Cook, Singletary were the leaders in Bills’ victory over Bears at AFC East
CHICAGO (AP) — Devin Singletary and James Cook ran for long touchdowns in the third quarter, and the Buffalo Bills clinched the AFC East title by beating the Bears 35-13 on Saturday in one of the coldest games played in Chicago.
Josh Allen ran for a TD and threw for another in the game’s closing minutes, breaking a tie with Hall of Famer Dan Marino for the most touchdowns in a player’s first five NFL seasons. This highlight highlighted a subpar performance that helped the Bills (12-3), win their third consecutive division title and their sixth consecutive win.
Buffalo was still on track to win the No. AFC. After beating the Chiefs in October, the Bills are tied with West leader Kansas City. However, Buffalo holds the tiebreaker head-to-head.
Chicago’s Justin Fields threw for 119 yards and a touchdown, but ran for a season-low 11 yards after joining Michael Vick and Lamar Jackson as the only QBs with 1,000 yards rushing last week.
The temperature at kickoff was 9 with a minus-12 wind chill — only three degrees warmer than the record low for a Bears home game. It was Buffalo’s coldest road game by temperature since at least 1967.
The Bears took a big lead at halftime, as a small group of fans dressed in their best watched. Chicago (3-12), however, lost its eighth consecutive game to match a franchise record.
Singletary was credited with scoring on a 33-yard run in the first half. He finished the game with 106 yards. Cook added 99, including a 27-yarder in the third following a fumble by the Bears’ David Montgomery, giving the Bills a 21-10 lead.
Chicago’s Cairo Santos kicked a field goal early in the fourth quarter that Nicholas Morrow set up by picking off an ill-advised pass. Allen scored on the 4 with less than four minutes to spare and threw an 13-yard touchdown to Dawson Knox with just one minute remaining.
Allen ended the game with 172 yards, two touchdown passes and two interceptions. He also faced a short-handed secondary. For his 172nd touchdown pass, he broke the tie with Marino by hitting Gabe Davis in the first quarter with a 19 yarder.
Stefon diggs was only able to catch two passes for 26 yards. He wasn’t targeted in the first two quarters even though the Bears placed top cornerback Jaylon Johnson (ring finger) on Friday.
Chicago’s Dante Pettis made a touchdown catch. The Bears were joined by the 2002 and 1978 teams when Kyler Gordon intercepted the ball near the goal line in the second quarter.
INJURIES
Bills: RG Ryan Bates (knee), a player blocking for Allen in a scramble late at the second quarter, was injured. In the third, he was back.
Bears: OL Michael Schofield III (thumb), was hurt on the opening drive of the game, but returned to play in the second quarter.
UP NEXT
Bills: Cincinnati Visits Cincinnati Jan. 2.
Bears: Detroit Visits Detroit January 1.
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