NFL

NFL: Commanders, Bills win on Monday night

By Sports Desk September 23, 2024

Jayden Daniels delivered a nearly perfect Monday Night Football debut that carried the upstart Washington Commanders to a 38-33 victory over the scuffling Cincinnati Bengals.

The No. 2 overall pick of this year's draft completed 21 of 23 attempts for 254 yards and threw the first two touchdown passes of his young career, leading Washington (2-1) to a second straight win following a season-opening loss to the Tampa Bay Buccaneers that began first-year head coach Dan Quinn's tenure. Daniels' completion percentage of 91.3 set an NFL single-game record for a rookie.

Washington scored on every one of its possessions, save for kneel-downs to end the first half and the game, to overcome Joe Burrow's three touchdown passes and drop Cincinnati to 0-3.

Daniels added a rushing touchdown while Terry McLaurin recorded 100 yards and a touchdown on four catches for the Commanders.

Jayden Daniels was dealing. pic.twitter.com/h89iQbd7KF

— NFL (@NFL) September 24, 2024

Burrow finished with 324 yards on 29-of-38 passing and threw two touchdowns to Ja'Marr Chase as the star wide receiver totalled 118 yards on six catches.

The Bengals piled up 436 total yards for the game, but their defence never had an answer for Daniels as Washington matched every score Cincinnati offered while leading from the second quarter on.

Cincinnati started strong as Chase got behind the Washington secondary to haul in a 41-yard touchdown pass from Burrow on the game's opening drive. 

The Commanders responded by going 70 yards on 10 plays to tie the game at 7-7 on Brian Robinson's 1-yard touchdown run, a play set up by Daniels' 30-yard completion to Luke McCaffrey on 4th-and-2.

After Cincinnati's Evan McPherson missed a 48-yard field goal on the next possession, Washington marched back into Bengals' territory before Austin Ekeler broke loose for a 24-yard touchdown run and a 14-7 lead early in the second quarter.

The Bengals moved inside Washington's 10-yard line on their next series, but settled for McPherson's 28-yard field goal that the Commanders countered with another touchdown.

Daniels hit McLaurin on a deep pass for a 55-yard gain to the Bengals' 4-yard line, then ran untouched into the end zone on the following play for a 21-10 advantage with 2:04 left before half-time.

McPherson's 31-yard field goal brought Cincinnati within 21-13 at the half, but Ekeler took the second-half kick-off 62 yards deep into Bengals' territory to quickly get Washington in scoring range again.

Daniels finished that drive with a 1-yard touchdown pass to reserve offensive lineman Trent Scott on a trick play to extend the lead to 28-13.

Burrow kept the Bengals in it by hitting Andrei Iosivas for a 2-yard touchdown on the subsequent possession, and the defence was able to hold Washington to a field goal on its next drive as the Commanders went up 31-20 with 11:30 to go.

Cincinnati again answered, as Burrow completed all four of his passes on a 70-yard drive that Chase finished with a 31-yard touchdown grab with 9:42 left. Burrow's pass for Tee Higgins on the 2-point attempt was broken up, however, to keep Washington's lead at 31-26.

Daniels converted a 4th-and-4 with a 9-yard pass to Zach Ertz on the following possession, however, and McLaurin came down with a diving 27-yard touchdown catch shortly afterward to again give Washington a two-score lead with 2:10 remaining.

Burrow led the Bengals down the field once again in the waning moments as Cincinnati closed within 38-33 on Zack Moss' 1-yard run with 40 seconds left. Washington then recovered the ensuing onside kick and ran out the clock.

 

Bills move to 3-0 with 47-10 rout of spiralling Jaguars

Josh Allen threw four first-half touchdown passes to lead a dominant performance by the Buffalo Bills, who remained unbeaten with a 47-10 thrashing of the still-winless Jacksonville Jaguars.

Buffalo scored touchdowns on all five of its first-half drives to build a commanding 34-3 half-time lead en route to its first 3-0 start since 2020. Allen finished with 263 yards while completing 23 of 30 passes before being removed early in the fourth quarter with the outcome already decided.

The Jaguars dropped to 0-3 and were never competitive as their free-fall continued. Jacksonville has now lost eight of nine games dating back to last season following an 8-3 start to the 2023 campaign.

Trevor Lawrence's struggles were extended as well as the former No. 1 overall draft pick threw for just 178 yards and one touchdown on 21 of 38 passing. Jacksonville's expected franchise quarterback was also sacked four times and threw an interception to Damar Hamlin, the first pick of the inspirational safety's career.

Allen and the Bills set the tone from the get-go, as the star quarterback connected on 6 of 7 passes while orchestrating a 10-play, 70-yard opening drive capped by James Cook's 6-yard touchdown run less than 5 1/2 minutes in.

Tyler Bass' extra-point attempt was blocked, about the only thing that went wrong for Buffalo over the first two quarters.

Following a three-and-out from Jacksonville, the Bills marched 65 yards in 11 plays to take a 13-0 lead on Allen's 6-yard touchdown pass to Dalton Kincaid on 3rd-and-goal with 3:25 left in the first quarter.

The Jaguars answered with Cam Little's 41-yard field goal early in the second quarter, but Allen hit Keon Coleman for a 24-yard score on the following possession - the rookie's first career touchdown - to extend Buffalo's advantage to 20-3.

Hamlin then intercepted Lawrence's overthrown pass on the next drive to put the Bills back into Jacksonville territory. Five plays later, Khalil Shakir caught a short pass from Allen and broke a tackle before racing 27 yards for a touchdown that put the Jaguars in a further hole late in the first half.

The Bills got the ball back with 1:12 remaining before the half and needed just 53 seconds to find the end zone again, as Allen hit running back Ty Johnson for a 16-yard score for his fourth TD pass of the evening.

Jacksonville's offence did show some life to start the second half, as Lawrence went 4 for 5 for 53 yards on an 8-play drive that he finished with a 6-yard touchdown strike to Brenton Strange to cut the lead to 34-10.

The Jaguars faltered from there on, however. After two Bass field goals got the Bills to the 40-point mark, Jacksonville backup quarterback Mac Jones fumbled when sacked by Javon Solomon and Buffalo recovered at the Jaguars' 21-yard line with 6:21 left.

Four plays later, rookie Ray Davis scored his first NFL touchdown with a 3-yard run to finish off the rout.

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    The path to the play-offs is now even tougher for the Dallas Cowboys.

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    Quarterback Dak Prescott will reportedly miss several weeks with a hamstring injury sustained in Sunday's 27-21 loss to the Atlanta Falcons.

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