49ers-Bills: Josh Allen leads Buffalo’s funeral of San Francisco in blizzard as Bills win AFC East with 35-10 win
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49ers-Bills: Josh Allen leads Buffalo’s funeral of San Francisco in blizzard as Bills win AFC East with 35-10 win

Posted on by Amelia Pressman

Buffalo Bills quarterback Josh Allen (17) dives toward the end zone to score against the San Francisco 49ers during the second half of an NFL football game in Orchard Park, N.Y., Sunday, Dec. 1, 2024. (AP Photo/Adrian Kraus)

Buffalo Bills quarterback Josh Allen (17) dives toward the end zone to score against the San Francisco 49ers during the second half of an NFL football game in Orchard Park, N.Y., Sunday, Dec. 1, 2024. (AP Photo/Adrian Kraus)

The San Francisco 49ers looked like a California team playing in the snow. They slipped around. No catch was a given. No ordinary football act was easy.

And that would be easy to dismiss if the 49ers looked anything like themselves this season. Instead, the 49ers have fallen even further in the standings, their playoff hopes likely buried in the Buffalo snow.

The Buffalo Bills are a Super Bowl contender and the 49ers are probably not even a playoff team. That’s how Sunday night’s game went, as the Bills took an easy 35-14 victory in snowy conditions. Buffalo secured the AFC East title with the win.

The 49ers fell to 5-7 and star running back Christian McCaffrey left with a non-contact knee injury.

The 49ers took last season’s Super Bowl to overtime and brought back virtually their entire roster. There were injuries that didn’t help. But when this miserable season is over, and ends much sooner than expected, San Francisco will have to take a hard look at what went so wrong. There will be a lot to sort out.

Snow games provide a fun atmosphere and are often very sloppy. The 49ers were a comedy on Sunday night. Safe players like George Kittle dropped easy passes. Reliable fullback Kyle Juszczyk fumbled just before crossing the goal line when the ball was knocked out, and Brock Purdy lost a fumble while going for the pass and the ball simply fell out of his hands.

The 49ers defense looked slow as it tried to chase down Buffalo running back James Cook’s 65-yard touchdown. They looked foolish when Amari Cooper ran a 9-yard touchdown to Josh Allen to give the Bills a 28-3 lead. Officially, Allen received one touchdown pass and one touchdown reception for the game. According to NBC, Allen became the fourth player in NFL history to score a receiving touchdown on a pass he threw.

The 49ers lost 38-10 in Green Bay last week and trailed 21-3 at halftime on Sunday night. Earlier this season, the 49ers lost a few close games that put them in an unexpected hole. With the season hanging in the balance for the last two weeks, they weren’t even competitive.

The McCaffrey injury is another setback. McCaffrey missed the first eight games of the season with an Achilles tendon injury. He returned and in his fourth game he began limping immediately after a pitch and fell to the ground. He got up, ran awkwardly to the sideline and never returned. If he misses time, it will make life even more difficult for a 49ers offense that has been bogged down lately.

Brandon Aiyuk suffered a season-ending ACL injury weeks ago. Veterans Nick Bosa and Trent Williams were among the players out for the 49ers on Sunday night. Fred Warner suffered a broken ankle and fellow linebacker Dre Greenlaw didn’t play at all this season.

Injuries were a problem, but many of the players who were on the field did not perform at their normal level. In many ways, the 49ers look exactly like a 5-7 team.

Just because Bills players live in Buffalo doesn’t mean they’re used to playing football with inches of snow on the ground. They simply handled the conditions much better than the 49ers.

Allen made several key plays, including his touchdown pass that was officially his and an 8-yard touchdown run that gave Buffalo a 35-10 lead. Allen was taken out of the game with more than 12 minutes left and the result was determined.

With the division in hand and five games remaining, the Bills are still in the hunt for the AFC’s No. 1 seed and are hoping the Kansas City Chiefs finally lose a close game. The Bills appear to be a complete team capable of winning it all, and they boast a record of 10-2. This was expected from the 49ers.

