National Football League

The Latest from the NFL: League pleased with streaming

Published Oct. 25, 2015 9:44 a.m. ET

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The latest from NFL games around the league on the seventh Sunday of the season (all times EDT):

10:45 p.m.

NFL senior vice president Hans Schroeder says the league's experiment with Yahoo proved that streaming could be used as the main distribution method for more games and for higher-profile time slots.

The NFL tried distributing coverage primarily through streaming for the first time for Sunday's matchup between the Bills and Jaguars from London, which started at 9:30 a.m. EDT.

Schroeder, who oversees media strategy, business development and sales, watched the game in a conference room at league headquarters where more than 20 different devices were set up to test the feed on a variety of gadgets and through different websites and apps. He says NFL officials were very pleased with the quality of the stream and ''any glitches were around the edges.'' Many users reported intermittent choppiness in their feeds, though that can be caused by Internet connections.

The NFL is on a one-year contract with CBS for ''Thursday Night Football,'' and Schroeder says the league will need to consider in the coming months whether a streaming option could be used for at least part of that package. Of course, the possibility of digital companies such as Yahoo bidding for the rights alongside television networks could help to drive up the cost of the next Thursday prime-time contract.

Jacksonville's wild 34-31 win over Buffalo on Sunday was available only through Yahoo worldwide everywhere other than the two home markets, where it was televised on CBS.

- Rachel Cohen reporting from New York

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10:19 p.m.

Cam Newton keeps climbing the career list for most rushing touchdowns by a quarterback.

The Carolina Panthers star scored from 2 yards out with 3:33 left in the second quarter of Sunday night's game against Philadelphia. That gave him 37 rushing touchdowns in his career, tying him with the late Steve McNair for third all-time.

Only Steve Young (43) and Kordell Stewart (38) have more.

Entering Week 7, running backs Marshawn Lynch and Adrian Peterson were the only players in the league to have run for more scores since Newton's arrival in 2011.

- Aaron Beard reporting from Charlotte, North Carolina

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8:31 p.m.

The Carolina Panthers enter Sunday night's game against Philadelphia playing for a franchise record.

A win against the Eagles would be their first 6-0 start and would mark their 10th straight regular-season victory.

The Panthers are 5-0 for the second time in their 21-season history, the other time coming in 2003 - the year they pushed all the way to their only Super Bowl appearance.

- Aaron Beard reporting from Charlotte, North Carolina

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5:25 p.m.

San Diego Chargers rookie running back Melvin Gordon continues to pay for his two fumbles last week in loss at Green Bay.

Gordon didn't play the first half against the Raiders, who had a 30-6 lead in the third quarter.

Gordon fumbled twice at Green Bay, losing one, and was benched for the second half. He's lost three of his four fumbles this year.

Gordon said during the week that he looked forward to getting back into action.

But on Sunday, his powder blue throwback jersey didn't have a hint of a grass on it.

- Bernie Wilson reporting from San Diego

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4:40 p.m.

Unbeaten New England didn't have to worry about a final attempt at a rally by the New York Jets.

The Washington Redskins took advantage of their last chance to finish off the biggest comeback in franchise history.

Tom Brady threw for 355 yards and two fourth-quarter touchdowns, and the Patriots took a two-game lead in the AFC East with a 30-23 win over the Jets.

New York was down 10 in the fourth quarter but recovered an onside kick after a field goal in the final seconds. A false start penalty when Ryan Fitzpatrick was trying to spike the ball after a completion ended the game with 1 second remaining, preventing a final play 37 yards from the end zone.

Kirk Cousins' third touchdown pass of the game with 24 seconds remaining finished off a 31-30 win over Tampa Bay after the Buccaneers led 24-0 in the second quarter.

Matt Ryan had 251 yards passing and a touchdown, and Devonta Freeman ran for 116 yards to help Atlanta bounce back from its only loss in a 10-7 victory over Tennessee.

Miami broke a franchise record for points in a half with 41 in the first half of a 44-26 win over Houston.

St. Louis rookie Todd Gurley had his third straight 100-yard game, rushing for 128 and his first two touchdowns in a 24-6 win over Cleveland.

In other early finals Sunday, Jacksonville beat Buffalo 34-31 in London, Kansas City topped Pittsburgh 23-13, Minnesota rallied past Detroit 28-19 and New Orleans held off Indianapolis 27-21.

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4:00 p.m.

Johnny Manziel has replaced an apparently injured Josh McCown late in Cleveland's game at St. Louis.

