Caleb Williams carted off as Vikings edge Bears 9-3; Saints beat Ravens with late sneak
On Sunday, Sept. 20, 2026, the Minnesota Vikings beat the Chicago Bears 9-3 at Soldier Field in an NFL game that saw Bears rookie quarterback Caleb Williams stretchered off with a hamstring injury, while the New Orleans Saints rallied to defeat the Baltimore Ravens on Tyler Shough’s fourth-down sneak with 1:28 remaining.
Minnesota improved to 2-0 after the low-scoring win, with Carson Wentz completing 11 of 20 passes for 143 yards and Aaron Jones Sr. rushing for 105 yards. Chicago fell to 1-1; Williams left late in the fourth quarter after a non-contact play when he stumbled and fell to his knees from a first-and-goal situation at the Vikings’ six-yard line with under eight minutes remaining. The play occurred on a gloomy, wet day along the lakefront, and Williams was visibly in pain as he rolled and was attended to before being carted from the sideline to the locker room.
In New Orleans, the Saints overcame the Ravens after a sequence in which they had first-and-goal from the two before a penalty and an incomplete pass pushed them to fourth-and-goal. The Saints elected not to attempt a short field goal; Tyler Shough was ruled to have scored on a sneak and the call stood following a review. Baltimore, which entered the game 1-1 after the loss, got one last chance but Lamar Jackson’s deep pass was intercepted by Julian Blackmon with 13 seconds remaining.
Cincinnati moved to 2-0 as Joe Burrow completed 20 of 31 passes for 207 yards and threw two touchdown passes to Ja’Marr Chase; Chase finished with seven receptions for 75 yards and recorded his 14th career game with two or more touchdown catches. The Houston Texans fell to 0-2 despite CJ Stroud passing 30-of-55 for 353 yards and Dalton Schultz setting career bests with 12 catches for 140 yards; Houston registered five sacks in the loss.
The New England Patriots’ defense produced key plays in their win over the Pittsburgh Steelers, highlighted by TreVeyon Henderson’s 39-yard touchdown in his season debut and Eli Ponder’s 19-yard fumble return for a score. The report states the Patriots’ defense smothered Aaron Rodgers en route to the victory over the Steelers (1-1). With that result, Patriots coach Mike Vrabel avoided just the second 0-2 start of his eight-year coaching career.
Green Bay overcame a 10-point deficit in the fourth quarter to snap a six-game losing streak with an overtime win against the New York Jets; Trey Smack’s 26-yard field goal decided the game. Jordan Love threw two touchdown passes for the Packers, who committed 14 penalties, and Geno Smith was sacked twice in overtime, forcing the Jets (1-1) to punt and allowing Love to lead the drive that set up Smack’s kick.
The Philadelphia Eagles defeated the Tennessee Titans 24-20 when Jalen Hurts connected with Darius Cooper on a three-yard touchdown with nine seconds left; Hurts finished with 264 yards passing and two touchdowns. Tennessee, which trailed before Joey Slye’s 33-yard field goal with 1:56 remaining, recorded three sacks of Hurts and two interceptions. In Carolina, Bryce Young threw for 287 yards and three touchdowns, including two to Darren Waller, Devin Lloyd returned one of his two interceptions for a score, and the Panthers beat the short-handed Atlanta Falcons as Young completed 23 of 36 passes and improved to 5-1 against Atlanta; the report also notes Young set a franchise record with 448 yards passing in a 30-27 overtime win to cap last season’s sweep. Atlanta used Cooper Rush at quarterback before rookie Jack Strand replaced Rush late in the game.
From Sunday’s results, the Vikings, Bengals and Eagles sit at 2-0; the Texans, Titans and Falcons are 0-2; and multiple teams including the Bears, Saints, Ravens, Steelers, Packers, Jets and Panthers are listed at 1-1.