The Buffalo Bills were too strong for the reigning Super Bowl champions in the NFL's season kickoff on Thursday night, shutting the Los Angeles Rams down in the second half to run away 31-10 winners on the road.
It was a stylish start for the Bills as they received the opening kick and marched down the field in nine plays, culminating in a 26-yard touchdown pass from Josh Allen to Gabriel Davis for the first score of the season.
That set the table for what looked like it may be a shootout, but the rust was still clearly not shaken off as the next five combined possessions resulted in three turnovers and two punts.
A beautiful throw from Matthew Stafford found Cooper Kupp in the back corner of the endzone late in the second quarter, and after Allen's second interception of the game, a 57-yard field goal as time expired from Matt Gay had things tied at 10-10 going into halftime.
There were warning signs for the Rams as they needed three Bills turnovers to remain competitive, and when the visitors cleaned things up in the second half, the hosts had no answer.
The first three Bills drives of the second half all resulted in touchdowns, with Allen rushing for one score, finding Isaiah McKenzie for a short-range touchdown, and heaving long for a 53-yarder to Stefon Diggs to complete the rout.
Stafford could only find success throwing to star receiver Cooper Kupp, who finished with 13 catches for 128 yards and a touchdown from his 15 targets, while the five other players to catch a pass combined for 16 catches for 112 yards on 25 targets. He also had three interceptions after one more in garbage time.
Allen finished 26-of-31 for 297 yards with three touchdowns and two picks, adding 10 rushes for 56 yards and a score on the ground. Diggs was his top receiver with eight catches for 122 yards and a touchdown from nine targets.
Cowboys quarterback Prescott reportedly expected to miss multiple weeks with hamstring injury
The path to the play-offs is now even tougher for the Dallas Cowboys.
Quarterback Dak Prescott will reportedly miss several weeks with a hamstring injury sustained in Sunday's 27-21 loss to the Atlanta Falcons.
The severity of the injury was determined following an MRI, and reported Monday from multiple media outlets.
Prescott is planning to get a second opinion, and the Cowboys have not decided if they will place him on injured reserve, which would keep him on the sideline a minimum of four games.
Prescott, who signed a record-breaking, $240million contract hours before this season's opener, suffered the injury late in the third quarter.
He was replaced by Cooper Rush, and the seven-year backup will get the start this Sunday against the Philadelphia Eagles.
Rush completed 13-of-25 passes for 115 yards and a touchdown against the Falcons, but couldn't rally Dallas all the way back.
The Cowboys ended up losing their third straight game to drop to 3-5, which matches the total number of losses the team had each of the last three seasons.
They now sit in third place in the NFC East, 3 1/2 games behind the division-leading Washington Commanders.
Rush has found some success as a fill-in starter for the Cowboys, though, the 30-year-old hasn't been forced into the starting role since 2022.
In six career starts for Dallas, he's gone 5-1 with 1,281 passing yards with seven touchdowns, four interceptions and an 83.6 rating.
There is some good news for the Cowboys, though, as star defensive end Micah Parsons is likely to return this Sunday after missing the last four games with a high-ankle sprain.
Cowboys quarterback Prescott expected to miss multiple weeks with hamstring injury
The path to the play-offs is now even tougher for the Dallas Cowboys.
Quarterback Dak Prescott will reportedly miss several weeks with a hamstring injury sustained in Sunday's 27-21 loss to the Atlanta Falcons.
The severity of the injury was determined Monday following an MRI.
Prescott is planning to get a second opinion, and the Cowboys have not decided if they will place him on injured reserve, which would keep him on the sideline a minimum of four games.
Prescott, who signed a record-breaking, $240million contract hours before this season's opener, suffered the injury late in the third quarter.
He was replaced by Cooper Rush, and the seven-year backup will get the start this Sunday against the Philadelphia Eagles.
Rush completed 13-of-25 passes for 115 yards and a touchdown against the Falcons, but couldn't rally Dallas all the way back.
The Cowboys ended up losing their third straight game to drop to 3-5, which matches the total number of losses the team had each of the last three seasons.
They now sit in third place in the NFC East, 3 1/2 games behind the division-leading Washington Commanders.
Rush has found some success as a fill-in starter for the Cowboys, though, the 30-year-old hasn't been forced into the starting role since 2022.
In six career starts for Dallas, he's gone 5-1 with 1,281 passing yards with seven touchdowns, four interceptions and an 83.6 rating.
There is some good news for the Cowboys, though, as star defensive end Micah Parsons is likely to return this Sunday after missing the last four games with a high-ankle sprain.
Stumbling Saints fire head coach Allen
The New Orleans Saints fired head coach Dennis Allen on Monday, one day after the team’s losing streak reached seven games with a 23-22 defeat to the lowly Carolina Panthers.
New Orleans got off to an unexpected strong start to the 2024 season by outscoring its first two opponents 91-29 in a pair of victories.
The Saints lost their next two games by just a combined five points, but then it really started to unravel for the team.
New Orleans’ next four defeats all came by 13 points or more, and on Sunday, the Panthers pulled out a 23-22 win over the Saints after Carolina entered the meeting with a 1-7 record.
Allen was promoted from New Orleans' defensive coordinator to head coach after the 2021 season, and the Saints posted an 18-25 record under him with no play-off appearances.
The Saints (2-7) are expected to name special teams coordinator Darren Rizzi as interim head coach ahead of their Week 10 visit from the NFC South-leading Atlanta Falcons (6-3).
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