Josh Allen, Bills rout Broncos to clinch 1st AFC East crown in 25 years

The Buffalo Bills captured their first AFC East title in a quarter-century Saturday when 24-year-old quarterback Josh Allen threw for two touchdowns and ran for two more in a 48-19 rout of the Denver Broncos.

The Bills (11-3) scored twice in a 17-second span in the third quarter to ice their fourth straight victory that officially ended the New England Patriots' 11-year reign atop the division.

The Broncos (5-9) have their fourth consecutive losing season for the first time since they had 10 straight sub-.500 campaigns from 1963-72. They also became the first team ever to go five years without making the playoffs following a Super Bowl title.

Allen threw for 359 yards, hitting Stefon Diggs 11 times for 147 yards before a foot injury in the fourth quarter, and Cole Beasley eight times for 112 yards.

Allen also tied Jack Kemp's record of 25 career touchdown runs with his second TD scamper, a 1-yard keeper to the right that was set up by Andre Roberts' 55-yard return of Taylor Russilino's short second-half kickoff.

The Broncos turned to Russolino, whose vagabond career included stops in the XFL, the Canadian Football League and even the Chinese arena league after Brandon McManus went on the COVID-19 reserve list.

Russolino missed a 51-yard field goal and two extra points on a windy day that didn't adversely affect Bills kicker Tyler Bass, who made both field goal attempts and all six extra points.

After Allen's one-yard TD run to start the second half, cornerback Tre'Davious White strip-sacked Drew Lock on Denver's first offensive play. Defensive end Jerry Hughes scooped up the ball at the 21 and weaved his way through several Broncos to make it 35-13.

Allen dismantled Denver's makeshift secondary that had lost five cornerbacks in two weeks, picking on De'Vante Bausby all afternoon while completing 28 of 40 passes. Rookie cornerback Michael Ojemudia held his own but was ejected in the third quarter for slapping Bills rookie receiver Gabriel Davis.

The Bills took a 21-13 halftime lead behind Allen's touchdown throws of 9 yards to tight end Dawson Knox and 22 yards to Jake Kumerow sandwiched around a 24-yard keeper into the end zone. Kumerow became the 13th Bills player to catch a TD pass this year. That tied an NFL record set by seven other teams.

Lock hit tight end Noah Fant with a six-yard touchdown toss with five seconds left in the first half, but Russolino missed the extra point. He also missed the 51-yard field goal attempt way to the right on Denver's opening drive, after which Allen drove the Bills 59 yards in 13 plays on an adventurous drive that included him recovering his own fumble on a sack. He also somehow got off a pass while being dragged down.

Knox broke away from Bausby to catch Allen's nine-yard TD throw, and Allen made it 14-0 when he scampered in from 24 yards to cap a 95-yard drive.

A muffed punt opened the door for Denver's first score, a 10-yard run by Melvin Gordon.

Late in the first half, the Bills had the ball at the Broncos 5-yard line when a trio of penalties had them facing first-and-goal from the 30. Allen soon found Kumerow wide open over the middle from 22 yards to put Buffalo ahead 21-7.

Packers fend off Panthers

Aaron Jones rushed for 145 yards and a touchdown as the Green Bay Packers reached the end zone on their first three series before hanging on to beat the Carolina Panthers 24-16 on Saturday night.

Aaron Rodgers threw for a season-low 143 yards but produced a touchdown pass — his 40th of the season — and a touchdown run for the Packers. Rodgers is the first player in NFL history to throw at least 40 touchdown passes in three separate seasons; he had 45 during his 2011 MVP campaign and 40 in 2016.

Green Bay (11-3) won its fourth straight and took a half-game lead over New Orleans (10-3) in the race for the NFC's best record. The Packers own a tiebreaker over the Saints after winning 37-30 at New Orleans on Sept. 27.

Under the NFL's new 14-team playoff format this year, only the No. 1 seed in each conference earns a first-round bye.

The Packers built a 21-3 halftime lead before withstanding a comeback attempt from a gritty Carolina team playing without injured 2019 All-Pro running back Christian McCaffrey and left tackle Russell Okung.

Carolina had a chance to force overtime when it got the ball at its 20-yard line with 55 seconds and no timeouts remaining. But the Panthers only got to the 26 before losing the ball on downs.

The Panthers (4-10) have lost eight of their last nine games.

Carolina's Teddy Bridgewater was 21 of 35 for 258 yards with a touchdown run, but he also had a critical fumble. D.J. Moore caught six passes for 131 yards, and Joey Slye kicked three field goals.

Rodgers capped Green Bay's first series with a 1-yard pass to tight end Robert Tonyan, who has scored in five consecutive games. After Carolina cut the lead to 7-3 on Slye's 36-yard field goal, Green Bay reached the end zone again as Rodgers ran it in on third-and-goal from the 6.

Trailing 14-3 in the second quarter, Carolina had first-and-goal at the 1 when Bridgewater tried leaping over the line and Green Bay's Krys Barnes knocked the ball loose. Kevin King recovered the fumble at the 4 and raced 48 yards before Moore brought him down.

Jones capped the Packers' ensuing drive by high-stepping untouched for an 8-yard touchdown around the left end.

Carolina scored the first 10 points of the second half on Bridgewater's 13-yard scramble and Slye's 22-yard field goal. That made it 21-13 with 8:39 left. The Panthers settled for the field goal after John Miller's holding penalty nullified a touchdown.

Mason Crosby gave the Packers some breathing room with a 51-yard field goal with 3:39 left, but the Panthers wouldn't go away. After Bridgewater threw a 40-yard completion to Moore, the Panthers sent their field-goal unit on for Slye's 33-yarder cut the lead to 24-16 with 2:04 left. The strategy didn't work then Green Bay stopped Carolina on its final possession.