New York (AFP) – Josh Allen produced a monster performance as the Buffalo Bills trampled over the Jacksonville Jaguars 47-10 to maintain their perfect start to the NFL season on Monday. Bills quarterback Allen was in superb form as Buffalo buried the Jags in an avalanche of first-half scoring that saw them power into a 34-3 lead at the break.
Allen threw four touchdowns and finished with 263 passing yards while Buffalo’s defense gave Jaguars quarterback Trevor Lawrence a torrid time at the Bills’ Highmark Stadium. Lawrence was sacked four times as the Bills sent winless Jacksonville sliding to their third defeat of the season from three games.
Bills running back James Cook grabbed the first touchdown of the game, rushing over from six yards to cap a 10-play, 70-yard opening drive. After Jacksonville punted their first possession, Buffalo were back in the end zone on their next drive when Dalton Kincaid collected Allen’s short pass to make it 13-0 after Tyler Bass’s extra point.
Cam Little got Jacksonville on the board with a 41-yard field goal early in the second quarter, but Allen then took over with touchdown passes to Keon Coleman, Khalil Shakir, and Ty Johnson to leave Buffalo up by 31 points at the end of the second quarter. The biggest roar of a one-sided first-half came when safety Damar Hamlin — who almost died on the field after suffering a cardiac arrest in a game against Cincinnati last year — snagged the first interception of his career to set up the drive which led to Shakir’s touchdown.
– ‘Special place’ –
Hamlin was mobbed by his Bills teammates after his maiden pick, and said they had been instrumental in his recovery last year. “They were a big part of me being able to make this type of comeback,” Hamlin said. “They were even happier than I was to get my first interception. That just shows the community we have here in Buffalo. It’s a special place.”
There was a flicker of offense from Jacksonville early in the second half, with Lawrence stitching together an eight-play, 70-yard drive that finished with Brenton Strange gathering a six-yard touchdown pass. But two more Bass field goals left Buffalo 40-10 up before Ray Davis’s late rushing touchdown from three yards completed the scoring.
In Monday’s other game, the Cincinnati Bengals were left still looking for their first win of the season after suffering a 38-33 home defeat to the Washington Commanders. Bengals quarterback Joe Burrow made a bright start, finding Ja’Marr Chase for a 41-yard touchdown to open the scoring in the first quarter.
But thereafter Washington took over with rookie quarterback Jayden Daniels showing a composure that belied his 23 years to guide the Commanders to a superb win. Daniels finished with two touchdowns and 254 yards from 21 of 23 passes — a record 91.3 percent completion rate for a rookie quarterback. The Bengals, who had trailed by 15 early in the third quarter, got back to within five points after Burrow found Chase in the end zone in the fourth quarter.
Daniels, though, nervelessly converted a fourth down opportunity to keep a drive alive and then hit Terry McLaurin in the end zone for a 27-yard touchdown to make it 38-26. Bengals rusher Zack Moss cut the Washington lead with 40 seconds remaining in the fourth quarter, skipping over from one yard out to help make it 38-33, but it was too little too late for the home side.
© 2024 AFP
