ORCHARD PARK, N.Y. — Josh Allen and the Buffalo Bills opened the season with Super Bowl aspirations.
One week into the playoffs, their objective remains in sight — but barely.
Allen shrugged off a three-turnover outing, and the three-time defending AFC East champion Bills avoided a major collapse by rallying to pull out a 34-31 victory over the AFC’s seventh-seeded and injury-depleted Miami Dolphins in a wild-card playoff on Sunday.
In acknowledging he was hardly at his best, Allen said all that mattered was the final score.
“One-week seasons, man, that’s it,” he said. “All that matters is surviving and advancing. Doesn’t matter how we win, it’s if we win.”
The “if” part of the equation hung in the balance until the final minutes of a game in which the Bills squandered a 17-0 lead against an opponent that limped into the playoffs by losing five of its final six and was down to its third-string quarterback, rookie Skylar Thompson.
It wasn’t until Allen’s fumble was returned 5 yards for a touchdown by Zach Sieler 61 seconds into the third quarter to put the Dolphins up 24-20 that the Bills offense finally reawakened.
Allen threw two touchdown passes over a span of 3:11, with Cole Beasley scoring the go-ahead TD with a 6-yard catch, before Gabe Davis extended the lead to 34-24 with a 23-yard TD reception.
“That’s just playoff football for the most part. All the games I’ve played in the playoffs, I don’t even know if we’ve had a blowout,” Beasley said. “The thing is you’ve got to keep your foot on the gas. You can’t ever get complacent. You gotta play consistent. We were a little inconsistent tonight. We can’t do that going forward.”
The game wasn’t decided until Buffalo’s defense, which forced six punts and two turnovers, stopped Miami as it turned the ball over on downs on its final possession.
Thompson’s pass on fourth-and-6 went just off the fingertips of tight end Mike Gesicki with 2:22 remaining.
Buffalo ran out the clock when Devin Singletary bulled his way for a 7-yard gain to convert a third-and-7.
It was a sloppy game and a lengthy saga lasting nearly four hours between two division rivals, and the outcome fitting after the two teams split their regular-season series in games decided by a combined five points. The Dolphins beat Buffalo 21-19 at Miami in September, with the Bills rallying to beat Miami 32-29 last month.
Allen finished 23 of 39 for 352 yards and three TDs, but also threw two interceptions, which resulted in the Dolphins scoring 11 points.
Buffalo advances to host either the third-seeded Cincinnati Bengals or fourth-seeded Jacksonville Jaguars in the divisional round. Their matchup will be determined after the Bengals host Baltimore on Sunday night.
A potential Bills-Bengals matchup would come three weeks after their game was canceled when Buffalo safety Damar Hamlin went into cardiac arrest and needed to be resuscitated on the field.
The Dolphins played tough in a game they entered as 13 1/2-point underdogs, according to FanDuel Sportsbook, without minus numerous offensive starters, including quarterback Tua Tagovailoa, who is still in the concussion protocol and backup Teddy Bridgewater who is dealing with a dislocated pinky finger.
“That was the hand that was dealt, and that was part of the story that we were willing to complete,” coach Mike McDaniel said. “I’m heartbroken for the guys because they didn’t want their season to end and they did everything they could.”
The Dolphins extended their run of playoff loses to five. Miami’s most recent playoff win was a 23-17 overtime victory over Indianapolis on Dec. 30, 2000 in the wild-card round.
Miami’s defense and special teams made up for an offense that managed just 16 first downs and 231 yards. Jevon Holland and Xavien Howard’s interceptions, along with Cedric Wilson’s 50-yard punt return led to the Dolphins taking advantage of short fields to tie the game at 17 on Gesicki’s 7-yard catch late in the second quarter.
Making just his third career start, Thompson finished 18 of 45 for 220 yards with a touchdown and two interceptions.
“Man, our defense played so good today. That’s tough. Because those guys gave us every chance to win,” Thompson said. “Feel like that’s a game we definitely had the opportunity to win. I will take (responsibility) for the loss, and shoulder that, and move forward.”
Buffalo didn’t resemble a team that closed the season reeling off seven straight victories.
Instead, the Bills looked as if they were running out of adrenalin after an emotionally draining week, and a season full of disruptions.
Hamlin was with the team in spirit, while live-tweeting during the game from home, where he continues to recover. A message Hamlin posted on his Twitter account about an hour before kickoff read: “My heart is with my guys as they compete today! … Nothing I want more than to be out there with them.”
The 24-year-old Hamlin was released from a Buffalo hospital on Wednesday and visited with his teammates at the Bills facility on Saturday.
Cornerback Tre’Davious White said Hamlin’s visit “gave us a lot of juice.” for this game. “It lifted our spirits for sure,” he added.
GIANTS 31, VIKINGS 24
MINNEAPOLIS — Daniel Jones passed for 301 yards and two touchdowns and ran for 78 yards in his first career playoff game for the New York Giants, a 31-24 victory over Minnesota in the wild-card round that gave the Vikings their first loss in 12 one-score games this season.
Saquon Barkley rushed for two scores, including the tiebreaker midway through the fourth quarter. The Giants’ defense finished off the franchise’s first playoff win since the Super Bowl 11 years ago by swarming tight end T.J. Hockenson after a 3-yard catch on a pass from Kirk Cousins at midfield on fourth-and-8. The Vikings (13-5) turned the ball over on downs with 1:44 to go and no timeouts left.
Jones became the first quarterback in NFL history with 300-plus passing yards, two-plus passing touchdowns and 70-plus rushing yards in a postseason game as first-year coach Brian Daboll’s Giants (10-7-1) advanced to play No. 1 seed and NFC East rival Philadelphia in the divisional round next weekend.
Isaiah Hodgins and Daniel Bellinger had touchdown receptions for New York.
Cousins went 31 for 39 for 273 yards and two scores and a rushing touchdown to cap the game’s opening possession. The too-short throw to Hockenson was his one glaring mistake. Justin Jefferson, the NFL’s leading receiver, had only one catch after halftime and finished with 47 yards.
BENGALS 24, RAVENS 17
CINCINNATI — Sam Hubbard returned Tyler Huntley’s fumble 98 yards for a tiebreaking touchdown in the fourth quarter, helping Joe Burrow and the Cincinnati Bengals beat the Baltimore Ravens 24-17 in an AFC wild-card game on Sunday night.
Facing third-and-goal at the 1 with about 12 minutes left, Huntley tried to go over the top of the line for the go-ahead score. But he was stood up by Germaine Pratt and stripped by fellow linebacker Logan Wilson.
The ball went right to Hubbard at the 2, and the defensive end took off down the field for the longest fumble return for a touchdown in NFL postseason history. It also was the longest go-ahead TD in the fourth in the postseason.
Moments after the play by the Cincinnati native, with the Paycor Stadium crowd of 66,399 still buzzing, Hubbard sucked on oxygen as he sat on the bench on the sideline.
Baltimore drove down to the Cincinnati 17 in the final minute, but Kevin Zeitler was flagged for holding and Huntley threw incomplete to the end zone on the final play.
Playing behind a patchwork offensive line, Burrow passed for 209 yards and a touchdown for the AFC North champions. He also had a 1-yard touchdown run a week after the Bengals beat the Ravens 27-16 in the regular-season finale.
Next up for Cincinnati (13-4) is a trip to Buffalo for a rematch of their Week 17 game that was canceled after Bills safety Damar Hamlin went into cardiac arrest on the field. With Hamlin watching from home, Buffalo advanced with a 34-31 victory over Miami on Sunday.
Baltimore (10-8) now heads into the offseason with questions about the future of star quarterback Lamar Jackson.
