Terps in the NFL: Diggs, Moore and Johnson all score

Here’s how former Maryland football players performed in the NFL this past week.

In the NFL’s Week 4 slate, Maryland football’s two most recognizable alumni both scored crucial touchdowns that ended up being the difference maker in one-score wins.

In the Houston Texans’ 24-20 win against the Jacksonville Jaguars, the Texans and head coach DeMeco Ryans continued to utilize wide receiver Stefon Diggs in unique ways.

Diggs caught five of his nine targets for 68 yards against Houston’s division rival. But a week after throwing the first completed pass of his career, Diggs again found a new form of contributing, reversing fields on a first quarter handoff and sprinting in for a 6-yard touchdown. That score — the Texans’ first on Sunday — was Diggs’ first career rushing touchdown through 139 NFL games played.

Similar to Diggs’ score, a touchdown by Chicago’s D.J. Moore in the Bears’ 24-18 win over the Los Angeles Rams came from an athletic play by the wide receiver.

Moore finished the game with just three catches for a season-low 22 yards. But his toe-tapping effort on a 9-yard touchdown, the game’s only passing TD, was enough to ignite the Soldier Field crowd.

With Moore and Diggs each hauling in a touchdown, Sunday was the first time since Week 5 of last season that both Maryland alums found the end zone in the same weekend. That week is best remembered for Moore’s monster performance against the Washington Commanders, where he pulled in eight catches for a career-high 230 yards and three touchdowns on Thursday Night Football.

For the second straight week, Buffalo running back Ty Johnson scored in a primetime matchup for the Bills. In the third quarter of Buffalo’s 35-10 loss at the Baltimore Ravens, Johnson bounced a run outside towards the left pylon for a 3-yard touchdown. Johnson’s score was the Bills’ lone touchdown on Sunday Night Football and represented the first time the sixth-year back scored in consecutive weeks since 2021.

Los Angeles Chargers rookie cornerback Tarheeb Still made his NFL debut on Sunday and showed new versatility in the Chargers’ 17-10 loss to the Kansas City Chiefs. Coming in on a second quarter-blitz, Still assisted on a third-and-long sack of Chiefs’ quarterback Patrick Mahomes. Still had zero sacks across his final two seasons at Maryland, but added half a sack to go with 5 total tackles in his first NFL game.

Other players

• Las Vegas Raiders cornerback Jakorian Bennett assisted on a season-high three tackles.
• Tennessee Titans tight end Chigoziem Okonkwo caught both of his targets for 15 yards for the second time in three weeks.
• New York Giants cornerback Deonte Banks made two tackles on Thursday Night Football.
• Las Vegas Raiders offensive tackle DJ Glaze appeared off the bench at right tackle.
• Pittsburgh Steelers offensive tackle Spencer Anderson played as a reserve.
• Cleveland Browns defensive tackle Quinton Jefferson assisted on a tackle.
• Baltimore Ravens safety Beau Brade (inactive) and defensive end Yannick Ngakoue both didn’t play on Sunday Night Football.
• Seattle Seahawks tight end Tyler Mabry did not play.
• Jacksonville Jaguars safety Darnell Savage Jr. was inactive due to injury.
• Cleveland Browns offensive tackle Michael Dunn remained on the reserve/non-football illness list.
• Tampa Bay Buccaneers wide receiver Rakim Jarrett remained on injured reserve.