Josh Allen leads balanced offence as Bills dominate Broncos in wild-card win
Josh Allen threw two touchdown passes, James Cook scored on a five-yard run and finished with 120 yards rushing, and the Buffalo Bills leaned on a balanced offensive attack in a 31-7 win over the Denver Broncos in a wild-card playoff game on Sunday.
The Bills methodically wore down the Broncos by scoring on six of their first seven drives in building a 31-7 lead in an outing where they finished with a 23-minute edge in time of possession.
And Buffalo didn't flinch after rookie Bo Nix capped Denver's five-play game-opening drive with a 43-yard touchdown pass to Troy Franklin.
With Buffalo leading 13-7, Allen broke the game open with a 24-yard touchdown pass to sliding running back Ty Johnson in the back of the end zone on fourth-and-1 with 3:06 left in the third quarter.
"I've been saying it all year long that Ty Johnson's the best third down back in football," Allen said. "The things that he's able to do for us, the way we communicate, him in the pass game, blocking and running the ball. He does it all. I'm so happy for him, so proud of him. He made a heck of a play. It was fourth down, no point in holding it and taking a sack there. They played man (coverage) and I just gave him a chance."
On Buffalo's next possession, Allen completed a 55-yard pass to Curtis Samuel on the first snap of the fourth quarter.
The five-time defending AFC East champion Bills advanced to the divisional round for a fifth straight postseason, and will face the third-seeded Baltimore Ravens next weekend.
The Ravens, coming off a 28-14 win over Pittsburgh on Saturday, routed Buffalo 35-10 at Baltimore in Week 4 this season. The outing will mark the second playoff meeting between Allen and Baltimore quarterback Lamar Jackson after Buffalo defeated the Ravens 17-3 in the 2020 divisional round.
"Well, they got after us earlier this year," Allen said of facing the Ravens again. "So we've got a lot of film to watch. It's a great team. It's a great quarterback, obviously with Lamar and what he's able to do. He's one of the most dynamic, if not the most dynamic, quarterback in the league. He's so fun to watch. But I'll be watching their defence this week, so that's our focus."
Eagles down Packers
Jalen Hurts tossed two touchdown passes in his first game since a late-season concussion, Dallas Goedert threw three stiff-arms on a rugged touchdown catch and the Philadelphia Eagles rode their NFL-best defence to a 22-10 wild-card playoff win over the Green Bay Packers on Sunday night.
Hurts threw for a modest 131 yards but played with no hesitation in his return from a three-week layoff after a concussion in December. He started strong — six straight completions to open the game — and held off the Packers with a 24-yard touchdown pass to Goedert in the third quarter that will be forever stamped on the franchise's postseason highlight reel.
Commanders win 1st playoff game in 19 years
Jayden Daniels ran for a critical first down to set up Zane Gonzalez's 37-yard field goal that clanged off the right upright and went through as time expired, and the Washington Commanders beat the Tampa Bay Buccaneers 23-20 in an NFC wild-card game Sunday night for the franchise's first NFL playoff win in 6,945 days.
Daniels, playing with a bandage beneath his right eye after his face was bloodied, became the third rookie quarterback in three years to win a playoff game.
The Commanders (13-5) will face the No. 1 seed Detroit Lions (15-2) in the divisional round.
