New York (AFP) – Josh Allen’s six touchdowns sparked the Buffalo Bills to a 44-32 victory over Tampa Bay on Sunday while the Denver Broncos edged Kansas City 22-19 for their eighth NFL triumph in a row. Reigning NFL Most Valuable Player Allen threw for 317 yards and three touchdowns and ran for three more to power the Bills, while Denver’s Bo Nix threw for 295 yards as the Broncos matched New England for the league’s best record at 9-2.
Allen completed 19-of-30 passes and ran six times for 40 yards as Buffalo improved to 7-3, just behind New England in the AFC East division. Allen became the only player in NFL history to have three rushing and passing touchdowns in a game twice. The only other player to do it once was Otto Graham in 1954. “I’m doing my job,” Allen said. “Things weren’t going the way we wanted, just trying to find a way to reset. Trusted my feet and finding completions, we did that better in the second half.”
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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 (6-4) led 32-31 with 13:38 remaining. Undaunted, Allen drove the Bills 81 yards and had a five-yard touchdown run, then capped an 85-yard march with a nine-yard touchdown run with 2:35 remaining. “Turned the ball over three times and somehow found a way to win,” Allen said. “That speaks a lot to the resiliency we have. We’re going to try to use this momentum going forward.”
Denver’s Wil Lutz kicked his fifth field goal, a 35-yarder on the final play, as the Broncos improved to 6-0 at home. “It was huge,” Nix said. “This was a must-win.” The Chiefs fell to 5-5, their worst start since 2015, as they try to reach a sixth Super Bowl in seven seasons. “It’s going to be tough to get back in the division race,” said Chiefs quarterback Patrick Mahomes. “But our goal is to get back in the playoffs and try to make a run at it, and all you can focus on is next week.”
At cold and windy Philadelphia, the reigning NFL champion Eagles outlasted Detroit 16-9 as Jalen Hurts threw for 135 yards and ran for 31 yards and a touchdown. In a showdown of NFC West co-leaders, Matthew Stafford threw for two touchdowns, and Los Angeles Rams defenders intercepted four passes in a 21-19 home victory over Seattle.
Carolina (6-5) moved within a half-game of Tampa Bay 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 the winning 28-yard field goal on the last play. Carlos Santos kicked a 48-yard field goal as time expired to give Chicago a 19-17 victory at Minnesota.
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. The Steelers, however, lost 41-year-old quarterback Aaron Rodgers to a left wrist injury in the second quarter. Pittsburgh safety Jalen Ramsey was ejected for throwing a punch at Cincinnati receiver Ja’Marr Chase after video appeared to show Chase spitting at Ramsey.
Jordan Love threw for 174 yards and two touchdowns, including the game-winner on a 17-yard touchdown pass to Christian Watson, in Green Bay’s 27-20 victory at the New York Giants. Trevor Lawrence threw for one touchdown and ran for another in Jacksonville’s 35-6 home rout of the Los Angeles Chargers. Brock Purdy threw for three touchdowns and Christian McCaffrey ran for two more in San Francisco’s 41-22 victory at Arizona.
Matthew Wright’s 35-yard field goal on the final play gave Houston a 16-13 triumph at Tennessee. At Madrid, Jack Jones intercepted a Marcus Mariota pass to set up Riley Patterson’s 29-yard field goal in overtime, lifting Miami over Washington 16-13 in the NFL’s first regular-season game in Spain. Baltimore tight end Mark Andrews ran 35 yards for the winning touchdown with 2:31 remaining in the Ravens’ 23-16 victory at Cleveland.
© 2024 AFP
