Patrick Mahomes threw three touchdown passes as AFC West leaders the Kansas City Chiefs beat the Cleveland Browns 37-21.

Mahomes, who passed two of those passes to Travis Kelce, continued the best start by an NFL quarterback in 68 years to inflict defeat on the Browns in their first game since the sacking of coach Hue Jackson.

In only his second season, Mahomes, who made just one start as a rookie, already has 29 touchdown passes and 3,185 yards, the most by any quarter-back from 10 games since 1950.

Kareem Hunt also found the end zone three times for the Chiefs on Sunday, two scoring runs and one receiving.

Three touchdowns in seven minutes helped the New Orleans Saints condemn the Los Angeles Rams to their first defeat of the season following a 45-35 result.

Drew Brees found Tre’Quan Smith for a four-yard score, Benjamin Watson caught a 13-yard pass and Alvin Kamara punched in a one-yard run as the Saints went into the half 35-17 up.

The Rams were not done, tying the game at 35-35 with a Cooper Kupp 41-yard pass with 9:48 left to play.

But Will Lutz scored a field goal for a three-point lead and Michael Thomas caught a late 72-yard reception for a touchdown.

Ben Roethlisberger threw two touchdown passes and ran for a score to help the Pittsburgh Steelers overcome the Baltimore Ravens 23-16.

James Conner rushed for 107 yards to catch Roethlisberger’s throw, with Antonio Brown claiming the other touchdown.

Steelers, top of AFC North, have now won four games in a row since falling to the Ravens at home in late September, while the Ravens scored only one touchdown in their third-straight defeat.

Julio Jones ended his 12-game touchdown drought while Matt Ryan threw for 350 yards and four scores during the Atlanta Falcons’ 38-14 defeat of the Washington Redskins.

Jones twisted away from Washington defender Ha Ha Clinton-Dix and into the end zone for his first touchdown catch since November last year.

The result was a third win in a row for the Falcons, while the Redskins, top of NFC, paid the price for some poor tackling.

Cam Newton completed 19 of 25 passes for two touchdowns during the Carolina Panthers’ 42-28 win over the Tampa Bay Buccaneers.

Newton threw passes of 19 yards to Curtis Samuel and 17 yards to Greg Olsen.

Christian McCaffrey also scored twice for the Panthers as they recorded a 10th-straight home win.

Rookie linebacker Jerome Baker scored the only touchdown to help the Miami Dolphins beat the New York Jets 13-6.

Baker intercepted Sam Darnold with 11 minutes left, while the Dolphins also defended resiliently,

Elsewhere, Jordan Howard scored two touchdowns as the Chicago Bears defeated the Buffalo Bills 41-9, the Minnesota Vikings beat the Detroit Lions 24-9 and the New England Patriots saw off the Green Bay Packers 31-17.

The Los Angeles Chargers beat the Seattle Seahawks 25-17 and the Houston Texans edged out the Denver Broncos 19-17.