New York (AFP) – Josh Allen threw for 317 yards and three touchdowns and ran for three more to power the Buffalo Bills over Tampa Bay 44-32 in a Sunday meeting of NFL contenders. The reigning NFL Most Valuable Player completed 19-of-30 passes and ran six times for 40 yards as Buffalo improved to 7-3, 1.5 games behind NFL-best New England (9-2) in the AFC East division. Allen became the only player in NFL history with multiple games of three rushing and passing touchdowns.
“I’m doing my job,” Allen said. “Things weren’t going the way we wanted, (we were) just trying to find a way to reset. (I) trusted my feet and finding completions; we did that better in the second half.” Allen scored on a two-yard run in the first quarter and threw scoring passes of 43 yards to Tyrell Shavers, 52 yards to Ty Johnson, and 25 yards to James Cook, but the Buccaneers led the Bills 32-31 with 13:38 remaining. Undaunted, Allen drove the Bills 81 yards in eight plays to score on a five-yard run and added a nine-yard touchdown run with 2:35 remaining off an 85-yard march to secure Buffalo’s victory.
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“(We) turned the ball over three times and somehow found a way to win the way we did; that speaks a lot to the resiliency we have in this locker room,” Allen said. “We’re going to try to use this momentum going forward.” Sean Tucker ran for 106 yards and two touchdowns for Tampa Bay (6-4).
In other action, Carolina (6-5) moved within a half-game of the Bucs in the NFC South with a 30-27 overtime victory in Atlanta. Bryce Young threw for 448 yards and three touchdowns while Ryan Fitzgerald kicked a 28-yard field goal on the final play to win for the Panthers. Carlos Santos kicked a 48-yard field goal on the final play to give Chicago a 19-17 victory at Minnesota, keeping the Bears atop the NFC North.
Pittsburgh got a 73-yard interception return touchdown from Kyle Dugger and a 34-yard fumble recovery touchdown from James Pierre in a 34-12 rout of visiting Cincinnati. Jordan Love threw for 174 yards and two touchdowns, including the game-winner on a 17-yard touchdown pass to Christian Watson with 4:02 remaining, as Green Bay won 27-20 at the New York Giants. Trevor Lawrence threw for one touchdown and ran for another while Travis Etienne ran for two touchdowns in a 35-6 rout of the visiting Los Angeles Chargers. Matthew Wright’s 35-yard field goal on the final play gave Houston a 16-13 triumph at Tennessee.
In Madrid, Jack Jones intercepted a Marcus Mariota pass to set up Riley Patterson’s 29-yard field goal in overtime that lifted Miami over Washington 16-13 in the NFL’s first regular-season game in Spain. “It has been a great experience being out here. It was a great game for them to come out here and experience,” said Miami’s De’Von Achane, who had 21 carries for 120 yards and five catches for 45 yards.
Later games include NFC West co-leaders Seattle against the Los Angeles Rams, San Francisco at Arizona, Baltimore at Cleveland, Kansas City at Denver, and Detroit at reigning champion Philadelphia.
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