The 49ers aren’t quite finished yet, but may need to win or come close to make the playoffs. It’s December and San Francisco is in last place in the NFC West. Things won’t get any easier going forward, as several of the 49ers’ core players are either nearly 30 years old or already in their 30s, and Purdy is about to get a lucrative contract extension that will change their salary cap situation.

The last two games may have dashed the 49ers’ playoff hopes for this season and may be viewed as the final start of what appears to be a championship series in San Francisco. No one expected the 49ers to be playing meaningless football this December and early January. But after two straight defeats, the 49ers appear to be irrelevant for the rest of the season.

The live broadcast has ended35 updates

  • With their 35:10 win, the Bills also won the AFC East and are the second team in the AFC playoff round

  • Everyone’s smiling for the Bills tonight in Buffalo

  • A little more history for Josh Allen – first quarterback in NFL history with a rushing, receiving and passing TD in the same game

  • Josh Allen’s night is over and Mitchell Trubisky is about to close the deal

    Close the book on Allen night, and here are the numbers 13 of 17 for 148 yards to go, along with two passing touchdowns, a rushing touchdown and a receiving touchdown. An outstanding night in a snow globe that put the Bills on their way to another win.

  • Perhaps the only bright spot for the 49ers tonight was Deebo Samuel returning kickoffs, and then this happened.

    Deebo is averaging 35 yards per kickoff return tonight – and he’s been busy – but like Kyle Juszczyk and Brock Purdy before him tonight, the 49ers just can’t get a break in the bad weather, while the Bills were just as sharp as if it were was 50 degrees and clear.

  • Josh Allen adds a rushing touchdown to his success

    Is a passing touchdown, receiving touchdown and rushing touchdown a hat trick? If not, they’ll have to think of a name like that. The loss is underway in Buffalo, with the Bills leading 35-10

  • Brock Purdy is the latest victim of conditions in Buffalo

    Another tough one for the 49ers as the ball just slips out of Brock Purdy’s hands.

  • 49ers responds with TD

    Isaac Guerendo caps off a long drive that finally brings the 49ers victory.

  • What the hell is that?!?!

    How do they even manage to do this in fantasy? Honestly, as entertaining a piece of theater as you’ll see all year. 28-3 Bills lead.

  • Kyle Juszczyk fumbles it away inside the 5-yard line

    Taylor Rapp knocked the ball out and Christian Benford returned it to 49ers territory. A terrible end to a promising trip to San Francisco, and now the Bills are back in business.

  • After halftime, Kyle Shanahan said Christian McCaffrey would not return to the game

  • Deebo opened the second half with a 60-yard kickoff return

  • Rushing games dominate in the first half as Bills take the big lead into the locker room

    The Bills have a big lead at halftime, but both teams are down. Buffalo has 16 carries for 142 yards and San Francisco has 17 attempts for 119 yards. That’s 33 rushing attempts for a total of 261 yards in the first half, and the two teams combine to average 8.0 yards per rush. The difference is that Buffalo gets touchdowns and the 49ers get field goal attempts — and Jake Moody missed twice as Buffalo led 21-3 at halftime.

  • Josh Allen to Mack Hollins for the score

    The Bills capitalized on a 97-yard drive with a 3rd-and-goal touchdown pass. Bass converted the PAT to make it 21-3 with less than a minute left in the first half at Orchard Park.

  • James Cook almost breaks another one

    This time he goes for a 16, goes out of bounds… and adds another 10. He had a huge half, with 8 rushes for 100 yards and the long touchdown run.

  • Dawson Knox gets involved now

    A 39-yard pickup to get the Bills across their own goal line gets Buffalo moving after the two-minute warning. They are in midfield and want to extend their lead before halftime.

  • Greg Rousseau sacks Brock Burdy to force a 49ers punt

  • According to the 49ers, Christian McCaffrey is officially dealing with a knee injury

  • 1 play, 65 yards, James Cook.

    This is a pretty simple summary of the ride, and now the 49ers are dealing with it. I hope you have James Cook on your fantasy team.

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