The Bills beat the Raiders 33-30 at Allegiant Stadium on Sunday to improve to 5-1. Josh Allen was 23-of-33 for 255 yards and two touchdowns, per Pro Football Talk. The Associated Press and ESPN both said he used his improvisational brilliance to tie Jim Kelly's Bills record for career touchdown passes. Neither summary we have gives the career total, so we aren't putting a number on it.
The box score shows how the game went. Buffalo led 23-13 at halftime and pushed it to 33-13 with a 10-point third quarter. Las Vegas then scored 17 in the fourth. Kirk Cousins threw for 313 yards and two touchdowns on 23-of-41, with one interception. Yahoo's Eric Edholm wrote that Cousins "was great, but Josh Allen and the Bills were just a little better." The Raiders outgained Buffalo 378 yards to 345 and converted 7 of 12 third downs to the Bills' 4 of 11.
Buffalo Rumblings' Sean Murphy wrote that one turnover made the difference, and that the Bills' defense forced it. The box score has one takeaway on each side: Cousins' interception, which went to linebacker Dorian Williams, and no giveaways from Buffalo. Murphy's summary doesn't identify the turnover, so we can't say which one he means. The Bills committed eight penalties for 77 yards and the Raiders seven for 62.
Sportsnet's highlight package said Keon Coleman and James Cook each scored. The box score confirms both. Coleman caught four passes for 59 yards and a touchdown, and Cook ran 22 times for 95 yards and a score. Khalil Shakir also caught a touchdown pass, and Tyler Bass was 4-for-4 on field goals, including a 38-yarder on the last play listed. Tre Tucker caught both of Cousins' touchdown passes, finishing with five catches for 97 yards. Michael Mayer had seven for 95 and Brock Bowers four for 70. Ashton Jeanty ran for the Raiders' other score.
Buffalo Rumblings' Matt Byham framed the win as the Bills finding ways to win close games. This is their second straight three-point win. They won 37-34 at the Rams on Monday, Oct. 12, after a 29-26 home loss to New England on Oct. 4. The Bills sit first in the AFC East with a two-game winning streak.
Las Vegas is 3-3, third in the AFC West, and has lost three straight. Before Sunday it lost 45-17 at New England and 30-27 to Kansas City, so this was its closest game of the three in terms of effort, but still a loss. The Raiders host the Rams on Oct. 25. Buffalo's next game is at home against Baltimore on Nov. 1.
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