Bills’ win ends Pats’ reign
Josh Allen accounts for 4 TDS as team wins 1st AFC East title since ’95
Donning gray caps that declared them AFC East champions for the first time since 1995, the Buffalo Bills acted like this was old hat.
“We’re going to enjoy it on the flight back home, but we know the job ain’t done yet,” defensive end Jerry Hughes said after the Bills’ 48-19 dismantling of the Denver Broncos officially ended New England’s 11-year reign atop the division.
“We still have a lot more to accomplish,” added Hughes, who contributed to the Bills’ biggest blowout of 2020 with a 21-yard fumble return for a touchdown just 17 seconds after Josh Allen’s second TD run.
Sporting blue T-shirts that read “Won but not done,” the Bills (11-3) acted like the Patriots did all those years when they dominated the division and AFC East titles were mere stepping stones.
“It’s great that we’re able to do it the first time in 25 years,” Allen said. “To be the team and to be the quarterback on the team that does it, obviously feels really good. At the same time, that’s not our end goal. We set out to do this in order to get the
chance to do what we really want to do, and that’s to win a Super Bowl championship.”
No disrespect to those celebrating, of course.
“I know our fans and Bills Mafia is probably going crazy right now,” Allen added. “But there’s still a lot on the table.”
Buffalo coach Sean Mcdermott said he received a congratulatory email from Marv Levy, the last Bills coach to win the AFC East.
But he, too, was looking beyond winning a division title.
“We have more work to do,” Mcdermott said.
Allen, who wasn’t even born the last time the Bills won the division in 1995, ran for two touchdowns and threw for two more against the team that bypassed him in the 2018 NFL draft despite his starring at windy Wyoming, just 21⁄ hours north of
2
Denver.
Asked if the snub by Broncos general manager John Elway, who chose linebacker Bradley Chubb
instead, made this milestone moment any more meaningful, Allen responded, “I’m where I’m supposed to be.”
While the Bills have turned things around in Allen’s three seasons, the Broncos (5-9) continue to founder. This loss secured their fourth consecutive losing season, something that hadn’t happened in Denver since the franchise’s futile early days in the 1960s and early ’70s.
They also became the first team ever to go five years without making the playoffs following a Super Bowl title.
Allen threw for 359 yards, hitting Stefon Diggs 11 times for 147 yards before Diggs suffered a foot injury in the fourth quarter. Cole Beasley had eight catches for 112 yards.
Packers 24, Panthers 16:
Aaron Jones rushed for 145 yards and a touchdown as Green Bay reached the end zone on their first three series before hanging on to beat Carolina. Aaron Rodgers threw for a season-low 143 yards but produced a touchdown pass — his 40th of the season — and a touchdown run for the Packers. Rodgers is the first player in NFL history to throw at least 40 touchdown passes in three separate seasons.