National Football League

Bills rout Pats, Bengals top Raiders: NFL wild-card top plays

Updated Jan. 15, 2022 11:44 p.m. ET

Super Wild Card Weekend offered a little bit of everything as the NFL postseason kicked off on Saturday.

The first of the two games was a nail-biter, with the Cincinnati Bengals holding off the Las Vegas Raiders in a thrilling finish.

The second game was a rubber match between AFC East rivals New England and Buffalo, with the Bills putting their stamp on the season series with a dominant 47-17 victory.

Here are the top plays from Saturday's action.

Buffalo Bills 47. New England Patriots 17

Bills strike first

Josh Allen carried the Bills on their first drive of the game, carrying the ball two times for 41 yards. Then he used his feet to keep this play alive, eventually finding a leaping Dawson Knox for a 7-0 lead. It would be the first of five touchdown passes for Allen.

Denied!

It looked like Mac Jones would lead the Patriots right back to tie the score, but his toss into the end zone was picked off by Micah Hyde.

If it's not broken, why fix it?

The Allen-to-Knox combination struck again a short while later. Bills 14, Pats 0.

On a mission

Allen continued to torch the Patriots with the ground game.

That set up a score by Devin Singletary, and it was 20-0 midway through the second quarter.

Digg'n it

As the clock ticked down toward halftime, Stefon Diggs got into the act, reeling in a 45-yarder from Allen.

That catch set up another score by Singletary, this one from 16 yards out. The Patriots did manage to kick a field goal before the half to trail 27-3 at the break.

The rout continues

The start of the second half went just like the first half did, as Allen found Emmanuel Sanders for a 34-yard touchdown pass.

A small sign of life

The Pats fought back, as Kendrick Bourne scored their first TD of the game.

Not today, Patriots

But Allen and the Bills quickly pushed the lead right back up to 30.

Make that a 37-point lead after Allen found offensive lineman Tommy Doyle for a "Big Man TD."

The Patriots scored a late TD, but it was the Bills who earned bragging rights in an emphatic fashion.

Cincinnati Bengals 26, Las Vegas Raiders 19

First playoff TD pass

Joe Burrow and the Bengals made it look easy on their opening drive of the game, scoring a touchdown early.

Burrow completed five passes on the drive, with the final one being a touchdown pass to tight end C.J. Uzomah to take a 7-3 lead.

Strip sack

The Bengals' defense stepped up immediately after that touchdown, with defensive end Trey Hendrickson forcing a fumble to get the ball back to the offense.

That helped set up a field goal for the Bengals, extending their lead to 10-3.

Burrow Magic

Burrow's dominant first half continued as he found wide receiver Tyler Boyd for his second touchdown pass of the game.

This one came with Burrow walking the tightrope on the sideline to push the Bengals' lead to 20-6.

Late response

The Raiders needed a touchdown to stay within arm's reach heading into the second half, and that is exactly what they got 13 seconds before the break — Derek Carr connected with Zay Jones for the Raiders' first touchdown to make it a 20-13 game.

On the move

The Bengals extended their lead to 23-13 with a field goal in the third quarter, but the Raiders threatened late in the period, thanks to this Carr-to-Hunter-Renfrow connection.

But the Bengals held Vegas to a field goal, then countered with a kick of their own to keep a 10-point lead at 26-16.

Carr to D-Jax

The Raiders needed some points on their next drive with time growing short in the fourth. Carr found DeSean Jackson on fourth-and-5 to keep their hopes alive. The Bengals again held Vegas to a field goal, though, keeping a 26-19 edge.

Magical catch

The Raiders got the ball back with a couple of minutes left, keeping their drive alive with this amazing pass from Carr to Darren Waller.

Hear the roar!

It all came down to fourth-and-goal with 12 seconds left. The Bengals held on by the skin of their teeth when Germaine Pratt picked off Carr, earning their first playoff win in 31 years.