NFL Wild Card Saturday

Patriots, Jones end season with a dud in 47-17 loss to Bills

ORCHARD PARK, N.Y. (AP) — The New England Patriots have plenty to improve upon if they intend to close the gap on their AFC East rival Buffalo Bills. What promise the Patriots showed in making the playoffs under rookie quarterback Mac Jones unraveled in a 47-17 loss to the Bills in a wild-card playoff game. New England’s struggles carried over from the regular season in which the Patriots closed losing three of four. The loss to Buffalo was the most lopsided in the postseason by a Bill Belichick-coached Patriots team.

Bengals get first post season victory in 31 years

The Bengals had dropped eight consecutive postseason games over 31 years before Joe Burrow tossed a pair of scoring passes in a 26-19 win over the Raiders. Burrow was 24 of 34 for 244 yards, with Ja’Marr Chase grabbing nine for 116 yards. CJ Uzomah and Tyler Boyd caught TD passes while Cincinnati built a 20-6 lead.

Cincinnati scored on four straight possessions after Daniel Carlson hit a field goal to cap the game’s opening drive.

Josh Jacobs ran for 83 yards and Derek Carr threw for 310 with one TD and an interception for Las Vegas.