London, UK - The Minnesota Vikings maintained their unbeaten start to the season after holding off a late rally from the New York Jets on Sunday to clinch a nail-biting 23-17 victory in the NFL's first London fixture of the season.

Vikings quarterback Sam Darnold, who was drafted by the Jets and then released after three seasons, was well contained by the Jets defense but crucially Minnesota were able to stop Aaron Rodgers at the death.

Rodgers led a 10-play drive as New York searched for a touchdown to win the contest but on 3rd & 10, the Jets quarterback's attempted pass to Mike Williams was picked off by Stephon Gilmore.

It didn't look like being a close contest after the Vikings had opened up a 17-0 lead in the second quarter after they followed up a field goal with a 63-yard interception return from Andrew Van Ginkel.

C.J. Ham then ran in from two yards but the Jets gave themselves some hope with Rodgers moving out of the pocket and finding Allen Lazard at the back of the end-zone to make it 17-7 at the half.

The Jets trailed 20-10 midway through the fourth quarter before Rodgers found Garrett Wilson with a one-yard pass and when the Vikings could only manage a field goal in response, the outcome was in Rodgers' hands.

But the former Green Bay quarterback, who finished with 244 passing yards and two touchdowns, gave up his third interception of the game to leave the Jets on 2-3.

The San Francisco 49ers suffered their third defeat of the campaign with a surprise 24-23 loss to NFC West rivals the Arizona Cardinals.

The 49ers, beaten in Super Bowl LVIII by the Kansas City Chiefs last season, led 23-10 at half-time but Kyler Murray found Elijah Higgins with a two-yard touchdown pass which was followed by a two-point conversion.

A 35-yard Chad Ryland field goal put the Cardinals a point up but 49ers quarterback Brock Purdy had the ball with 1:37 remaining only to be intercepted by Kyzir White, ending the contest.

The Washington Commanders moved to 4-1 on the season, for the first time since 2008, after a 34-13 win over the struggling Cleveland Browns (1-4).

Washington's rookie quarterback Jayden Daniels threw a 41-yard touchdown to Dyami Brown just before half-time to send the Commanders in with a 24-3 lead.

Bryan Robinson Jr. had two rushing touchdowns for the Commanders on what was another miserable day for Browns quarterback Deshaun Watson.

Watson left his coach Kevin Stefanski in disbelief after he walked off the field before a fourth down and goal, forcing the team to take a field goal.

Elsewhere Sunday, a monster last-gasp 59-yard field goal from Ka'imi Fairbairn gave the Houston Texans a 23-20 win over the Buffalo Bills to move them to 4-1.

The Bills had trailed 20-3 early in the third but fought back to tie up the game before a disastrous final possession.

From close to his own end-zone, quarterback Josh Allen, who had earlier received treatment for a head injury, threw three incomplete passes, which led to a punt and then the Texans took advantage with Fairbairn's winning kick.

Joe Burrow threw five touchdowns and 392 passing yards but ended on the losing side as the Cincinnati Bengals fell to a 41-38 overtime loss to the Baltimore Ravens.

Ravens quarterback Lamar Jackson threw for 348 yards and four touchdowns while running back Derrick Henry continued his strong season with 92 yards rushing on 15 carries.

The Jacksonville Jaguars ensured there remains no team without a win this season after a thrilling 37-34 win over Joe Flacco and the Indianapolis Colts.

The Seattle Sounders had a late 47-yard field goal attempt to tie-up their game with the New York Giants, but Jason Myers saw his kick blocked and Bryce Ford-Wheaton recovered the ball and raced home for a touchdown and a 29-20 win.

In the late game, the Dallas Cowboys snatched a dramatic 20-17 road victory over the Pittsburgh Steelers after scoring a touchdown on fourth down with just 20 seconds remaining.

The clash between the two rivals finished just before 1:00 AM local time on Monday morning after severe thunderstorms and lightning delayed kick-off by around 90 minutes.

The Cowboys improved to 3-2 with the win while Pittsburgh fell to 3-2.