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Bills’ player retires at halftime in loss to Chargers

7 min read

Los Angeles Chargers running back Melvin Gordon isn’t concerned about an injury that sidelined him for much of the fourth quarter against the Buffalo Bills Sunday.

“Nah, it’s just a little upper body, but I’ll be straight,” Gordon said.

Whatever pain there might have been was offset by Gordon matching a career high by scoring three touchdowns, and the Chargers holding off a late Bills comeback attempt to secure a 31-20 win.

“It felt good because that just showed us what type of offense we can be,” said Gordon, who left with just over 11 minutes remaining. “It’s good to have confirmation, so we’ve just got to keep that going.”

A week after putting up 541 yards but lacking finish in a season-opening 38-28 loss to Kansas City, the Chargers were less productive but more efficient. Gordon scored on three consecutive drives in helping the Chargers build a 28-3 lead with 1:55 left in the second quarter.

The Bills, meanwhile, continued to show signs of unraveling even though rookie quarterback Josh Allen provided the offense some semblance of a spark in his first career start, and a week after a season-opening 47-3 meltdown at Baltimore.

Veteran cornerback Vontae Davis created a significant stir by leaving the team at halftime, coach Sean McDermott said. Running back LeSean McCoy did not return and was still experiencing pain in the locker room because of a rib injury. And McDermott revealed he took over the defensive play-calling from coordinator Leslie Frazier to start the second half.

On Davis, McDermott said: “Pulled himself out of the game. He communicated to us that he was done.”

That move didn’t sit well with Buffalo’s two senior defensive leaders.

“I think the only thing to say is he’s where he needs to be right now,” tackle Kyle Williams said.

Asked where that might be, Williams responded: “That’s not here point blank and simple.”

Defensive end Lorenzo Alexander was equally blunt when asked about Davis.

“I don’t have nothing to say about Vontae so I’ll give him a little bit more respect than he showed us today as far as quitting on us in the middle of the game,” Alexander said. “Never seen it, ever. Pop Warner. High school. College. Pros.”

Davis was credited with one tackle. He’s a 10-year veteran who signed a one-year contract in free agency in March.

The Bills provided Davis a chance to re-start his career after a dispute with former Colts coach Chuck Pagano led to Indianapolis cutting him in November.

Davis made his Bills’ debut against the Chargers after being inactive against Baltimore last week.

A message left with Davis’ agent, Todd France, was not returned.

Minnesota 29, Green Bay 29, tie: Daniel Carlson missed two field goals in overtime, including one from 35 yards as time expired, and the Minnesota Vikings had to settle for a 29-29 tie with the Green Bay Packers after rallying from a late 13-point deficit. The rookie pushed his final kick wide right, just like his attempt from 49 earlier in overtime.

Atlanta 31, Carolina 24: Matt Ryan had more rushing touchdowns than Cam Newton – and even more important, the Atlanta quarterback got a whole lot of players involved in the offense. Just like that, the Falcons resembled the high-scoring team that made it all the way to the Super Bowl two seasons ago. Ryan ran for a pair of scores for the first time in his career and threw a pair of TD passes, leading the Falcons to a 31-24 victory over the Carolina Panthers.

Tampa Bay 27, Philadelphia 21: Ryan Fitzpatrick threw for over 400 yards and four touchdowns for the second straight week in leading the Tampa Bay Buccaneers to a 27-21 victory over the reigning Super Bowl champion Philadelphia Eagles. Filling in for suspended quarterback Jameis Winston, the 35-year-old Fitzpatrick completed 27 of 32 passes for 402 yards and has the suddenly explosive Bucs off to a 2-0 start for the first time since 2010.

New Orleans 21, Cleveland 18: Wil Lutz kicked a 44-yard field goal with 21 seconds left, and the New Orleans Saints beat Cleveland 21-18 to extend the Browns’ winless streak to 19 games. Cleveland kicker Zane Gonzalez pushed the second of his two missed field goals wide right in the final seconds when he had a chance to send the Browns to overtime for the second time in two games. Marcus Williams had an interception for New Orleans and Michael Thomas had two fourth-quarter touchdown catches for the Saints.

Miami 20, N.Y. Jets 12: Ryan Tannehill threw two touchdown passes, Frank Gore moved past Curtis Martin for fourth on the career rushing list, Kenyan Drake ran for a score and the Miami Dolphins took advantage of several mistakes by Sam Darnold and the New York Jets for a 20-12 victory T.J. McDonald and Xavien Howard each intercepted the Jets’ rookie quarterback. That helped the Dolphins to their first 2-0 start to a season since 2013.

Tennessee 20, Houston 17: Ryan Succop kicked a 31-yard field goal with 1:00 left, and the battered Tennessee Titans held off the Houston Texans 20-17 to give Mike Vrabel his first victory as an NFL head coach. Succop also kicked a tying 42-yarder in the fourth quarter as Tennessee pulled out the win with quarterback Marcus Mariota watching from the sideline. The Titans also were missing their top three offensive tackles.

Indianapolis 21, Washington 9: Andrew Luck threw for two touchdown passes, shook off two interceptions and engineered a game-sealing drive as the Indianapolis Colts beat the Washington Redskins 21-9 to pick up their first victory of the season. Luck was 21 of 31 for 179 yards and had a TD pass in a 25th consecutive game, the longest active streak in the NFL.

L.A. Rams 34, Arizona 0: Todd Gurley ran for three touchdowns, Jared Goff threw for 354 yards and a touchdown and the Los Angeles Rams dominated the Arizona Cardinals 34-0. The Rams have won their first two games for the first time since 2001, when they started 6-0 en route to the third Super Bowl appearance in team history.

Jacksonville 31, New England 20: Blake Bortles threw four touchdown passes, three in the first half, and the Jacksonville Jaguars beat Tom Brady and the New England Patriots 31-20 in a rematch of last season’s AFC championship game. Bortles connected with Donte Moncrief, Keelan Cole and Austin Seferian-Jenkins for scores in the first 30 minutes, the second time he’s done that in his NFL career. He sealed the victory with a short pass to Dede Westbrook.

San Francisco 30, Detroit 27: Jimmy Garoppolo threw two TD passes, Matt Breida ran for 138 yards and San Francisco’s longest TD run in four seasons, and the 49ers bounced back from a season-opening loss by beating the Detroit Lions 30-27.

Denver 20, Oakland 19: Brandon McManus kicked a 36-yard field goal into the wind with six seconds left to give the Denver Broncos a 20-19 win over the Oakland Raiders. The Broncos trailed by 12 points in the second half but rallied despite allowing Derek Carr to complete 29 of 32 passes.

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