GLENDALE, Ariz. (AP) — The passes zipped through the air one by one, almost always finding their intended target right on the hands and in stride.
By the time Josh Allen was done, the quarterback had finished one of the best games of his young NFL career, and the Buffalo Bills once again looked like one of the league’s elite teams.
Allen threw for 375 yards and tied a career high with four touchdown passes as the Bills stayed in sole possession of first place in the AFC East with a thoroughly impressive 34-24 victory over the San Francisco 49ers on Monday night.
“That’s our quarterback. He’s a baller,” Bills safety Jordan Poyer said. “I don’t know what answer you want me to say. It’s no surprise to us what he does every week. I’m happy he’s on our team.”
“We were clicking,” Allen said. “It just seemed like our guys were getting open and the ball was coming out of my hand really well.”
The Bills are one game ahead of the Miami Dolphins with four games left for both teams.
San Francisco (5-7) lost in its first game at its adopted home in Arizona. The 49ers will be based in Glendale for at least the next three weeks after Santa Clara County issued strict new coronavirus protocols that forced the team to find a temporary new home.
It was Allen’s fourth game of the season with at least 300 yards passing and three touchdowns, which set a franchise record. Jim Kelly did it three times in 1991 and Drew Bledsoe three times in 2002.
San Francisco has had several recent injuries at its slot cornerback position and struggled to cover Beasley, who had a career-high 130 yards receiving on nine catches.
“We knew exactly what they were running. We just came up short,” 49ers linebacker Dre Greenlaw said. “It was kind of a weird feeling.”
The Bills opened the game with a 74-yard drive that was stopped at the Niners 1 after Allen’s fourth-down pass fell incomplete. San Francisco responded with a 97-yard drive that ended at the Buffalo 2 when Jeff Wilson Jr. was stuffed for no gain on fourth down.
