Allen stars in Bills epic & Mahomes limps out of Chiefs win

Josh Allen produced another sensational display in another Buffalo Bills epic on Sunday, while the Kansas City Chiefs’ latest victory may have come at a huge cost.

The defending champions enjoyed their biggest win of the season but saw star quarterback Patrick Mahomes limp out of the game with a worrying ankle injury.

Buffalo have no such worries over their own superstar Allen, who again showed why he is the Most Valuable Player favourite as the Bills ended the Detroit Lions’ 11-game winning run in another high-scoring thriller.

The Pittsburgh Steelers lost at the Philadelphia Eagles but still secured their spot in the play-offs, as did the Houston Texans, while the Minnesota Vikings joined them without even playing.

Allen’s Buffalo the great entertainers

Just a week after losing 44-42 at the Rams, Josh Allen and the Buffalo Bills came out on top this time in another blockbuster – edging the Lions 48-42 in Detroit.

Billed as a potential Super Bowl preview, the top two scorers in the NFL put on a show worthy of the big game, with their two banged-up defences unable to shackle Allen or Lions quarterback Jared Goff.

Goff threw five touchdowns but was always playing from behind after Allen’s two quick rushing scores early on – as the Bills equalled an NFL record with eight straight games scoring 30 points or more.

They are also just the second team to score and concede 40 points in back-to-back games.

If this fixture is repeated in the Super Bowl it would be some spectacle, but both sides need to solve some defensive issues if they are to make it to New Orleans in February.

Mahomes a big injury worry for Chiefs

The 11-3 Bills are the only team to beat the 13-1 Chiefs and will now fancy pipping them to the AFC top seed after the champions saw Patrick Mahomes limp out late in their 21-7 victory at the Cleveland Browns.

The Chiefs have won 10 games this season by one score, six of those coming on the final play of the game, so this was their most comfortable victory of the campaign.

“I feel like I could have finished the game in different circumstances,” Mahomes said after the Chiefs opted to send back-up Carson Wentz in to finish the game.

Chiefs head coach Andy Reid confirmed Mahomes’ ankle was not broken, but the timing is tough with the Chiefs playing on Saturday, 21 December against Houston and then in a Christmas Day visit to Pittsburgh.

With home advantage and a crucial bye week at stake in their race with the Bills, there will be a lot riding on further medical tests on Mahomes’ ankle on Monday.

Steelers make play-offs despite loss to Eagles

The Pittsburgh Steelers have now lost 11 straight games in Philadelphia as the Eagles won the latest battle for Pennsylvania 27-13 – and a team record 10th straight victory of the season.

Jalen Hurts finally got the Eagles’ passing attack moving a week after receivers AJ Brown and DeVonta Smith’s public criticism, with opposition quarterback Russell Wilson having all the production problems this week.

The Steelers did secure a play-off place despite the defeat, but their top spot in the AFC North is under threat after the Baltimore Ravens dominated the New York Giants 35-14 to close the gap.

Lamar Jackson threw five touchdown passes before next week’s huge showdown against the Steelers in Baltimore – with Pittsburgh also sweating over defensive star TJ Watt who injured his ankle against the Eagles.

The Houston Texans won a second straight AFC South title after beating the Dolphins 20-12 – in a game overshadowed by a serious injury to Miami receiver Grant DuBose, who was driven off on a stretcher in a neck brace after 10 minutes of treatment following a blow to the head.

Head coach Mike McDaniel said DuBose would remain in hospital overnight after “some positive feedback” on his head and neck injuries.

Packers pick off Seahawks in Seattle

Jordan Love and the Green Bay Packers impressed with a comprehensive 30-13 win in Seattle, which saw the Seahawks lose top spot in the NFC West and drop out of the play-off places altogether.

At 10-4, only five teams in the entire NFL have a better record than the Packers, but two of those are in Green Bay’s division – so a wildcard looks their most likely route to the play-offs.

The Packers helped one of their rivals out, with the Minnesota Vikings bagging a play-off spot before their Monday night game thanks to Seattle losing.

The divisional system is helping out the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, who improved to just 8-6 with a 40-17 victory over the Los Angeles Chargers and that is good enough to top the weaker NFC South.

Commanders survive late Saints surge

The Washington Commanders led 20-7 in the fourth quarter but had to survive a late onslaught at the New Orleans Saints, with back-up quarterback Spencer Rattler throwing a touchdown pass as time expired.

Trailing by a point, interim head coach Darren Rizzi went for a two-point conversion and instant win instead of settling for overtime, but the try just failed, allowing Washington to escape 20-19.

Indianapolis Colts running back Jonathan Taylor was left red faced when he casually dropped the ball after scoring a touchdown – only for a video replay to spot he did so just inches before the line.

That cost the Colts dearly as they went on to lose 31-13 at the Denver Broncos.

Joe Burrow threw another three touchdown passes as the Cincinnati Bengals beat the Tennessee Titans 37-27 in a game filled with mistakes.

The two teams combined for 10 turnovers and 26 penalties in a coach’s nightmare of a game.

Aaron Rodgers and Davante Adams rolled back the years as the New York Jets beat the slumping Jacksonville Jaguars 32-25 – with Adams becoming the 12th player with 100 receiving touchdowns in NFL history.

The Jets are already out of play-off contention but Rodgers and Adams gave a glimpse of what they could possibly do next season if both stay with the team.

Micah Parsons inspired the Dallas Cowboys to a comfortable win at the Carolina Panthers and the Arizona Cardinals ended a three-game losing run by beating the New England Patriots.