Alabama NFL roundup: Josh Jacobs, Raiders respond

The Las Vegas Raiders responded to the firing of their coach and general manager last week with their best game of the season, and running back Josh Jacobs was one of the reasons.

Raiders owner Mark Davis fired coach Josh McDaniels and general manager David Ziegler eight games into their second season with Las Vegas after a 26-14 loss to the Detroit Lions on Monday night dropped the team to 3-5 for the 2023 NFL season.

With linebackers coach Antonio Pierce as the interim head coach, the Raiders defeated the New York Giants 30-6 on Sunday.

Jacobs led the NFL in rushing last season, but he entered the game with 408 rushing yards (with a top single-game total of 77) and two touchdowns in 2023, and Las Vegas hadn’t scored more than 21 points in any game this season.

On Sunday, Jacobs had 98 yards and two touchdowns on 26 carries. Jacobs scored on runs of 2 yards and 1 yard in the second quarter.

Jacobs was among the 44 former Alabama players who got on the field on the ninth Sunday of the NFL’s 104th season.

Six other former Alabama players were involved in the New York-Las Vegas game:

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

· Xavier McKinney started at free safety for the Giants. McKinney led New York with 10 tackles.

· Evan Neal started at right offensive tackle for the Giants. Neal had missed the previous two games because of an ankle injury.

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

· A’Shawn Robinson started at defensive end for the Giants. Robinson made six tackles and recorded one tackle for loss.

· Raiders defensive tackle Byron Young was designated as a game-day inactive.

In the other Sunday games:

Kansas City Chiefs 21, Miami Dolphins 14

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

· Dolphins defensive tackle Raekwon Davis made three tackles.

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

· Tua Tagovailoa started at quarterback for the Dolphins. Tagovailoa completed 21-of-34 passes for 193 yards with one touchdown and no interceptions and ran twice for 7 yards. Tagovailoa threw a 31-yard pass to wide receiver Cedrick Wilson Jr. with 4:47 left in the third quarter for Miami’s first points of the game after the Dolphins trailed 21-0 at halftime.

· Jaylen Waddle started at wide receiver for the Dolphins. Waddle had three receptions for 42 yards and a 12-yard run. Waddle left the game after sustaining a knee injury on Miami’s third offensive snap, and the Dolphins announced his return was questionable, but he was back on the field for the next series.

Minnesota Vikings 31, Atlanta Falcons 28

· Falcons safety DeMarcco Hellams was designated as a game-day inactive. A hamstring injury sidelined the rookie.

Baltimore Ravens 37, Seattle Seahawks 3

· Ravens cornerback Jalyn Armour-Davis was designated as a game-day inactive.

· Marlon Humphrey (Hoover) started at cornerback for the Ravens. Humphrey made one tackle.

· Jarran Reed started at nose tackle for the Seahawks. Reed made one tackle.

Cleveland Browns 27, Arizona Cardinals 0

· Amari Cooper started at wide receiver for the Browns. Cooper had five receptions for 139 yards and one touchdown. Cooper scored Cleveland’s first touchdown when he caught a pass from the Arizona 11-yard line that had been batted up in the air at the line of scrimmage in the end zone. Cooper’s third 100-yard game of 2023 was the 33rd of his career, which is tied for 38th in NFL history with Art Monk and Demaryius Thomas.

· Browns running back Kenyan Drake is on the practice squad and not eligible to play.

· Jerome Ford started at running back for the Browns. Ford ran for 44 yards on 20 carries and caught five passes for 33 yards.

· 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 four tackles and recorded 2.5 sacks of rookie quarterback Clayton Tune. Tomlinson entered Sunday’s contest with 11 games with one sack and five games with one-half sack in his 100-game NFL career.

· Jedrick Wills Jr. started at left offensive tackle for the Browns. In the third quarter, Wills left the field on a cart after an air cast was placed on his right leg. Asked about Willis during his postgame press conference, Cleveland coach Kevin Stefanski said: “No update. We’ll get an MRI in the morning.”

Green Bay Packers 20, Los Angeles Rams 3

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

Houston Texans 39, Tampa Bay Buccaneers 37

· Will Anderson Jr. started at defensive end for the Texans. Anderson made three tackles and recorded one sack.

· Texans linebacker Christian Harris made five tackles, recorded one tackle for loss and broke up one pass.

· Texans wide receiver John Metchie III had a 14-yard reception, but he left the game because of a rib injury.

· Texans linebacker Henry To’oTo’o made four tackles on defense, added another on special teams and forced a fumble. The fumble came on the last play of the game when Tampa Bay was trying to lateral the football down the field.

