Baker Mayfield throws for 337 yards, 3 TDs to lead Buccaneers to wild-card rout of Eagles

Baker Mayfield threw for 337 yards and three touchdowns to lead the resurgent Tampa Bay Buccaneers to a 32-9 wild-card playoff victory over Jalen Hurts and the defending NFC champion Philadelphia Eagles on Monday night.

The Bucs (10-8) won for the sixth time in seven games to advance to a NFC divisional round matchup on the road next Sunday against the Detroit Lions (13-5), another team — like the Eagles — that stymied Mayfield during the regular season.

David Moore scored on a 44-yard reception in the first quarter. Rookie Trey Palmer broke the game open with a 56-yard catch-and-run for a TD that put the Bucs up 25-9 late in the third quarter. Both receivers took advantage of a porous, poor-tackling Eagles secondary to make their way to the end zone.

It was a disappointing finish for Philadelphia (11-7), which lost to Kansas City in last year’s Super Bowl and then spent spent much of this season resembling a club focused and determined to get back to the title game.

The Eagles played without leading receiver A.J. Brown, who injured a knee in the regular-season finale. Hurts started despite dislocating the middle finger on his throwing hand the previous week, and was 25 of 35 for 250 yards and one TD before being replaced by backup Marcus Mariota in the final minute.

The Bucs, who lost to the Lions 20-6 in Week 6, regrouped following a stretch in which they lost six of seven games to go 5-1 over the last six weeks of the regular season to win their third straight NFC South title and clinch a franchise-record fourth consecutive playoff berth.

The Eagles entered Monday night looking for a solution to what ailed them during a stunning about-face that saw them go 1-5 down the stretch after a 10-1 start to the season that included a dominant 14-point victory over Tampa Bay in Week 3.

Chase McLaughlin kicked field goals of 28, 54 and 48 yards, the latter extending Tampa Bay’s lead to 16-3 late in the second quarter. The Eagles cut into their deficit with Hurts using a 55-yard completion to DeVonta Smith to set up a 5-yard scoring pass to Dallas Goedert.

The score remained 16-9, though. Philadelphia coach Nick Sirianni took Jake Elliott’s conversion kick off the board after the Bucs were penalized for offsides. The Eagles lined up to go for 2 points from the 1-yard line, but Tampa Bay stopped Hurts for no gain.

Smith finished with eight receptions for 148 yards for the Eagles.

Allen leads Bills past Steelers

Josh Allen threw three touchdown passes and scored on a franchise playoff-record 52-yard touchdown run, and the Buffalo Bills beat the Pittsburgh Steelers 31-17 on Monday in an AFC wild-card playoff game that was postponed a day because of a lake-effect blizzard.

The Highmark Stadium stands erupted with snow being tossed into the air like confetti when Allen threw a 17-yard touchdown pass to Khalil Shakir with 6:27 remaining that restored a two-touchdown lead for Buffalo. Shakir caught the pass at the 10 over the middle, and then slipped Minkah Fitzpatrick’s tackle attempt by spinning around before outracing the rest of the Steelers defenders into the end zone.

The second-seeded Bills (12-6), who closed the regular season with five straight wins, advance to host Patrick Mahomes and the No. 3 seed Kansas City Chiefs in the divisional round on Sunday night. The Bills have longed for a home playoff game against the Chiefs after their 2020 and ’21 seasons ended with playoff losses at Kansas City.

Mason Rudolph threw two touchdown passes in his first playoff start for the Steelers (10-8), but Pittsburgh was too inconsistent on either side of the ball to keep up with Allen and the Bills. The Steelers lost their fifth straight playoff game; the franchise’s most recent postseason victory was exactly seven years ago.

Rudolph, a longtime backup, took over for the injured Kenny Pickett and ineffective Mitch Trubisky to lead the Steelers to three straight wins to close the regular season and was given the playoff start even after Pickett recovered from an ankle injury.

The Steelers came out flat, allowing Buffalo to score touchdowns on three of its first five possessions and build a 21-0 lead on Allen’s electrifying touchdown run midway through the second quarter. But Pittsburgh got back into the game by blocking a field goal attempt late in the quarter, leading to a touchdown.

Buffalo had a to wait an extra day to host the Steelers after a dangerous snowstorm that dumped more than 2 feet of snow on the region, leading the NFL to bump the game from its scheduled Sunday afternoon start.

The elements didn’t play much of a factor. Though temperatures were in the teens, the skies were clear and there was only a slight breeze blowing in off Lake Erie.

Allen’s 9-yard touchdown pass to Dawson Knox capped an 80-yard opening drive for the Bills.

Buffalo scored again after linebacker Terrel Bernard recovered receiver George Pickens’ fumble at the Pittsburgh 29. Allen threw a TD pass to Dalton Kincaid on the very next play.

Allen’s touchdown run came after cornerback Kaiir Elam intercepted Rudolph’s pass intended for Diontae Johnson in the end zone.

The Steelers finally capitalized on one of the Bills’ few errors of the half, when coach Sean McDermott elected to attempt a 49-yard field goal into the wind with a little more than two minutes left.

Montravius Adams blocked Tyler Bass’ low kick. The ball squirted some 20 yards into Bills territory and was recovered by Nick Herbig at Buffalo’s 33. The Steelers scored five plays later on Rudolph’s 10-yard TD pass to Johnson.

Pittsburgh eventually cut the lead to 24-17 on Rudolph’s 7-yard touchdown pass to Calvin Austin with 10:32 left.