Dec. 07--Six days before college football recognizes its most outstanding player of the season, the NFL got in on the Heisman Trophy hype.
Five former winners -- Cam Newton, Sam Bradford, Jameis Winston, Marcus Mariota and Carson Palmer -- had huge days to help their teams to victory Sunday as the league entered its stretch run for the playoffs.
The Carolina Panthers remained the NFL's only undefeated team by narrowly winning at New Orleans, 41-38, with Newton throwing for five touchdowns and further fueling his most-valuable-player campaign.
While his stats weren't gaudy -- 14 for 24, 120 yards and two touchdowns -- Bradford was under center for Philadelphia's 35-28 stunner at New England. The Eagles were 9 1/2-point underdogs -- the same spread the 9-2 Cincinnati Bengals had over the 2-9 Cleveland Browns.
Palmer threw for 356 yards and two touchdowns in Arizona's 27-3 win over the St. Louis Rams, burnishing his own MVP credentials as the Cardinals won their sixth straight to maintain their three-game lead in the NFC West. He is second in the league in quarterback rating (105.9) and touchdown passes (27) and third in yards passing (3,337).
Then, there were the two most recent Heisman winners, Tampa Bay's Winston and Tennessee's Mariota. They were the first two picks in last spring's NFL draft and were an undeniable 1-2 punch Sunday.
Winston directed the Buccaneers to a 23-19 win over Atlanta, and Mariota won a 42-39 shootout with Jacksonville.
Heisman winners aren't always great NFL players, but these two rookies are leaving their mark. Each had at least one All-DVR run. Mariota rambled 87 yards for a touchdown in the fourth quarter as the Titans snapped an 11-game home losing streak.
Winston's big run was shorter but even more astounding. On third and 19, he dropped back to pass, couldn't find anyone open, then tucked the ball and took off. He appeared to be stopped short of the first down, but he somehow bounced out of the pile and continued the run for a total of 20 yards.
"That play was amazing," Buccaneers running back Doug Martin said. "I thought he was down, but that type of effort is contagious and that's the type of effort that we need on this team."
Mariota ran for 112 yards and threw for three touchdowns and 268 yards. He has four games with at least three touchdown passes, tying Peyton Manning for the most ever by a rookie.
The Titans snapped an 11-game home losing streak, winning in Nashville for the first time since Oct. 12, 2014 -- their only home win last year. Still, they're largely playing for pride now at 3-9.
The stakes are much higher for the Buccaneers, who at 6-6 are still in the playoff mix. The team they beat is 6-6 too, but the Falcons have lost five in a row and six of seven since getting off to a 5-0 start.
"That's as tough as it gets for us," Atlanta Coach Dan Quinn said. "The finish was at hand. For us, finishing is about doing right longer, and we didn't get that done."
