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Josh Allen took a pounding, doled out punishment and delivered Buffalo its first road playoff victory in more than three decades, 27-24 over Jacksonville in the AFC’s wild-card opener Sunday.
With linebacker Devin Lloyd bearing down on him, Allen found Brandin Cooks for 36 yards just before the two-minute warning and then capped the go-ahead drive with a 1-yard touchdown run in which Jacksonville let him score.
On the play before his score, Allen gained 10 yards on a sneak, refusing to go down while being pushed and pulled to the goal line.
“Just trusting everybody on the field,” Allen said. “Great win, great team win. All we’ve got to do is play our game, find a way to win a football game. We’re on to the next.”
Buffalo will play at Denver or New England next week, a chance to build a road winning streak after a decades-long skid.
“We got to go do it again. We got to go do it again,” Allen said.
Focused on getting rid of the ball quickly and negating Jacksonville’s pass rush most of the game, Allen completed 28 of 35 passes for 273 yards and a touchdown. He ran for two scores, was sacked just once and played turnover-free football. Khalil Shakir caught 12 passes for 82 yards for the Bills.
It was necessary considering NFL rushing leader James Cook was mostly bottled up, finishing with 46 yards on 15 carries.
“You know, we’re going to play for each other, we’re gonna fight to the very last second, and you saw that here today,” Allen said.
Buffalo (13-5) intercepted a deflected pass on Jacksonville’s final drive to seal the victory.
The Bills had been 0-5 on the road in the playoffs under coach Sean McDermott, starting with a 10-3 loss at Jacksonville in the 2017 wild-card round. The Bills had dropped eight consecutive postseason games on the road since winning at Miami in the 1992 AFC championship game. It had been the NFL’s second-longest, active road playoff skid.
The Jaguars (13-5) took the lead with 4:03 to play on Trevor Lawrence’s third TD pass of the game, but they couldn’t hold it against the NFL’s reigning MVP.
Lawrence completed 18 of 30 passes for 207 yards, with TD throws to Brian Thomas Jr., Parker Washington and Travis Etienne. Washington finished with seven catches for 107 yards.
Coach Liam Coen surely will get questioned for not running the ball more against one of the league’s most porous run defences.
Etienne and rookie Bhayshul Tuten combined for 118 yards on just 14 carries.
Allen, meanwhile, showed his toughness. He twice ended up in the medical tent in the first half but didn’t miss a snap. He got hammered in the head twice during one play, with Josh Hines-Allen landing on the side of his helmet right after teammate Travon Walker tackled him to the ground. His left ear appeared to be bleeding, but he got checked out and returned.
Allen later slammed his right hand into the helmet of right guard O’Cyrus Torrence after releasing the ball. And he completed the injury trifecta when his left leg got bent awkwardly on his 2-yard TD run.
Allen stayed on the ground following that last hit from Hines-Allen and gingerly walked to the sideline and back into the tent. But, as usual, the 6-foot-5, 237-pounder powered through and was back on the field making plays.
49ers eliminate defending champion Eagles
Brock Purdy threw a go-ahead 6-yard touchdown pass to Christian McCaffery late in the fourth quarter, San Francisco used a trick play on a TD toss from wide receiver Jauan Jennings, and the 49ers eliminated the defending Super Bowl champion Philadelphia Eagles with a 23-19 wild-card victory Sunday.
The 49ers head to top-seeded Seattle next weekend for an NFC divisional playoff game. The NFC West rivals split the season series.
Purdy threw for 262 yards and got the road win in Philadelphia he failed to get three seasons ago when he was injured in a dismal outing in Philadelphia in a loss in the NFC title game.
Purdy had two passes intercepted in this one by All-Pro cornerback Quinyon Mitchell, but the Eagles scored just three points off the turnovers.
The 49ers could head to Seattle without star tight end George Kittle, who was carted off the field with a right Achilles tendon injury late in the first half.
The Eagles — who won a Super Bowl on a trick play — were foiled by one when Jennings was pitched the ball and rolled right and hit McCaffery on a 29-yard touchdown. The score on the first play of the fourth quarter gave the 49ers a 17-16 lead.
The Eagles would only get Jake Elliott’s 33-yard field goal in the quarter for a brief 19-17 lead.
Philadelphia was again doomed by a lethargic offensive effort that cost it a shot at a repeat championship. Super Bowl MVP Jalen Hurts threw for only 168 yards and a touchdown and the Eagles failed to build off a 13-10 halftime lead by totaling only 36 total yards in the third quarter on 16 plays.
Hurts was incomplete on a last-gasp fourth-and-11 attempt with 43 seconds left that ended their final drive.
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