HeadtoHeadFootball -
NFL

Josh Allen's fourth-down TD pass to Ty Johnson extends Bills' lead

  • Alaina Getzenberg, ESPNJan 12, 2025, 02:00 PM ET

    Close

      Alaina Getzenberg is a staff writer who covers the Buffalo Bills and the NFL. She joined ESPN in 2021. Alaina was previously a beat reporter for the Charlotte Observer and has also worked for CBS Sports and the Dallas Morning News. She is a graduate of the University of California, Berkeley. You can follow her via Twitter @agetzenberg.

ORCHARD PARK, N.Y. — It took a bit of time for the Buffalo Bills to get going, but after falling behind 7-0 in the first quarter, they scored 10 straight points, taking the lead on a 5-yard rushing touchdown by James Cook.

The Bills scored points on each of their opening possessions, first with a 26-yard field goal by Tyler Bass after a 12-play drive.

On the following drive, the Bills’ offense went 81 yards on 13 plays, including a 9-yard rush by quarterback Josh Allen on third-and-3 to set up Cook’s touchdown.

The third-year running back had nine carries for 60 yards after his score. Earlier in the drive, Cook had a 16-yard run that gained 12.5 yards after contact, per NFL Next Gen Stats.

Cook had 3 yards after contact on his touchdown. After his TD, he had 27 rushing yards after contact, already his fourth-highest total in a game this season.

In the third quarter, Allen found a different way to score on fourth-and-short, throwing a 24-yard touchdown pass to running back Ty Johnson in the back of the end zone.

The Bills completed a two-point conversion after the touchdown on a throw from Allen to wide receiver Keon Coleman. The score gave the Bills a 21-7 lead late in the third quarter.

The touchdown pass had a completion probability of 16%, the most unlikely touchdown of Allen’s career (regular season or postseason), per NFL Next Gen Stats. Allen was forced to scramble under pressure, looking for an available receiver, before locating Johnson in the back of the end zone. The pass came in low, and Johnson came down with the ball as he rolled to the ground. He ran all the way from the left side of the field towards the right to get open for Allen.

The play was reviewed but stood. Allen went 6.78 seconds before throwing the pass, which was Johnson’s fourth reception of at least 24 air yards (regular season and postseason) this year. No other running back has done it more than once.

NFL

Will these Steelers be team to end 8-year playoff skid? Why there's 'urgency' in Pittsburgh

  • Brooke Pryor, ESPN Staff WriterJan 8, 2025, 06:00 AM ET

    Close

    • Previously covered the Kansas City Chiefs for the Kansas City Star and Oklahoma University for the Oklahoman.

PITTSBURGH — The last thing members of the Pittsburgh Steelers see before reaching the inner sanctum of their locker room at Acrisure Stadium are steely silver letters mounted on a black cinder block wall. They spell out the same phrase coach Mike Tomlin repeats countless times a day: The Standard is the Standard.

With six Lombardis proudly displayed in the trophy case, the established standard of the prestigious franchise is a world championship. But with five straight postseason losses dating back to 2016, the Steelers have fallen short.

They enter Saturday’s prime-time wild-card game against the Baltimore Ravens (8 p.m. ET, Prime Video) having finished 10-7 — but on a four-game losing streak that cost them the AFC North title.

It’s been eight years since their last playoff win and 14 years since a Super Bowl berth. Tomlin’s lone Super Bowl win was nearly 16 years ago.

“What you mentioned is my story,” Tomlin said Monday, asked about the streak of playoff losses. “It’s not this collective’s story. Many of these guys involved do not tote those bags. I happily tote those bags, but it’s not something that I’m going to project on the collective.”

What to know for the NFL playoffs

• First look at the 14-team playoff field
• Predicting the full bracket (ESPN+)
• Mythbusters for every team (ESPN+)
• Playoff schemes to watch (ESPN+)
Bracket, schedule | Super Bowl LIX

Exactly 357 days earlier, Tomlin expressed the same sentiment to the Steelers’ team website ahead of the Steelers’ last attempt to break the cycle, a wild-card loss at the Buffalo Bills.

“It’s not their burden to bear,” Tomlin told the site last January. “I don’t ask them to tote my luggage. I don’t project my luggage onto them. … Sometimes you’re kidding yourself if you think history like that is important to guys who weren’t a part of it. It’s not.”

Despite the playoff skid, team owner and president Art Rooney II extended Tomlin a three-year contract extension prior to the 2024 season. But Rooney was also firm in his desire to snap the streak in last year’s end-of-season news conference.

“There’s an urgency,” Rooney said then of winning a playoff game. “I think everybody, myself, Mike, guys that have been on the team for a while … everybody, we’ve had enough of this. It’s time to get some wins. It’s time to take these next steps.”

And yet, despite appearing to take a step forward with a new quarterback room and an 8-2 start, the season-ending slide has seemingly put the Steelers farther away from breaking their one-and-done playoff cycle, let alone from a deep postseason run. The Steelers enter the playoffs in a frustratingly familiar spot as the albatross of the franchise’s longest playoff drought of the Super Bowl era enshrouds the legacy of a proud organization and the future Hall of Fame head coach who famously hasn’t had a losing season.

But to the Steelers faithful, never losing means a lot less if their team isn’t winning in the postseason.

EVEN IN THE wake of another first-round loss, members of the Steelers walked off the snowy Buffalo field a year ago feeling they were on the precipice of ending the drought. The team weathered a slew of injuries and inconsistent quarterback play to rally for the No. 7 seed.

With a solid, young nucleus of offensive skill position players — running back Najee Harris, wide receiver George Pickens and tight end Pat Freiermuth — to complement a veteran defense, the Steelers appeared a couple pieces away from being a contender.

