Josh Allen put on a clinic as he threw for 308 yards and five touchdowns while also rushing for 66 yards to lead the Buffalo Bills to a 47-17 demolition of the New England Patriots in Saturday night's Wild Card matchup.
Story of the Game
The Bills became the first team in the Super Bowl era to score a touchdown on each of its opening seven drives in a playoff game, having entered the break up 27-3 after registering 300 of their 482 total yards at a staggering 9.1 yards per play.
Dawson Knox and Devin Singletary each logged a pair of first-half touchdowns, before Emmanuel Sanders, Gabriel Davis and offensive tackle Tommy Doyle all enjoyed end zone visits in a statement win for Sean McDermott's side.
Making his playoff debut, rookie Patriots quarterback Mac Jones was sacked twice and hit on five occasions by Buffalo's No 1 ranked defense on his way towards finishing 24 of 38 passing for 232 yards, two touchdowns and two interceptions.
Such was the Bills' dominance that offensive lineman Doyle added his name to the scorers' chart with a one-yard touchdown reception to make it 47-10 on the back of Davis' 19-yard score at the beginning of the fourth quarter.
It had become a 30-point game with 8.48 to play in the third as Allen capped a dink-and-dunk march with a 34-yard haymaker to Sanders to maximise Levi Wallace's interception on the previous series.
Jones then tossed a three-yard strike to a wide-open Kendrick Bourne, who doubled his tally by snagging a four-yard consolation touchdown inside the final two minutes, the damage, though, having ultimately been done during a stampeding first half.
The Bills had set the tone for their dominance when Allen iced a nine-play, 70-yard opening drive with an eight-yard touchdown lob to Knox at the back of the end zone having sparked the possession with a marauding 26-yard run.
And Buffalo's defense held up their league-leading end of the bargain when Micah Hyde swooped in to snag a stunning interception on Jones' downfield end zone shot to Nelson Agholor.
Allen took full advantage as he picked out Knox again for an 11-yard score before the Bills pushed their lead to 20-0 on Singletary's three-yard run, the extra point attempt being blocked by Deatrich Wise Jr.
Singletary scooted off tackle from 16 yards out for his second to make it 27-0 until Nick Folk's 44-yard field goal prevented a first-half shutout.
Stats Leaders
Patriots
- Passing: Mac Jones, 24/38, 232 yards, 2 TDs, 2 INTs
- Rushing: Damien Harris, nine carries, 30 yards
- Receiving: Kendrick Bourne, seven catches, 77 yards, 2 TDs
Bills
- Passing: Josh Allen, 21/25, 308 yards, 5 TDs
- Rushing: Devin Singletary, 16 carries, 81 yards, 2 TDs
- Receiving: Dawson Knox, five catches, 89 yards, 2 TDs
Scoring Summary
"This was a warning shot"
Here's what the Sky Sports NFL experts had to say...
Brian Baldinger: "Quarterbacks are forced into mistakes because of one or two things typically, either they're pressured into mistakes or they're confused into mistakes. And the Patriots were unable to do that on any play to Josh Allen. It looked like Jeff Reinebold back in college when he got the answers to the test before the test so he always aced the test. He had all the answers."
Shaun Gayle: "That puts any defense back on their heels, when they know they have to contend with not just a mobile quarterback, let's be honest about this, this was a warning shot across the league for future games. You have to have a special defense to take these options away from him. It's not only his ability to pass the ball but also to buy time, run through tackles, all these things when you look at your scouting report as a defender, that gets bigger and bigger and bigger."
Jeff Reinebold: "Brian Daboll (Bills offensive coordinator), if his resume doesn't go to the top of everybody's list now because of that performance against Bill Belichick, this is not just another football team he dismantled tonight, it was Bill Belichick and the New England Patriots. Better get ready, because there's a new king in that division."
What's Next?
The third-seeded Bills await to find out who they will face in next weekend's AFC Divisional Round playoff, while it's back to an offseason of adding pieces around Jones for Bill Belichick and the Patriots.
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