The Buffalo Bills recovered from an early deficit to beat the Denver Broncos 31-7 and advance to the divisional round of the NFL play-offs.
Rookie quarterback Bo Nix threw a touchdown pass to Troy Franklin on the first drive of the game but that was as good as it got for the Broncos, who failed to score another point.
The Bills were restricted to a Tyler Bass field goal when their first drive stalled in the red zone, but James Cook’s five-yard touchdown run gave the home side a lead they never looked likely to relinquish.
Quarterback Josh Allen threw a 24-yard touchdown pass to Ty Johnson on fourth and one and also connected with Curtis Samuel for a 55-yard score early in the fourth quarter to put the result beyond doubt.
“I’ve been saying all year long that Ty Johnson is the best third-down back in football,” Allen told CBS.
“The things he’s able to do for us, the way we communicate; the pass game, blocking, running the ball – he does it all.
“I’m so happy for him, so proud of him. He made a heck of a play. It was fourth down, no point in holding it and taking a sack there… just gave him a chance.”
The Bills will face Baltimore in the divisional round, a fixture won 35-10 by the Ravens in the regular season.
“They got after us earlier this year, so we’ve got a lot of film to watch,” Allen added.
“It’s a great team with a great quarterback obviously with Lamar (Jackson). He’s one of the most dynamic, if not the most dynamic quarterback in the league.
“He’s so fun to watch but I’ll be watching their defence this week. That’s our focus.”
The Philadelphia Eagles booked their place in the NFC divisional round with a 22-10 win over the Green Bay Packers.
Quarterback Jalen Hurts, playing for the first time in three weeks after a concussion, threw for two touchdown passes and the Eagles defence strangled the Packers’ offence.
The Eagles made a fast start, recovering a fumble on the opening kick and Hurts found Jahan Dotson from 11 yards to open the scoring three plays later.
His second touchdown pass from 24 yards, capped by Dallas Goedert fighting his way into the end zone, opened a 16-3 lead in the third quarter.
Josh Jacobs cut the gap with a one-yard touchdown run at the start of the fourth quarter, but the Eagles edged away with two Jake Elliott field goals.
Jordan Love threw for 212 yards for the Packers but was intercepted three times, the final one from Quinyon Mitchell in the last two minutes sealing their fate.
