Yahoo Finance Bills throttle Dolphins 56-26 on Josh Allen's franchise-record day to clinch No. 2 seed
The Buffalo Bills are rolling into the playoffs on a high note.
Josh Allen threw three touchdowns, Isaiah McKenzie scored three times and Josh Norman had a pick six in the Bills’ 56-26 win over the Miami Dolphins on Sunday.
Buffalo (13-3) poured it on after the Dolphins opened the scoring with a field goal. The victory locked Buffalo in as the No. 2 seed in the AFC behind the Kansas City Chiefs, who have home-field advantage and will be allowed to host 6,700 fans at the stadium beginning next week.
With the Dolphins’ loss, the Tennessee Titans also clinched a playoff berth.
The Bills will host the Indianapolis Colts, an AFC wild-card team, in Round 1 of the playoffs next weekend.
Allen sets Bills franchise record
Allen came into the regular-season finale already holding the franchise record for passing touchdowns and completions in a season. He added to those marks on Sunday and set another.
The third-year quarterback passed Drew Bledsoe for the Bills’ single-season record for passing yards. He needed 39 to surpass Bledsoe’s 4,359 and broke it in the second quarter.
Allen is the first player in league history to throw for at least 4,500 yards and 35 touchdown passes with five rushing touchdowns, per Bills PR.
Josh Allen is the first player in NFL history with at least 4,500 passing yards, 35 touchdown passes and five rushing touchdowns in a single season. pic.twitter.com/P6j03BSvw2
— Buffalo Bills PR (@BuffaloBillsPR) January 3, 2021
Allen hit McKenzie for scores of 7 and 14 yards in the second quarter. A 32-yard touchdown pass to John Brown with a minute on the clock gave the Bills a 28-6 lead at halftime.
Allen completed 18 of 25 passes for 224 yards, three touchdowns and one interception before Matt Barkley took over late in the blowout.
Bills defense, special teams score
The Bills were clicking on every cylinder in the finale and scored in all three phases of the game. It was the first time the Bills scored on offense, defense and special teams since a Christmas Eve game in 2011.
This marks the first time the Bills have scored an offensive touchdown, defensive touchdown and a return touchdown in one game since 2011 (12/24 vs. DEN).
— Buffalo Bills PR (@BuffaloBillsPR) January 3, 2021
McKenzie broke it open for the Bills with his third score midway through the second quarter. He returned a punt 84 yards for the touchdown to make it 21-3 and give Buffalo 21 answered points within seven minutes.
The Dolphins cut the lead out of halftime with a 1-yard touchdown by Myles Gaskin to cap a 75-yard drive. Norman shut down any idea of a comeback by intercepting Tua Tagovailoa and racing 16 yards for the score. The Bills went up 35-13 and didn’t look back.
Tagovailoa completed 35 of 58 passes for 361 yards, one touchdown and three interceptions for Miami. Dean Marlowe had two of the picks, including one near the end zone. It was his first interception in his career.
Bills running back Antonio Williams also had a career first, rushing for two touchdowns within two minutes of each other in his first career game. He had 10 carries for 51 yards.
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