Allen’s 5 TD passes set Buffalo record
ORCHARD PARK, N.Y. — Josh Allen and the Buffalo Bills erased any doubt of who now rules the AFC East.
Allen set a team playoff record with five touchdown passes, including two to Dawson Knox, and Devin Singletary ran for two scores in the first half of a 4717 throttling of the division rival New England Patriots in a wild-card playoff game Saturday night.
Allen finished 21 of 25 for 308 yards in a game Buffalo scored on each of its seven possessions that didn’t end with a kneeldown.
“That sounds like some Pop Warner stuff,” Bills defensive tackle Harrison Phillips said.
The Bills beat New England for a second time in three weeks and rebounded from an embarrassing 14-10 loss at home on Dec. 6 in which the Patriots attempted just three passes while finishing with 222 yards rushing to counter the blustery conditions.
And don’t think for a moment Bills defensive end Jerry Hughes forgot. He recalled how reporters specifically questioned safeties Jordan Poyer and Micah Hyde as being embarrassed.
“It was a little bit on my mind,” said Hughes, accusing the media of antagonizing his teammates and a defense which led the league in fewest yards and points
allowed.
“There was a lot of disrespect coming toward our defense. And so we felt like the only way to shut people up is to go out there and play football and let you guys sit and watch and talk. And that’s what we’re doing right now, playing football.”
The margin of defeat was the largest in the playoffs for New England in coach Bill Belichick’s tenure, which began in 2000.
Though the winds were
relatively calm Saturday, the Bills were hot in frigid conditions, with a game-time temperature of 7 degrees.
The third-seeded Bills advanced to the divisional round to host either the Cincinnati Bengals, who beat the Raiders earlier in the day, or travel to Kansas City, depending on the outcome of the Chiefs game against Pittsburgh on Sunday. A trip to Kansas City would feature a rematch of last year’s AFC championship game, which
the Chiefs won 38-24.
Buffalo gained 300 yards of total offense, had 19 first downs and built a 27-3 lead at halftime. The 30-point margin of victory and 47 points scored were the second-most by the Bills in a playoff game behind a 51-3 win over the Los Angeles Raiders in the AFC Championship Game on Jan. 20, 1991.
“I think we feel good,” Allen said. “There’s some things that we can clean up
and work on. But at the end of the day, we moved on, we’re on to the next one and it doesn’t matter what we did today. It’s what we do next week. We’ve got to put our foot forward and be ready for the next one.”
New England’s previous worst playoff loss under Belichick was a 33-14 defeat to Baltimore also in the wildcard round on Jan. 10, 2010.
Jones struggled, finishing 24 of 38 for 232 yards with two touchdowns to Kendrick
Bourne, including a 4yarder in the final two minutes. Jones was also intercepted twice, closing his season with a combined seven touchdowns passing and seven interceptions in his final five outings.
“Guys made some unbelievable plays — offense, defense, special teams,” Allen said. “We started off really fast with the touchdown. Micah with the unbelievable play there in the end zone. We just kept the momentum rolling all day today.
“We were happy to get this one.”