Cleveland Browns quarterback Joe Flacco already had thrown three interceptions against the Chicago Bears on Sunday. But with time growing short and the Browns on the wrong side of the 50 and down by a touchdown, the veteran QB took a shot to Amari Cooper, even though three Chicago defenders were around the former Alabama wide receiver.

Cooper caught the football, broke a tackle and balanced his way down the sideline to complete a 51-yard touchdown play as Cleveland tied the game with 3:08 to play.

A field goal with 32 seconds left made the difference in the Browns’ 20-17 victory, which ended with an end zone interception of Chicago quarterback Justin Fields’ Hail Mary.

“Great football player,” Cleveland coach Kevin Stefanski said of Cooper after the game. “You’re always trying to find ways to get Amari the ball. Joe fit it in a very tight window, and then Amari did the tightrope down the sideline. Very heady player. Has made huge plays for us in these ballgames, and we need him.”

Cooper had four receptions for 109 yards on Sunday, leaving him 15 yards short of his seventh 1,000-yard season.

Cooper had the 10th touchdown reception of his career of at least 50 yards in his 34th 100-yard game.

Cooper was among the 32 former Alabama players who got on the field on the 15th Sunday of the NFL’s 104th season.

Five other former Alabama players were involved in the Chicago-Cleveland game:

· Jerome Ford started at running back for the Browns. Ford ran for 20 yards on eight carries and caught four passes for 11 yards.

· Eddie Jackson started at safety for the Bears. Jackson made three tackles and intercepted a pass. Jackson picked off Cleveland quarterback Joe Flacco in the second quarter and set up the game’s first touchdown with a 27-yard return to the Browns 1-yard line. Jackson’s first interception of the 2023 season was the 15th of his career.

· Browns offensive lineman Alex Leatherwood is on the practice squad and not eligible to play.

· Dalvin Tomlinson started at defensive tackle for the Browns. Tomlinson made six tackles, recorded two tackles for loss and registered two quarterback hits.

· Browns offensive tackle Jedrick Wills Jr. is on injured reserve and not eligible to play.

In the other Sunday games:

Carolina Panthers 9, Atlanta Falcons 7

· Bradley Bozeman (Handley) started at center for the Panthers.

· Panthers guard Deonte Brown (Austin) is on the practice squad and not eligible to play.

· DeMarcco Hellams started at safety for the Falcons. Hellams made a career-high eight tackles in his second NFL start.

· Panthers defensive tackle LaBryan Ray (James Clemens) made one tackle.

· Panthers wide receiver Cam Sims is on the practice squad and not eligible to play.

· Bryce Young started at quarterback for the Panthers. Young completed 18-of-24 passes for 167 yards with no touchdowns and no incompletions. Young completed all five of his passes during Carolina’s 17-play, 90-yard drive that used up the final 7:35 of game time and resulted in a field goal on the contest’s last snap.

RELATED: BRYCE YOUNG DIRECTS GAME-WINNING DRIVE FOR CAROLINA

Tampa Bay Buccaneers 34, Green Bay Packers 20

· Packers running back Kenyan Drake had one carry for no gain in his first action for Green Bay. The Packers elevated Drake off their practice squad to make him eligible to play.

Miami Dolphins 30, New York Jets 0

· Lester Cotton (Central-Tuscaloosa) started at left guard for the Dolphins.

· Raekwon Davis started at nose tackle for the Dolphins. Davis made one tackle and registered two quarterback hits.

· Dolphins defensive lineman Da’Shawn Hand made one tackle.

· C.J. Mosley (Theodore) started at linebacker for the Jets. Mosley made seven tackles and recorded one tackle for loss.

· Tua Tagovailoa started at quarterback for the Dolphins. Tagovailoa completed 21-of-24 passes for 224 yards with one touchdown and no interceptions. With his sixth game with a completion rate of 80 percent or higher (with a minimum of 20 passes), Tagovailoa has the most such games by a player in his first four NFL seasons. Kurt Warner and Joe Burrow had five apiece.

RELATED: TUA TAGOVAILOA ‘COMMANDED THE GAME ENTIRELY’

· Jaylen Waddle started a wide receiver for the Dolphins. Waddle had eight receptions for 142 yards and one touchdown. Waddle scored on a 60-yard pass from Tua Tagovailoa as Miami took a 17-0 lead with 7:42 left in the first half. Waddle recorded his 10th 100-yard game, with three coming this season.

· Quinnen Williams (Wenonah) started at defensive tackle for the Jets. Williams made three tackles, shared a sack and registered two quarterback hits.

New Orleans Saints 24, New York Giants 6

· Giants center J.C. Hassenauer is on injured reserve and not eligible to play.

· Xavier McKinney started at free safety for the Giants. McKinney made four tackles.

· Giants offensive tackle Evan Neal was designated as a game-day inactive. An ankle injury prevented Neal from playing for the fifth week in a row.

· Giants cornerback Aaron Robinson is on reserve/physically unable to play.

