Bills keep overcoming flaws and slow starts, winning on another second-half rally

ORCHARD PARK, N.Y. (AP) — Thrilling as the second-half comebacks have been, Josh Allen and the Buffalo Bills acknowledge that continuing to test the limits of how big of a hole they can dig themselves out of is a flawed formula for sustained success.

Each week the Bills insist they need to be better to start games. And each week — or at least the past two — they’ve somehow come away victorious.

Two weekends ago, Buffalo trailed Cincinnati by 10 points midway through the fourth quarter before scoring three touchdowns in a 4-1/2-minute span of a 39-34 win.

On Sunday, the Bills spotted New England a 21-0 second-quarter lead before Allen — in between throwing up on the sideline — oversaw five straight touchdown drives in a 35-31 win to maintain Buffalo's slim hopes of winning a sixth straight AFC East title.

Buffalo (10-4) still trails the division-leading Patriots (11-3), who need to beat only the Jets and Miami to clinch.

“I don’t know why. It just happens,” Allen said of what’s become a game-day ritual of vomiting, after being captured on TV doing so in the fourth quarter. “It’s due to nothing else other than just a weird feeling.”

As gut-checks go, that might be an extreme one for the expectant father, after his newlywed wife, actor Hailee Steinfeld, announced her pregnancy last week.

As for the Bills’ ability to find a spark: “Obviously, we want to start faster,” Allen said. “But it's being able to dig ourselves out and be battle-tested coming down the stretch here."

That’s the second time in five days Allen used “battle-tested” to describe the Bills.

And, perhaps, there might be something to that in a season when Buffalo's recent playoff rivals already have been eliminated — Kansas City and Cincinnati — while Baltimore strives to stay in contention.

AFC West-leading Denver and Houston, currently the AFC’s seventh seed, might have superior defenses. And the Bills learned how sturdy the Texans are while getting manhandled in a 23-19 loss last month.

Yet no current AFC contender can match the Bills’ postseason experience; they've gone 7-6 during their six-year playoff run.

Coach Sean McDermott has referred to the experience — especially the losses — as gathering scars from which the Bills can learn. It’s no different, he said Sunday, from how the team has not blinked in the face of adversity this season.

All it took on Sunday was a glimpse from Allen during halftime.

“I saw Josh as I was bringing everybody up, and he looked at me,” McDermott said. “I just knew he was seeing it like I was. The entire team was on the same vibe.”

The Bills have plenty to clean up, particularly on an injury-depleted defense that was missing top pass defender, cornerback Christian Benford, because of a toe injury.

The Bills still found a way to win, similar to how they overcame missing two starting offensive tackles in a 26-7 victory over Pittsburgh three weekends ago.

Let’s not forget how Buffalo opened the season: with Allen rallying the team from a 15-point fourth-quarter deficit against Baltimore.

The Bills are 4-1 this season when allowing 30 or more points and 7-4 when tied or trailing at halftime.

During his previous 10 seasons with the Chargers, edge rusher Joey Bosa knew mostly frustration in how his team would come up short in the clutch.

It’s different in Buffalo.

“I just don’t think there’s any quit on this team,” Bosa said. “We’ve proved that a few games this year, that you just have to keep fighting. And when you have Josh back there with the ball in his hands, anything is possible.”

Second-half production. In winning four of five games, Buffalo has combined to outscore its opponents 111-35 over the final 30 minutes.

First-half production. In those five games, the Bills have been outscored a combined 94-58 over the first 30 minutes.

Ray Davis. The backup running back/kickoff returner combined for 164 yards on four returns against New England. He now leads the league averaging 32.4 yards per return.

Defensive interior. Buffalo allowed a season-high 246 yards rushing and four touchdowns. The yards rushing were the most allowed in a Bills win since Buffalo gave up 318 in a 16-13 OT victory over the Jets in 2009.

DT Jordan Phillips has been ruled out against Cleveland this weekend after hurting his ankle. ... K Matt Prater also has been ruled out because of a quadriceps injury to his kicking leg, leading to Buffalo having to sign a replacement this week.

21 — Largest point deficit Buffalo has overcome on the road, matching a 34-31 OT win at Miami in 1987 and a 49-31 win at Cincinnati in 2010.

Don’t peek ahead to a Week 17 showdown against Philadelphia before traveling to play Cleveland (3-11) on Sunday.

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Buffalo Bills quarterback Josh Allen speaks at a news conference after an NFL football game against the New England Patriots in Foxborough, Mass., Sunday, Dec. 14, 2025. (AP Photo/Robert F. Bukaty)

Buffalo Bills quarterback Josh Allen (17) passes against the New England Patriots during the second half of an NFL football game in Foxborough, Mass., Sunday, Dec. 14, 2025. (AP Photo/Charles Krupa)

Buffalo Bills quarterback Josh Allen (17) reacts after an NFL football game against the New England Patriots in Foxborough, Mass., Sunday, Dec. 14, 2025. (AP Photo/Charles Krupa)

Buffalo Bills outside linebacker Matt Milano (58) reacts after sacking New England Patriots quarterback Drake Maye during the second half of an NFL football game in Foxborough, Mass., Sunday, Dec. 14, 2025. (AP Photo/Robert F. Bukaty)

Buffalo Bills running back James Cook III (4) celebrates after scoring against the New England Patriots during the second half of an NFL football game in Foxborough, Mass., Sunday, Dec. 14, 2025. (AP Photo/Robert F. Bukaty)

WASHINGTON (AP) — Chaotic weather, from surprising heat in California to damaging winds around Washington, D.C., put over half the U.S. population in the path of extreme conditions Monday.