Washington Commanders 20, New England Patriots 17

· Jonathan Allen started at defensive tackle for the Commanders. Allen made one tackle.

· Patriots defensive tackle Christian Barmore made one tackle, registered two quarterback hits and broke up two passes.

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

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

· Mac Jones started at quarterback for the Patriots. Jones completed 24-of-44 passes for 220 yards with one touchdown and one interception. Jones threw a 14-yard touchdown pass to tight end Hunter Henry as New England cut Washington’s lead to 10-7 with 9:26 remaining in the first half. The interception came on a second-and-8 pass from the Commanders 41-yard line with 30 seconds to go as Jones’ pass went through the hands of wide receiver JuJu Smith-Schuster.

· Commanders defensive tackle Phidarian Mathis did not record any stats.

· Daron Payne (Shades Valley) started at defensive tackle for the Commanders. Payne made two tackles.

· Brian Robinson Jr. (Hillcrest-Tuscaloosa) started at running back for the Commanders. Robinson ran for 63 yards and one touchdown on 18 carries and had a 4-yard reception. Robinson scored the game’s first touchdown on a 9-yard run with 12:05 left in the first half.

· Patriots linebacker Mack Wilson (Carver-Montgomery) did not record any stats.

New Orleans Saints 24, Chicago Bears 17

· Eddie Jackson started at safety for the Bears. Jackson made six tackles.

Indianapolis Colts 27, Carolina Panthers 13

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

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

· Colts cornerback Tony Brown did not record any stats.

· Colts safety Ronnie Harrison is on the practice squad and not eligible to play.

· Ryan Kelly started at center for the Colts.

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

· Bryce Young started at quarterback for the Panthers. Young completed 24-of-39 passes for 173 yards with one touchdown and three interceptions. Young connected with wide receiver DJ Chark on a 5-yard TD pass as Carolina cut the Colts’ lead to 20-10 with 4:34 left in the first half. Indianapolis returned two of its three interceptions for touchdowns.

Philadelphia Eagles 28, Dallas Cowboys 23

· Landon Dickerson started at left guard for the Eagles.

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

· Cowboys linebacker Rashaan Evans (Auburn High) did not record any stats. Dallas elevated Evans from the practice squad to make him eligible to play.

· Jalen Hurts started at quarterback for the Eagles. Hurts completed 17-of-23 passes for 207 yards with two touchdowns and no interceptions and ran for 36 yards and one touchdown on 10 carries. Hurts took over the franchise record for career rushing touchdowns by a quarterback on a 1-yard quarterback sneak with 5:09 left in the first half. With Philadelphia trailing 17-14 at halftime, Hurts threw a 29-yard touchdown pass to wide receiver DeVonta Smith with 11:23 left in the third quarter and a 4-yard touchdown pass to wide receiver AJ Brown with 1:13 left in the third quarter.

· Eagles cornerback Josh Jobe made one tackle on special teams.

· Julio Jones (Foley) started at wide receiver for the Eagles. For the third time in the 160 NFL games that he’s started, Jones did not have a reception.

· Eagles cornerback Eli Ricks made four tackles.

· DeVonta Smith started at wide receiver for the Eagles. Smith had three receptions for 51 yards and one touchdown. Smith caught a 29-yard TD pass from quarterback Jalen Hurts as Philadelphia went in front with 11:23 left in the third quarter.

· Tyler Steen started at right guard for the Eagles. Steen made his first NFL start after playing six offensive snaps in Philadelphia’s first eight games of the season. The rookie recovered a fumble by Eagles running back D’Andre Swift at the Philadelphia 31-yard line with 59 seconds to play.

Cincinnati Bengals 24, Buffalo Bills 18

· Bengals safety Jordan Battle made one tackle.

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

· Bengals quarterback AJ McCarron (St. Paul’s Episcopal) is on the practice squad and not eligible to play.

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

· Bengals tight end Irv Smith Jr. had three receptions for 26 yards and one touchdown. Smith scored his first touchdown of the season on a 7-yard reception from quarterback Joe Burrow with 9:18 left in the first quarter.

· Jonah Williams started at right offensive tackle for the Bengals.

Week 9 started on Thursday night, when the Pittsburgh Steelers defeated the Tennessee Titans 20-16.

Week 9 concludes on Monday, when the Los Angeles Chargers and New York Jets square off at 7:15 p.m. CST at MetLife Stadium in East Rutherford, New Jersey. ABC and ESPN will televise the game.

FOR MORE OF AL.COM’S COVERAGE OF THE NFL, GO TO OUR NFL PAGE

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