· A’Shawn Robinson started at defensive tackle for the Giants. Robinson tied for the team lead with eight tackles. Robinson equaled his career high for tackles for the second game in a row after also making eight in last week’s 24-22 victory over the Green Bay Packers. Robinson had two eight-tackle games for the Detroit Lions in 2018 and one for the Los Angeles Rams in 2021.

Houston Texans 19, Tennessee Titans 16

· Texans defensive end Will Anderson Jr. was designated as a game-day inactive. An ankle injury kept Anderson out of the lineup.

· Titans defensive back Shyheim Carter is on the practice squad and not eligible to play.

· Christian Harris started at linebacker for the Texans. Harris made eight tackles and recorded two tackles for loss.

· Derrick Henry started at running back for the Titans. Henry netted 9 yards on 16 rushing attempts and caught four passes for 1 yard. Henry had six touches that lost yardage. Before Sunday, 34 yards were the fewest that Henry had recorded in a game in which he had at least 16 rushing attempts. Henry became the 10th NFL player since 1936 with at least 16 rushing attempts in game without gaining at least 10 yards. Before Sunday, the most recent had been Rudi Johnson, who netted 9 yards on 17 carries in the Cincinnati Bengals’ 24-21 loss to the Seattle Seahawks on Sep. 23, 2007. The most recent player in franchise history who had at least four receptions in a game without gaining more than 1 yard had been Earl Campbell, who had four receptions for minus-8 yards in the Houston Oilers’ 23-21 victory over the Seahawks on Sept. 19, 1982.

· Texans wide receiver John Metchie III had a 1-yard reception.

· Texans linebacker Henry To’oTo’o made one tackle on special teams.

Kansas City Chiefs 27, New England Patriots 17

· Patriots defensive lineman Christian Barmore made six tackles, recorded one sack, had two tackles for loss and registered two quarterback hits. Barmore reached a career high for tackles, had his first two-TFL game and raised his sack total for 2023 to 5.5.

· Anfernee Jennings (Dadeville) started at linebacker for the Patriots. Jennings made five tackles and recorded one tackle for loss.

· Patriots quarterback Mac Jones dressed for the game but did not play.

· Patriots linebacker Mack Wilson (Carver-Montgomery) made two tackles and recorded one tackle for loss. Wilson has sacks in each of the past two games to push his career total to 4.5.

San Francisco 49ers 45, Arizona Cardinals 29

· Forty-Niners tight end Cameron Latu is on injured reserve and not eligible to play.

Los Angeles Rams 28, Washington Commanders 20

· Jonathan Allen started at defensive tackle for the Commanders. Allen made four tackles, recorded one tackle for loss and registered one quarterback hit.

· Rams tight end Miller Forristall is on the practice squad and not eligible to play.

· Commanders running back Derrick Gore is on the practice squad and not eligible to play.

· Commanders defensive tackle Phidarian Mathis made two tackles.

· Daron Payne (Shades Valley) started at defensive tackle for the Commanders. Payne made three tackles, recorded two sacks and registered three quarterback hits. Payne had two sacks this season entering Sunday’s game.

· Commanders running back Brian Robinson Jr. (Hillcrest-Tuscaloosa) was designated as a game-day inactive. A hamstring injury kept Robinson out of the lineup.

· Rams long snapper Carson Tinker handled the snaps for three punts, three field-goal attempts and two extra-point kicks in his 2023 season debut.

Buffalo Bills 31, Dallas Cowboys 10

· Cowboys cornerback Trevon Diggs is on injured reserve and not eligible to play.

· Cowboys linebacker Rashaan Evans (Auburn High) made three tackles.

· Bills running back Damien Harris is on injured reserve and not eligible to play.

· Bills wide receiver Tyrell Shavers is on the practice squad and not eligible to play.

Baltimore Ravens 23, Jacksonville Jaguars 7

· Ravens cornerback Jalyn Armour-Davis (St. Paul’s Episcopal) made one tackle.

· Marlon Humphrey (Hoover) started at cornerback for the Ravens. Humphrey made four tackles and broke up ne pass.

· Calvin Ridley started at wide receiver for the Jaguars. Ridley had five receptions for 39 yards.

· Jaguars offensive tackle Cam Robinson is on injured reserve and not eligible to play.

Week 15 started on Thursday night, when the Las Vegas Raiders defeated the Los Angeles Chargers 63-21, and continued on Saturday, when the Cincinnati Bengals defeated the Minnesota Vikings 27-24 in overtime, the Indianapolis Colts defeated the Pittsburgh Steelers 30-13 and the Detroit Lions defeated the Denver Broncos 42-17.

Week 15 concludes on Monday, when the Philadelphia Eagles and Seattle Seahawks square off at 7:15 p.m. CDT at Lumen Field in Seattle. ABC and ESPN will televise the game.

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Mark Inabinett is a sports reporter for Alabama Media Group. Follow him on Twitter at @AMarkG1.