ORCHARD PARK, N.Y. — Josh Allen had the Buffalo Bills’ up-tempo passing attack humming so efficiently in his preseason debut receiver Emmanuel Sanders wondered when his turn would come to make a play.
The veteran offseason free-agent addition was fifth in line as part of an opening drive in which Allen completed 10 of his first 11 attempts, including a touchdown, in a 19-0 win over the Green Bay Packers in both teams’ preseason finales Saturday.
“It was like bing, bing, bing, bing and I was like, ‘When is it my turn?? And the next thing you know, it was my turn and I caught it,” said Sanders of his 6-yard catch for a first down that got the Bills across midfield.
“Man, it was fun. Practices don’t do it justice,” said Sanders, who’s caught passes from the likes of Ben Roethlisberger, Peyton Manning and Drew Brees over his previous 11 seasons. “Like, we were supposed to play a half, but I looked at Stef (receiver Stefon Diggs) and said, ‘I don’t want to come out.'”
Allen needed just three possessions to finish 20-of-26 for 194 yards and two touchdowns to show he and the Bills high-powered offence are ready for the regular season.
“Yeah, it felt good,” said Allen, who set numerous single-season scoring and passing records last year in helping the Bills win their first AFC East title since 1995. “It’s preseason so we’re not gonna overreact to anything. But we went out there, we executed like we should have, and at the end of the day that’s all you can ask for.”
Buffalo finished 3-0, extending its preseason winning streak to eight games, dating to a 26-13 loss to Cincinnati on Aug. 26, 2018.
Green Bay can now look forward to Aaron Rodgers providing stability to a mistake-filled offence which lacked finish behind a cast of backups, led by Jordan Love. The Packers finished 0-3, closing a preseason in which a majority of their starters didn’t play.
Love played into the third quarter and finished 12 of 18 for 149 yards and an interception. He returned to action after missing last weekend with what he revealed to be a strained right rotator cuff. A myriad of mistakes led to the Packers coming up empty, with their first three possessions stalling inside Buffalo’s 21.
“We just didn’t finish when we needed to. And that’s why that score can get a little out of hand, or lopsided,” coach Matt LaFleur said.
Love was just off-target bouncing a pass off Reggie Begelton’s fingertips on fourth-and-goal from the 1 to end Green Bay’s first drive. Next, on first-and-10 from Buffalo’s 21, Love was under pressure and threw off his back foot to have his weak pass easily intercepted in the end zone by Micah Hyde.
“It’s one I’ve got to obviously learn from and dump that to the sideline, and play the next play,” Love said of his interception.
The Packers’ third and final possession of the first half ended with Mason Crosby missing a 28-yard field-goal attempt wide left.
Complicating matters were a pair of bad snaps from backup center Jake Hanson.
Allen, meantime, displayed the polish and poise that led to the fourth-year starter being rewarded with a six-year, $258 million contract extension three weeks ago.
He capped Buffalo’s opening drive with a perfect throw in hitting Gabriel Davis in stride — a step ahead of cornerback Isaac Yiadom — on a post route for a 31-yard touchdown on third-and-20. Allen then squeezed a tight 3-yard pass over the middle to Zack Moss to put the Bills up 13-0 on his third and final possession.
Allen spread the ball in completing passes to eight receivers, while playing without his favourite target, Diggs, who sat out because of a lingering knee injury.
He also displayed his familiar dual-threat ability by scrambling to his left and throwing a pass across his body to a wide-open Cole Beasley for a 21-yard gain to set up Moss’ TD.
“It’s not a surprise,” Moss said of Allen’s completion to Beasley. “We all know what he can do with his arm. … Super excited to see where he leads this team throughout the year.”
SPECIAL TEAMS CHANGES
Crosby got off a 41-yard punt while filling in after JK Scott developed cramps in the second half. “Mason is a reliable vet and did a nice job when he went in there, but he is not our punter,” LaFleur said.
Bills second-year defensive end A.J. Epenesa took over the long-snapping duties with Reid Ferguson (back) sidelined.
VACCINATED
Receiver Isaiah McKenzie revealed on social media he has received his COVID-19 vaccination, posting a picture of his CDC card on Saturday. He included the message “For the greater good,” followed by a thumbs-up emoji.
His decision came two days after he and Beasley revealed being fined by the NFL for failing to wear a mask inside the team facility. McKenzie did not play due to a left shoulder injury.
Beasley, Davis and defensive tackles Star Lotulelei and Vernon Butler were all activated on Friday and played against the Packers after spending time in the NFL’s five-day cadence.
UP NEXT
PACKERS: open season at the New Orleans Saints on Sept. 12.
BILLS: open season hosting the Pittsburgh Steelers on Sept. 12.
GUADALAJARA, Mexico – Canada’s Marina Stakusic fell 6-4, 6-3 to Poland’s Magdalena Frech in the quarterfinals of the Guadalajara Open tennis tournament on Friday.
The 19-year-old from Mississauga, Ont., won 61 per cent of her first-serve points and broke on just one of her six opportunities.
Stakusic had upset top-seeded Jelena Ostapenko of Latvia 6-3, 5-7, 7-6 (0) on Thursday night to advance.
In the opening round, Stakusic defeated Slovakia’s Anna Karolína Schmiedlová 6-2, 6-4 on Tuesday.
The fifth-seeded Frech won 62 per cent of her first-serve points and converted on three of her nine break point opportunities.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 13, 2024.
TORONTO – Alejandro Kirk’s long single with the bases loaded provided the Toronto Blue Jays with a walk-off 4-3 win in the 11th inning of their series opener against the St. Louis Cardinals on Friday.
