The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Bills top short-handed Saints; Raiders defeat Cowboys in OT
Josh Allen and the mercurial Buffalo Bills swung back to a better version of themselves against the reeling New Orleans Saints.
Allen passed for 260 yards and four touchdowns, and the Bills throttled New Orleans’ shorthanded offense in a 31-6 victory Thursday night that sent the injury-ravaged Saints to their fourth straight loss.
“Coach always talks about playoff caliber and that’s the team we want to be,” Allen said. “We want to be the best versions of ourselves ... every time we step on the field.”
Dawson Knox caught two touchdown passes, giving him a franchise-best seven TDS in a single season by a tight end. His second score gave the Bills (7-4) a 24-0 lead.
Stefon Diggs had seven receptions for 74 yards and a touchdown, and running back Matt Breida turned a short pass into a 23-yard score in a dominant victory that came just four days after a 26-point home loss to Indianapolis.
“To come up short the way we did (last weekend), sometimes it can be demoralizing,” said defensive end Mario Addison, who had one of Buffalo’s two sacks of Trevor Siemian. “You’ve just got to flush that and do it all over again. Everybody had a great mindset going into this game and we were just ready.”
The Saints (5-6), playing without dynamic running back Alvin Kamara for a third straight game, were shut out for three quarters. They finally scored on Siemian’s 11-yard pass to tight end Nick Vannett on the first play of the fourth.
White out for season
The Buffalo Bills righted their ship, at least momentarily, with the victory over the Saints on Thursday night.
Now, they’ll have to navigate the rest of their playoff run without their most important defensive player. The team announced Friday that Pro Bowl cornerback Tre’davious White would miss the rest of the 2021 season with a torn ACL suffered in the second quarter.
White, 27, has started 72 games in his Bills career and has become one of the highest-paid cornerbacks in the NFL, a two-time Pro Bowl selection and an All-pro in 2019.
He underwent an MRI on Friday morning. The team confirmed the worst fears of Bills fans later in the afternoon.
Raiders 36, Cowboys 33 (OT): Daniel Carlson kicked a 29-yard field goal in overtime after a fourth pass-interference penalty by Dallas cornerback Anthony Brown kept the drive alive, and the Raiders ended a three-game losing streak by beating the Cowboys on Thursday.
Carlson’s career-best fifth field goal came after Brown was called for interference on Zay Jones on third-and-18.
“The penalties obviously helped,” said Las Vegas quarterback Derek Carr, whose 373 yards passing included a 56-yard touchdown to Desean Jackson for the first points. “If they weren’t holding, we probably would have hit those plays.”