Storms across the nation's eastern half forced airlines to cancel more than 3,000 flights nationwide Monday, and many schools closed early in the mid-Atlantic states, where high winds and tornadoes were in the forecast for the evening.

Blizzards buried parts of Michigan, Wisconsin and Minnesota while torrential rains flooded homes and washed out roads in Hawaii.

In Washington, the House of Representatives postponed votes because of difficulty traveling with inclement weather, and federal agencies told workers to go home early.

Airport delays and cancellations piled up Monday in some of the nation’s largest airports — including those in New York, Chicago and Atlanta.

The private weather service AccuWeather calculated that more than 200 million people were under threat Monday of some kind of dangerous weather.

Those range from extreme heat and wildfire advisories to flood and freeze watches from the National Weather Service.

The storm system that dropped snow by the foot in the Midwest is barreling toward the East Coast with dangerously high winds and potential for “producing strong and long track tornadoes,” the weather service warned Monday.

“Wind is the primary threat, but within any of these areas of strong wind there could be some embedded tornadoes and even the potential for a tornado to develop ahead of the line,” said Evan Bentley, a meteorologist with the weather service.

The biggest threat stretched from Maryland to the upper edge of South Carolina.

North Carolina Gov. Josh Stein urged residents to enable emergency alerts on their phones ahead of expected gusts topping 70 mph (112 kph).

Blizzard conditions continued in the Upper Midwest and Great Lakes on Monday after the storm walloped parts of Wisconsin and Michigan with several feet of snow.

Since Saturday, nearly 3 feet (61 centimeters) had fallen in the northern Wisconsin town of Mountain.

Another round of snow and gusts on Monday could bring another foot of snow across Michigan's Upper Peninsula.

A heat dome over the Southwest will push temperatures well into the triple digits in Arizona most of the week, much earlier than the region usually sees.

Much of California is starting to feel like summer too. The San Francisco Bay Area and Sacramento will see temperatures pushing toward 90 F (32 C) by midweek.

“This is a heat wave that we have not seen before in recorded history in the Southwest,” said AccuWeather meteorologist Dan DePodwin.

Phoenix is expected to have five straight days of triple digit temperatures this week — only once before, in 1988, has the city recorded a 100 F (37.8 C) day in March, DePodwin said.

Dry and windy conditions were charging the largest wildfire in Nebraska’s history. Fires in the state have consumed more than 937 square miles (2,428 square kilometers) of mostly grassland.

Unrelenting rains triggered landslides, washed away roads and flooded homes and farmland in Hawaii over the weekend.

All of Hawaii’s islands had spots with more than 15 inches (38 centimeters) of rain while parts of Maui were overwhelmed with double that amount, the weather service said.

While the worst of the storm has passed, more heavy rain is forecast for later this week. Maui Mayor Richard Bissen said there were no reports of injuries or deaths and crews were assessing damage.

Forecasters said the East Coast storms were expected leave sharply colder weather in its wake.

The storm will stick around parts of the Northeast until Tuesday morning. By then, wind chills below freezing were expected to reach the Gulf Coast and the Florida Panhandle with warnings in effect across the Southeast and in part of Arkansas, Oklahoma, Louisiana, and Texas, forecasters warned.

To the north, rain was expected to change over to snow behind the cold front with heavy snow possible in the central Appalachians of West Virginia.

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Brumfield reported from Cockeysville, Maryland, and Seewer from Toledo, Ohio. Associated Press writers Jennifer Kelleher in Honolulu; Margery Beck in Omaha, Nebraska; Julie Walker in New York; Jeff Martin in Atlanta; and Gary Fields in Washington contributed.

People watch as storms roll over the U.S. Capitol Monday, March 16, 2026, in Washington. (AP Photo/Allison Robbert)

Morning traffic is seen on Lake Shore Drive, after the overnight snow, Monday, March 16, 2026, in downtown Chicago. (AP Photo/Kiichiro Sato)

Dense fog and low clouds cover parts of the George Washington Bridge as seen from Fort Lee, N.J., Monday, March 16, 2026. (AP Photo/Seth Wenig)

A person bundles up and fishes on a breakwater by Montrose Harbor, Monday morning, March 16, 2026, in downtown Chicago. (AP Photo/Kiichiro Sato)

A man shovels snow after a snowstorm Monday, March 16, 2026, in Minneapolis. (AP Photo/Abbie Parr)

Snow is plowed after a snowstorm Monday, March 16, 2026, in Minneapolis. (AP Photo/Abbie Parr)

Victor Alomoto who is from Ecuador cleared the sidewalk for the River Valley Church in the North Loop Pedestrians during the snow storm in Minneapolis, Minn., on Sunday, March 15, 2026.(Richard Tsong-Taatarii/Minnesota Star Tribune via AP)

Ogo Akpati and his son Brycson Akpati, 3, braved the strong winds and had fun sliding down a hill in Central Park Sunday, March 15,2026 in Brooklyn Park, MN. (Jerry Holt/Minnesota Star Tribune via AP)

Fans walk through snowy streets before an NHL hockey game between the Minnesota Wild and Toronto Maple Leafs, Sunday, March 15, 2026, in St. Paul. (AP Photo/Abbie Parr)

People drive on a snow-covered freeway during a snow storm Sunday, March 15, 2026, in Minneapolis. (Richard Tsong-Taatarii/Minnesota Star Tribune via AP)

Workers clear snow off the ground Sunday, March 15, 2026, in St. Paul, Minn. (AP Photo/Abbie Parr)