With the Cardinals outfield in, Kirk drove a shot off the base of the left-field wall to give the Blue Jays (70-78) their fourth win in 11 outings and halt the Cardinals’ (74-73) two-game win streak before 30,380 at Rogers Centre.
Kirk enjoyed a two-hit, two-RBI outing.
Erik Swanson (2-2) pitched a perfect 11th inning for the win, while Cardinals reliever Ryan Fernandez (1-5) took the loss.
Blue Jays starter Kevin Gausman enjoyed a seven-inning, 104-pitch outing. He surrendered his two runs on nine hits and two walks and fanned only two Cardinals.
He gave way to reliever Genesis Cabrera, who gave up a one-out homer to Thomas Saggese, his first in 2024, that tied the game in the eighth.
The Cardinals started swiftly with four straight singles to open the game. But they exited the first inning with only two runs on an RBI single to centre from Nolan Arendao and a fielder’s choice from Saggese.
Gausman required 28 pitches to escape the first inning but settled down to allow his teammates to snatch the lead in the fourth.
He also deftly pitched out of threats from the visitors in the fifth, sixth and seventh thanks to some solid defence, including Will Wagner’s diving stop, which led to a double play to end the fifth inning.
George Springer led off with a walk and stole second base. He advanced to third on Nathan Lukes’s single and scored when Vladimir Guerrero Jr. knocked in his 95th run with a double off the left-field wall.
Lukes scored on a sacrifice fly to left field from Spencer Horwitz. Guerrero touched home on Kirk’s two-out single to right.
In the ninth, Guerrero made a critical diving catch on an Arenado grounder to throw out the Cardinals’ infielder, with reliever Tommy Nance covering first. The defensive gem ended the inning with a runner on second base.
St. Louis starter Erick Fedde faced the minimum night batters in the first three innings thanks to a pair of double plays. He lasted five innings, giving up three runs on six hits and a walk with three strikeouts.
ON DECK
Toronto ace Jose Berrios (15-9) will start the second of the three-game series on Saturday. He has a six-game win streak.
The Cardinals will counter with righty Kyle Gibson (8-6).
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 13, 2024.
CALGARY – Mired in their first four-game losing skid in 20 years, the Calgary Stampeders are going back to Jake Maier at quarterback on Saturday after he was benched for a game.
It won’t be an easy assignment.
Visiting McMahon Stadium are the Eastern Conference-leading Montreal Alouettes (10-2) who own the CFL’s best record. The Stampeders (4-8) have fallen to last in the Western Conference.
“Six games is plenty of time, but also it is just six games,” said Maier. “We’ve got to be able to get on the right track.”
Calgary is in danger of missing the playoffs for the first time since 2004.
“I do still believe in this team,” said Stampeders’ head coach and general manager Dave Dickenson. “I want to see improvement, though. I want to see guys on a weekly basis elevating their game, and we haven’t been doing that.”
Maier is one of the guys under the microscope. Two weeks ago, the second-year starter threw four interceptions in a 35-20 home loss to the Edmonton Elks.
After his replacement, rookie Logan Bonner, threw five picks in last week’s 37-16 loss to the Elks in Edmonton, the football is back in Maier’s hands.
“Any time you fail or something doesn’t go your way in life, does it stink in the moment? Yeah. But then the days go on and you learn things about yourself and you learn how to prepare a little bit better,” said Maier. “It makes you mentally tougher.”
Dickenson wants to see his quarterback making better decisions with the football.
“Things are going to happen, interceptions will happen, but try to take calculated risks, rather than just putting the ball up there and hoping that we catch it,” said Dickenson.
A former quarterback himself, he knows the importance of that vital position.
“You cannot win without good quarterback play,” Dickenson said. “You’ve got to be able to make some plays — off-schedule plays, move-around plays, plays that break down, plays that aren’t designed perfectly, but somehow you found the right guy, and then those big throws where you’re taking that hit.”
But it’s going to take a team effort, and that includes the club’s receiving corp.
“We always have to band together because we need everything to go right for our receivers to get the ball,” said Nik Lewis, the Stampeders’ receivers coach. “The running back has to pick up the blitz, the o-line has to block, the quarterback has to make the right reads, and then give us a catchable ball.”
Lewis brings a unique perspective to this season’s frustrations as he was a 22-year-old rookie in Calgary in 2004 when the Stamps went 4-14 under coach Matt Dunigan. They turned it around the next season and haven’t missed the playoffs since.”
“Thinking back and just looking at it, there’s just got to be an ultimate belief that you can get it done. Look at Montreal, they were 6-7 last year and they’ve gone 18-2 since then,” said Lewis.
Montreal is also looking to rebound from a 37-23 loss to the B.C. Lions last week. But for head coach Jason Maas, he says his team’s mindset doesn’t change, regardless of what happened the previous week.
“Last year when we went through a four-game losing streak, you couldn’t tell if we were on a four-game winning streak or a four-game losing streak by the way the guys were in the building, the way we prepared, the type of work ethic we have,” said Maas. “All our standards are set, so that’s all we focus on.”
While they may have already clinched a playoff spot, Alouettes’ quarterback Cody Fajardo says this closing stretch remains critical because they want to finish the season strong, just like last year when they won their final five regular-season games before ultimately winning the Grey Cup.
“It doesn’t matter about what you do at the beginning of the year,” said Fajardo. “All that matters is how you end the year and how well you’re playing going into the playoffs so that’s what these games are about.”
The Alouettes’ are kicking off a three-game road stretch, one Fajardo looks forward to.
“You understand what kind of team you have when you play on the road because it’s us versus the world mentality and you can feel everybody against you,” said Fajardo. “Plus, I always tend to find more joy in silencing thousands of people than bringing thousands of people to their feet.”
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 13, 2024.
