White galloped 52 yards for a touchdown following a Falconsfumble.A Stephen Hauschka field goal put the Bills 17-10 ahead onlyfor Ryan to connect with Justin Hardy with a three-yard pass to levelthe scores.However two monster Hauschka field goals — from 56 and 55yards — put the Bills up 23-17 and they held on to claim a deservedwin.“We knew coming into it that they had a very good defense,”Falcons star Ryan said. “They have a lot of talent and we just made toomany mistakes out there.”A good day for the Bills got better whenAFC East rivals the New England Patriots suffered their second homedefeat of the season as the Carolina Panthers closed out a thrilling33-30 win at Gillette Stadium.In the night game, the Seattle Seahawks took care of business by defeating the Indianapolis Colts 46-18.Scotland-bornPanthers kicker Graham Gano sealed a pulsating win for Carolina with a48-yard field goal with just four seconds remaining.Gano’s winnerwas the final act of a dramatic fourth quarter which had seen Tom Bradylead the Patriots back from a 30-16 deficit to level at 30-30.Brady,who finished with 307 passing yards including two touchdowns with nointerceptions, looked to have rescued the reigning Super Bowl championsagain after finding Dion Lewis and Danny Amendola in quick succession totie.Newton decisiveBut Panthers quarterback Cam Newton ledhis team upfield with a decisive 10-play drive to engineer Gano’swinning kick with no time left on the clock.Newton finished with 316passing yards for three touchdowns and also rushed for one score as thePanthers improved to 3-1 in the NFC South. “I feel like this was a breakthrough game for us offensively,” said Newton.The Patriots meanwhile fell to 2-2 in the AFC East, with Brady left admitting the team were way off their peak.“There’s no guarantees and every year is different,” said Brady. “We just haven’t done a good job at home.”InDallas, the Los Angeles Rams maintained their impressive start to theseason with a 35-30 upset over the Cowboys at the AT&T Stadium.Ramsquarterback Jared Goff finished with 255 passing yards and twotouchdowns, while the defense sacked Cowboys quarterback Dak Prescottthree times to help set up the win.Rams running back Todd Gurleymeanwhile outshone Cowboys counterpart Ezekiel Elliott, finishing with121 rushing yards and a further 94 receiving yards.The Rams, underthe guidance of Sean McVay, the youngest head coach in the NFL at just31, now lead the NFC West with a 3-1 record.Elsewhere Sunday,Houston Texans rookie quarterback Deshaun Watson had anotherscintillating performance in a 57-14 thrashing of the Tennessee Titans.Watson threw for four touchdowns, finishing with 283 yards after making 25 completions from 34 attempts.Inthe early game in London, Drew Brees passed for 268 yards and twotouchdowns to lead the New Orleans Saints to a 20-0 win over alackluster Miami Dolphins side.The win saw the Saints improve to 2-2 after an 0-2 start to the season.“Those first two weeks weren’t what we aspired to be — we played two really good football teams,” Brees said.Sincethen, “we’ve had two road wins at Carolina and here against theDolphins, who have a really good defense and are a really good footballteam.”