“I do feel that we’re closer this year at this stage of the game than we were at this point last year,” Rooney said at the season-ending news conference. “I thought we had a really solid rookie class, a few guys that really stepped in as solid starters for the future. Need to do that again. Need to have another good draft class. I think we have a core group of players that we can compete [with.] I think the biggest thing we need is quality play at the quarterback position.”

Mike Tomlin and the Steelers have not won a playoff game since 2017 and they ended the 2024 season on a four-game losing streak. AP Photo/Gene J. Puskar

For most of the season, the Steelers got that from Best of NFL Nation

•

Quarterback Josh Allen and the Buffalo Bills defeated the Pittsburgh Steelers in the first round of the 2023 playoffs. Mark Konezny-USA TODAY Sports

TWO PLAYERS ON the roster have won a playoff game with the Steelers: Boswell and defensive tackle

NFL

Has Deshaun Watson played his last game for Cleveland? Answering five key questions about Achilles setback

Jan 10, 2025, 03:01 PM ET

BEREA, Ohio — The Cleveland Browns’ disastrous trade for Deshaun Watson took another turn Friday, as the team announced the quarterback tore his right Achilles tendon again and underwent a second surgery.

In a statement, the team said Watson’s “recovery time and return to play status is uncertain, and he will likely miss significant time during the 2025 season.”

Best of NFL Nation

•

Deshaun Watson initially tore his Achilles Oct. 20 in a game against the Bengals. USATNSYNDICATION

How does this affect the Browns’ offseason plans at quarterback?

Browns general manager Andrew Berry, speaking at his end-of-season news conference Monday, revealed that Watson suffered a setback but said the development would not significantly impact the team’s plans at quarterback.

With Watson’s on-field struggles since coming to Cleveland — his 34.1 Total QBR as a Brown would rank only above the

Kevin Stefanski and Andrew Berry will be evaluating all possible options at quarterback this offseason. Nick Cammett/Getty Images

What are we hearing from execs and GMs around the league about potential trades or free agent acquisitions?

The Browns planned to scour the Earth for quarterback help even before the latest development with Watson’s injury. The setback will only intensify those efforts.

Sources have told ESPN that every quarterback with starter’s ability or potential will be evaluated by the Browns this offseason. That doesn’t necessarily mean the Browns must spend big, however. Kevin Stefanski has had success with many different quarterbacks over the years, and the firing of offensive coordinator Ken Dorsey suggests Stefanski will return to his offensive system and take back playcalling duties.

With the team holding the No. 2 overall pick, the expectation among several other teams is that Cleveland will think long and hard about selecting a quarterback at that spot. — Fowler

With the No. 2 pick, will the Browns be able to find a rookie quarterback starter?

Yes. Luckily for Cleveland, the 2025 class features two passers with first-round grades from NFL teams: Miami’s Cam Ward and Colorado’s Shedeur Sanders.

As the pre-draft process begins, Ward is the early favorite to be the No. 1 overall pick by the Titans, according to sources in the NFL. Sanders is very much still in play with all-star games, the combine and team workouts yet to happen.

Of the two, Sanders would be a better fit in Stefanski’s offense. He’s a capable pocket passer who can play on time and in rhythm without the need to scramble outside the pocket to find passing windows. In an offense based on play-action and on-target passing, Sanders would thrive. His off-target rate was third lowest in the FBS last season (6.5%), which points to his pinpoint accuracy.

In a draft without quarterback depth, the No. 2 pick might be the Browns’ only chance to find a rookie starter. They likely will be heavily invested in Ward and Sanders over the next three months. And while Ward is ranked higher than Sanders in my personal rankings, I like how Sanders could hit the ground running in Cleveland. — Miller

NFL

Ex-Titans star Wycheck had CTE at time of death

Former Tennessee Titans star tight end Frank Wycheck suffered from chronic traumatic encephalopathy (CTE), the degenerative brain disease linked to repeated blows to the head, at the time of his death just over a year ago.

Wycheck’s family confirmed the CTE diagnosis in a statement released Thursday, 13 months after the three-time Pro Bowler died from an apparent fall inside his home.

A study of Wycheck’s brain conducted at Boston University’s Chronic Traumatic Encephalopathy Center concluded that Wycheck had CTE Stage III, according to his family. Stage IV is the most severe diagnosis.

“Our family is grateful to learn of his confirmed CTE diagnosis in hopes to continue our father’s desire to bring awareness, increased intervention, education, and support for NFL alumni and their families related to CTE,” Wycheck’s daughter, Deanna Wycheck Szabo, said in a statement. “Our hope is that NFL alumni, who believe they are suffering from CTE, will be given the much-needed resources and guidance prior to their symptoms reaching a debilitating state. With on-going CTE research and diagnosis’, we hope future NFL alumni and families will be explicitly given an outline and plan of action in receiving care and treatment.”

Wycheck was found dead at his Chattanooga, Tennessee, home on Dec. 9, 2023. He was 52.

Frank Wycheck was a three-time Pro Bowler with the Titans and also spent 12 years as a color commentator on the team’s radio network. He died in December 2023 at 52 after an apparent fall in his home. Jeff Haynes/AFP via Getty Images

The family’s announcement came one day after the 25th anniversary of the “Music City Miracle,” a play co-authored by Wycheck that stands as one of the most famous moments in NFL history.

At the end of the Titans’ wild-card playoff game against the

Page 30 of 368« First...102029303132405060...Last »
© 2020 Copyright . All rights reserved | Terms & Conditions | Privacy policy