Tampa Bay Buccaneers 18-24 Buffalo Bills: Josh Allen contributes three touchdowns to lead Bills to much-needed victory
Josh Allen scores the 43rd rushing touchdown of his career to tie Steve Young for the second most of all time as he leads the Buffalo Bills to a 24-18 victory over the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, following on from Sunday's shock defeat to the New England Patriots.
Last Updated: 27/10/23 10:14am
Josh Allen threw two touchdown passes and ran for another as the Buffalo Bills hung on to beat the Tampa Bay Buccaneers 24-18 on Thursday night.
After a week of questions about his "low-energy" approach and Buffalo's slow-starting offense, Allen came through for the Bills (5-3), throwing for 324 yards on 31-of-40 passing. He had been listed on the Bills' report with a right shoulder injury and was checked in the blue medical tent in the second quarter, but remained in the game.
Gabriel Davis had a career-best nine catches for 87 yards and a touchdown, and rookie tight end Dalton Kincaid scored his first career TD on a 22-yard catch.
Buffalo's defense limited the Buccaneers' Baker Mayfield-led attack to less than 200 yards of offense through three quarters and 302 overall. And Bills punter Sam Martin contributed by landing three punts inside Tampa Bay's 10.
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Mayfield tried to rally Tampa Bay (3-4) late. He threw a 24-yard touchdown pass to Mike Evans, followed by a two-point conversion to Cade Otton, to get the Buccaneers within six with 2:44 remaining. But it took Tampa Bay 17 plays and 7:21 to march 92 yards for that score.
The game ended when Mayfield's Hail Mary attempt from his own 45 fell between several players in the end zone. The Buccaneers have lost three straight and four of five since opening 2-0.
Buffalo built a 17-10 lead at half-time and never trailed. That was seven more points than the Bills had combined for in the first halves of their previous three games, two of which they lost.
Mayfield finished 25 of 42 for 237 yards and two touchdowns, including a three-yarder to Chris Godwin, who was the closest to Mayfield's final throw when it fell to the turf untouched. Running back Rachaad White led the Bucs with seven catches for 70 yards and had nine carries for 39 yards.
Tampa Bay's defense was missing both starting defensive tackles. Vita Vea was ruled out with a groin injury, and Logan Hall hurt his groin during pre-game warmups.
Allen took advantage, topping 300 yards for the 23rd time in his career.
Stats leaders:
Tampa Bay Buccaneers
- Passing: Bake Mayfield, 25/42, 237 yards, 2 TDs
- Rushing: Rachaad White, 9 carries, 39 yards
- Receiving: Rachaad White, 7 catches, 70 yards
Buffalo Bills
- Passing: Josh Allen, 31/40, 324 yards, 2 TDs, 1 INT
- Rushing: James Cook, 14 carries, 67 yards
- Josh Allen, 7 carries, 41 yards, 1 TD
- Receiving: Khalil Shakir, 6 catches, 92 yards,
- Gabe Davis, 9 catches, 87 yards, 1 TD
His touchdown run was the 43rd of his career, matching Steve Young for second-most all-time among quarterbacks. And he now has 199 combined passing and rushing touchdowns, tying Hall of Famer Dan Marino for second among quarterbacks in their first six seasons.
Allen said on Tuesday he might be partially responsible for Buffalo's slow-starting offense after consciously making the decision to rein in his emotions last month. Allen called it a "low positive" approach and acknowledged he might have gone too far in reducing his energy level.
The only thing subdued about Allen was his touchdown celebration following his 13-yard scoring run. Allen stood in the left corner of the end zone in front of a cheering crowd and casually walked up the sideline after being congratulated by several teammates.
On the play before his scoring run, Allen was sacked along the sideline, and that hit is what sent him to the medical tent to have his shoulder evaluated. He returned in time for Buffalo's next drive but threw an interception when his pass deflected off the fingers of Antoine Winfield Jr. and was caught by defensive lineman William Gholston.
The Buccaneers scored two plays later on Mayfield's pass to Godwin to tie the game at 10-all.
Allen then led Buffalo on a nine-play, 75-yard drive, capped by the quarterback rolling to his right and throwing across his body to find Kincaid open over the middle.
Scoring summary
Scoring summary
FIRST QUARTER | |
---|---|
Buccaneers 0-3 Bills | Tyler Bass 37-yard field goal |
SECOND QUARTER | |
Buccaneers 0-10 Bills | Josh Allen 13-yard rushing TD (extra point) |
Buccaneers 3-10 Bills | Chase McLaughlin 57-yard field goal |
Buccaneers 10-10 Bills | Baker Mayfield three-yard TD pass to Chris Godwin (extra point) |
Buccaneers 10-17 Bills | Josh Allen 22-yard TD pass to Dalton Kincaid |
THIRD QUARTER | |
Buccaneers 10-24 Bills | Josh Allen four-yard TD pass to Gabe Davis |
FOURTH QUARTER | |
Buccaneers 18-10 Bills | Baker Mayfield 24-yard TD pass to Mike Evans (successful two-point conversion) |
What did they say?
Bills quarterback Josh Allen on bringing a higher energy level: "Personally, I feel like I did, but I will let you guys write about that whether you guys thought I did or not. I spread the ball around and I felt like, mentality wise, we were in a good spot."
Bills wide receiver Khalil Shakir: "We just came to this game with a different mindset. Obviously, ups and downs, but (coach Sean) McDermott tells us don't ride the roller coaster. Stay consistent as a team and stay on the gas pedal."
Buccaneers head coach Todd Bowles: "We fought our tails off and we understand how hard we fought, but we keep making small mistakes that cost us the game. But I don't believe for one bit that anybody in that locker room believes we can't win ball games."
What's next?
The Buccaneers hit the road to face the Houston Texans next Sunday, while the Buffalo Bills return to Cincinnati to take on the Bengals for the first time since safety Damar Hamlin went into cardiac arrest on the field during January's matchup, which was eventually cancelled.