Josh Allen scores 3 touchdowns as Bills escape with 24-22 win over Chargers

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INGLEWOOD, Calif. (AP) — Josh Allen scored three touchdowns, Tyler Bass kicked a 29-yard field goal with 28 seconds remaining, and the Buffalo Bills improved to a 24-22 win over the Los Angeles Chargers on Saturday night. . Their playoff prospects.

Allen ran for two TDs and threw for one, becoming the first player in NFL history to have four consecutive seasons with 40 combined touchdowns.

Bass’ go-ahead kick capped a 13-play, 64-yard drive that included Allen’s 15-yard completion to Khalil Shakir on third down.

The Bills (9-6) have won four of their last five. They are competing with Indianapolis and Houston (both 8-6) for the two final playoff spots in the AFC. Buffalo got some help early in the day when Pittsburgh beat Cincinnati.

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Cameron Dicker made a career-high five field goals and Easton Stick passed for 210 yards passing for Los Angeles (5-10), which has lost six of seven.

Allen – who completed 15 of 21 passes for 237 yards – leads the league with 40 total touchdowns (27 passing, 13 rushing). With his 2-yard run off the right tackle late in the second quarter, he became the second quarterback in NFL history with at least 50 rushing scores. Cam Newton was the first and finished with 75 in his 10-year career.

Davis, who had not caught a pass in the previous two games after having six receptions for 105 yards against Philadelphia, had four receptions for a season-high 130 yards, including a 57-yard touchdown in the second quarter.

Stick, making his second NFL start in place of the injured Justin Herbert, was 23 of 33 passing and ran for a touchdown.

The Chargers took a 10–0 lead with 13:49 remaining in the second quarter when Stick took a turn to the right and scored from 1 yard out. Los Angeles got the ball at the Buffalo 27 when Amen Ogbongbemiga recovered a failed punt by the Bills’ Deonte Harty.

Buffalo finally got on the scoreboard on their fourth drive. Allen raced down the right sideline and found Davis in open field. Davis caught the pass at the Chargers’ 19 and beat linebacker Kenneth Murray in the end zone. It was Allen’s second longest finish of the season.

Allen then scored the first of his two rushing attempts with 38 seconds remaining in the first half to put the Bills on top 14–10.

Dicker kicked a 40-yard field goal midway through the third quarter to get the Chargers within one point. Buffalo increased its lead to 21–13 on the ensuing drive, capped by Allen’s 1-yard sneak.

Dicker’s 20-yard field goal with 6:32 remaining in the first quarter was the sixth time this season the Chargers scored on their opening drive. Stick was 5 of 7 for 72 yards on the drive, which included third-down completions to Joshua Palmer and Stone Smart.

James Cook rushed for 70 yards on 20 carries and became the first Bill to reach 1,000 yards since LeSean McCoy in 2017.

Bills: LB Terrell Bernard missed the first quarter with a non-contact foot injury. … S Damar Hamlin (shoulder) missed the first half but was cleared to return. … RB Ty Johnson (shoulder), S Micah Hyde (neck) and DE AJ Esperanza (rib) were inactive.

Chargers: WR Keenan Allen missed his second consecutive game and DB Dean Leonard missed his fourth consecutive game due to a heel injury.

Bills: Host New England on Dec. 31.

Chargers: Dec. 31 at Denver.

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