Josh Allen threw four touchdowns in the first half as the Buffalo Bills scored on each of their first five drives in a 47-10 win over a misfiring Trevor Lawrence and the struggling Jacksonville Jaguars on Monday night.
Allen went 22 of 28 for 247 yards in the first 30 minutes alone, with completions to nine receivers. He only attempted two passes after half-time, finishing 23 of 30 for 263 yards before Mitchell Trubisky relieved him.
James Cook opened the scoring with a six-yard run before Allen connected on scoring strikes to Dalton Kincaid, Keon Coleman, Khalil Shakir and Ty Johnson.
“It feels good. I’ll tell you that,” said Allen. “This could have easily been a game where we had 10 days off and let up on the gas, but didn’t sense that from our guys,” Allen said. “A lot of urgency throughout the week.”
Jacksonville Jaguars
Buffalo Bills
Buffalo’s defense limited the Jaguars to 70 yards, five first downs and a field goal in five first-half possessions. The game was essentially over when Allen completed a 16-yard touchdown pass to Johnson 19 seconds before half-time.
Safety Damar Hamlin contributed to the rout with his first career interception, picking off Lawrence’s overthrown pass intended for rookie Brian Thomas Jr. Five plays later, Allen completed a 27-yard touchdown pass to Shakir, who caught the ball at the 22 and broke two tackles running up the right sideline for the score.
Hamlin’s interception came some 21 months after he went into cardiac arrest and had to be resuscitated on the field in a game at Cincinnati, which was also played on a Monday night.
Lawrence finished 21 of 38 for 178 yards with a touchdown and interception. He has lost eight straight starts dating to last season, and hasn’t won since he had 364 yards passing in a 24-21 victory at Houston on November 26.
“I’m not playing my best right now and that’s frustrating,” Lawrence said. “It’s really as simple as playing well, consistently well, and we’re just not doing that right now.”
He was yanked with 7:45 left and watched from the sideline with his hands on his collar as backup Mac Jones was sacked and lost a fumble three snaps into his first possession. That led to Ray Davis scoring on a three-yard run.
The Bills visit Lamar Jackson’s Baltimore Ravens in a blockbuster Monday Night Football clash in Week Four, while the Jaguars take on CJ Stroud’s Houston Texans on Sunday.
Rookie Jayden Daniels threw for two touchdowns and ran for a score as the Washington Commanders stunned Joe Burrow and the Cincinnati Bengals 38-33 in the NFL’s other Monday night matchup.
Daniels finished 21 of 23 for 254 yards, with the No. 2 overall draft pick setting an NFL rookie record for completion percentage at 91.3. The Commanders (2-1) scored on every possession except for kneel-downs at the end of each half and have not punted or turned the ball over in their last two games.
Neither Washington nor Cincinnati punted or turned it over, the first time that has happened in the Super Bowl era.
Washington Commanders
Cincinnati Bengals
Burrow threw for a season-best 324 yards and three scores, but the Bengals (0-3) could not keep up, and are now off to their worst start since losing their first 11 games in 2019.
Daniels’ first career touchdown pass was a one-yard toss to eligible tackle Trent Scott to start the second half, the second straight game in which the Bengals gave up a touchdown to a lineman.
Later in the evening Daniels sat tight in the pocket, took a hit and connected with Terry McLaurin from 27 yards out with 2:10 remaining for the game-sealing score.
His strike had followed rushing touchdowns from himself, Brian Robinson Jr. and Austin Ekeler in the first half, during which Bengals kicker Evan McPherson made two field goals and missed another.
Cincinnati cut the deficit to 31-26 on Burrow’s second touchdown pass to Ja’Marr Chase, but the two-point conversion failed. Daniels then led a drive that ate up seven-and-a-half minutes and ended with the touchdown pass to McLaurin.
The Commanders continue their season against the Arizona Cardinals on Sunday as the Bengals look for their first win on the road at the Andy Dalton-led Carolina Panthers.
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