McCown left favoring his right arm with just under 4 minutes remaining. He had been sacked four times and lost two fumbles.

It's the first appearance for Manziel since he was questioned Oct. 12 by police in Avon, Ohio, after the 2012 Heisman Trophy winner argued with his girlfriend while driving on a highway. The league has said it is investigating the incident.

There was little fan reaction when Manziel entered the game, but the public address announcer incorrectly credited McCown with the first of three straight completions by Manziel before the 2-minute warning.

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3:35 p.m.

The Redskins finally did something positive during a third quarter. Imagine that.

Washington entered Sunday having been outscored 46-3 in the first 15 minutes after halftime, and coach Jay Gruden said all week he was making that a point of emphasis.

Something clicked.

Kirk Cousins tossed a pair of 3-yard touchdown passes in the third quarter - he hadn't thrown more than one in an entire game all season - sandwiched around a successful onside kick, helping the Redskins outscore the Tampa Bay Buccaneers 14-0 in the period to make a game of it.

The Bucs, who took a 24-0 lead, did their part to assist the Redskins, compiling seven penalties for 57 yards in that quarter alone. Washington was down 24-21 going into the fourth.

- Howard Fendrich reporting in Landover, Maryland.

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3:30 p.m.

Tom Brady isn't getting much help from his receivers against the New York Jets, who took a 17-16 lead on an 80-yard drive capped by a 9-yard scoring pass to running back Chris Ivory in the third quarter.

The Patriots had 10 dropped passes going into the fourth quarter.

Brandon LaFell, playing his first game this season after sitting out with a foot injury, has five of the drops. Julian Edelman dropped what should've been a touchdown pass.

The Patriots have slowed Ivory in the running game. He had 29 yards on 14 carries going into the fourth. He came into the game with 460 yards rushing.

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3:10 p.m.

Adrian Peterson and the Minnesota Vikings are starting to take control in the third quarter at Detroit.

Peterson, held to 14 yards on his first 11 carries, broke free up the right sideline for a 75-yard run that gave Minnesota first-and-goal from the 3. The Lions did hold the Vikings to a field goal, but Minnesota leads 25-17.

If Detroit rallies to win this game, the Lions can thank defensive back Glover Quin and defensive end Ziggy Ansah, who hustled back to prevent Peterson from scoring a touchdown on his long run.

But the Vikings have scored 19 unanswered points since a bright start by Matthew Stafford and the Lions.

- Noah Trister reporting from Detroit

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3:00 p.m.

Colts fans at Lucas Oil Stadium booed Andrew Luck as the team left the field trailing 20-0 at halftime.

New Orleans intercepted two of Luck's passes during the first half Sunday. Luck was 9 of 19 for 79 yards.

The second interception came on a drive that looked like it would end with points as Indianapolis reached the Saints' 18.

New Orleans cornerback Kyle Wilson intercepted Luck, prompting boos as the offensive unit came to the sideline and again when the Colts headed for the locker room.

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2:45 p.m.

Miami has broken a 48-year-old team record for points in a half, with Lamar Miller running 85 yards for a touchdown to give the Dolphins a 41-0 lead over the Houston Texans.

It was the second first-half blowout in two days at Sun Life Stadium, where Clemson led Miami 42-0 at intermission on Saturday. The Tigers went on to a 58-0 victory against the Hurricanes.

Ryan Tannehill was 12 of 12 for 231 yards and four touchdowns in the first half, and Miller had 175 yards on 14 carries.

Miami's previous record for a half was 35 in 1967.

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2:35 p.m.

Tom Brady was all fired up for a showdown with the New York Jets.

The New England quarterback had been roughed up by the Jets' pass rush for most of the first half Sunday. After a completion to Brandon LaFell with 3:04 left in the half, Brady threw a fist in the direction of Quinton Coples, then went face mask to face mask with the Jets linebacker.

When the replay was shown on the stadium video board, the crowd started chanting Brady's name.

The Patriots lead the Jets 13-10 at halftime.

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2:30 p.m.

The first quarter of Sunday's game between the Colts and Saints was strange, to say the least.

New Orleans used all three of its timeouts before the quarter ended - two of which were lost to challenges that weren't overturned.

Sean Payton threw the challenge flag twice after Marques Colston and Benjamin Watson both had catches ruled incomplete after bringing the ball in and eventually losing possession as they came to the ground. Both challenges were used on the same drive.

When the second challenge wasn't overturned, New Orleans faked a field goal on fourth down and picked up 22 yards when Luke McCown threw to Benjamin Watson. Then, the Saints punched it in with Khiry Robinson from one yard.

On the next Saints possession, Drew Brees scrambled to avoid a sack and heaved a desperation pass off of his back foot only to be intercepted by the Colts' Vontae Davis. However, a defensive holding call on the play negated the turnover. Payton then used the Saints' final timeout before the first quarter ended.

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1:31 p.m.

The Dolphins' Jarvis Landry ran about 100 yards for a 50-yard reception in the first quarter against Houston.

Landry caught the pass from Ryan Tannehill near the left sideline at the Texans 35 and almost stepped out of bounds. He cut back around linebacker Brian Cushing, ran past six other defenders as he angled toward the right corner of the end zone and again reversed his field before falling across the goal line across the field as he was tackled from behind by Cushing.

- Steven Wine reporting from Miami.

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1:30 p.m.

All in one fell swoop, the Tampa Bay Buccaneers got Mike Evans and their first-quarter offense going.

Evans, off to a quiet start to Year 2 after a tremendous rookie campaign, caught his first touchdown pass this season - a 40-yard touchdown pass from Jameis Winston on Tampa Bay's third play from scrimmage against the Washington Redskins.

It was also the Bucs' first TD in any opening quarter this season.

Heading into Sunday, Tampa Bay had been outscored 38-9 in that period.

Probably helps that the Redskins are missing both of their starting cornerbacks, DeAngelo Hall and Chris Culliver, who are injured.

- Howard Fendrich reporting from Landover, Maryland.

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1 p.m.

The NFL's experiment of streaming the Bills-Jaguars game went off without any massive glitches but showed why it might not be viable for more than the occasional game.

Many fans reported intermittent choppiness in the feed. Some of that likely stems from their own Internet connections, but it's a reminder of why a streaming-only option is probably not a widespread option for the time being.

Jacksonville's wild 34-31 win over Buffalo in London on Sunday, which started at 9:30 a.m. EDT, was available only through Yahoo worldwide everywhere other than the two home markets, where it was televised on CBS.

-Rachel Cohen reporting from New York.

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12:10 p.m.

The top wide receiver active for the Chiefs on Sunday against Pittsburgh has eight receptions all season.

Good luck with that, Alex Smith.

Jeremy Maclin passed the league's concussion protocol after getting hurt last week in Minnesota, and he practiced Friday. But the Chiefs' leading receiver was inactive against the Steelers, which means Smith won't have the biggest weapon left in Kansas City's popgun offense on the field with him. Jamaal Charles is already out for the season with a knee injury.

Running back-turned wide receiver De'Anthony Thomas has just eight receptions this season, making him the Chiefs' top pass-catcher aside from tight end Travis Kelce. Jason Avant and Chris Conley, who is starting in Maclin's place, have just seven receptions apiece.

At least Smith and the Chiefs have this going for them: Pittsburgh's pass defense is allowing more than 280 yards per game, 26th-best in the league.

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11:41 a.m.

Keep Adrian Peterson in your lineups.

The Minnesota Vikings star running back is active Sunday at Detroit, a day after being downgraded to questionable with an illness.

Peterson had 134 yards rushing and 29 carries, both season highs, last month at home against Lions. In his first 13 games against the Lions, Peterson ran for 100-plus yards eight times and scored 11 touchdowns on the ground.

- Larry Lage reporting from Detroit

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9:30 a.m.

Kevin Harlan and Rich Gannon typically call games for CBS, but on this particular football Sunday, their microphones say ''NFL on Yahoo.''

The league is experimenting with streaming the matchup between the Buffalo Bills and Jacksonville Jaguars from London. With kickoff at 9:30 a.m. EDT, it is available only through Yahoo outside of the teams' home cities, not just within the United States but around the world.

The NFL wants to figure out whether there's significant money to be made in distributing games ''over the top'' - streaming them directly to fans. Yahoo and other tech companies such as Google and Apple could be future partners in how the league broadcasts the sport, to go along with its traditional deals with the television networks.

Viewers in Buffalo and Jacksonville are able to watch Sunday on their local CBS stations. Everywhere else, anyone with an Internet connection can see the game for free. The stream is available on any device through various Yahoo properties, including Tumblr, and the NFL's website and app.

Fans are still able to watch on their televisions if they own connected devices or sets.

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