Allen and Bills overcome Rodgers' Hail Mary and beat Jets 23-20 to take control in AFC East

EAST RUTHERFORD, N.J. (AP) — Josh Allen and the Buffalo Bills were expecting to go into halftime against the New York Jets with a 10-point lead and all the momentum.

That changed with one eye-popping pass by Aaron Rodgers that sent the Jets and their fans into a frenzy and had social media buzzing.

“Kind of a gut punch,” Allen said.

But he and the Bills overcame Rodgers' 52-yard Hail Mary touchdown throw as the first half ended to outlast the Jets 23-20 on Monday night and take early season control of the AFC East.

“Fighting through adversity, getting in at halftime, regrouping, saying let’s just control one play at a time,” Allen said. “We didn’t score as many points as I’d like in the second half, but found a way.”

Allen threw two touchdown passes and ran for another score and Tyler Bass made up for an earlier miss by kicking a go-ahead 22-yard field goal with 3:43 left to help the Bills (4-2) snap a two-game skid. They have never lost three straight with Allen starting at quarterback.

“It was a gritty win led by Josh,” coach Sean McDermott said.

The loss was the third in a row for the Jets (2-4), who capped a tumultuous week during which coach Robert Saleh was fired, defensive coordinator Jeff Ulbrich replaced him as the interim coach and offensive coordinator Nathaniel Hackett was demoted from play-calling duties in favor of Todd Downing.

“Yeah, it was a weird week,” Rodgers said.

Normally reliable kicker Greg Zuerlein missed two potential go-ahead field goals for the Jets, hitting the left upright on both.

The game was also filled with yellow penalty flags — both teams had 11 penalties.

Allen finished 19 of 25 for 215 yards. Rookie Ray Davis, filling in for the injured James Cook, ran for 97 yards on 20 carries and caught three passes for 55 yards.

With the Jets trailing 23-20 in the closing minutes, Rodgers threw deep for Mike Williams but the pass was short and Taron Johnson — back after breaking his right forearm in the season opener — came up with a diving interception. Williams was evaluated for a head injury after the play.

Allen and the Bills were able to then run out the clock and seal the win. They're the only team in the AFC East with a winning record.

“Our No. 1 goal is making the playoffs and you do that by winning your division,” Allen said. "We understand the gravity of this type of game, us being 4-2 with a 2 1/2-game lead with a head-to-head win, as opposed to being 3-3 and in second place.

Rodgers was 23 of 35 for 294 yards with two touchdowns and the INT, and Breece Hall had 113 yards rushing and 56 receiving.

“I thought we were going to have a big night on offense,” Rodgers said.

It certainly seemed they were headed for that.

With the Jets at their own 48 and perhaps hoping to get into field goal range before halftime, Rodgers took a few steps back and danced around a bit before launching the ball toward the end zone. Allen Lazard reached up in front of two Bills defenders and fell on his back.

After a quick huddle, officials ruled it a touchdown.

“When you catch those waves of momentum, you’ve got to ride it,” Ulbrich said. “And you’ve got to finish a team, which we didn’t do.”

The Jets got in an early rhythm on offense with Downing calling the plays as Rodgers got New York into the red zone. The Jets settled for a 34-yard field goal by Zuerlein, but it was New York's first points on an opening drive this season.

Buffalo bounced back by gashing Ulbrich's defense for 61 yards rushing — including 48 on six carries by Davis — and capping the Bills' opening drive with a 1-yard keeper by Allen to make it 7-3.

Allen's 56th career TD run put him one behind O.J. Simpson for second in franchise history.

Garrett Wilson gave the Jets back the lead on their next drive with a 5-yard TD catch that was initially ruled incomplete but reversed on video replay before Ulbrich needed to challenge.

Allen led the Bills on a 90-yard drive to give Buffalo back the lead, capped by an 8-yard TD pass to Mack Hollins. Quinnen Williams got his hand on Bass' extra point try that sailed wide left.

Allen's second touchdown pass was a 12-yard throw to Dawson Knox with 21 seconds remaining before halftime to put Buffalo up 20-10.

Bass pushed a 47-yarder wide right on Buffalo's opening drive of the second half. Zuerlein tied it at 20 with a 22-yarder midway through the third quarter.

The Jets appeared to take the lead late on their next possession when Braelon Allen ran up the middle from 4 yards out, but left tackle Tyron Smith was called for holding. Rodgers connected with Wilson in the back of the end zone on the next play, but the wide receiver couldn't hold onto the ball after being walloped by Damar Hamlin and Taylor Rapp.

Zuerlein then hit the left upright on a 32-yard attempt to keep the game tied. He also missed a potential go-ahead 43-yarder with 9:44 left in the fourth quarter, hitting the upright again.

Jets S Chuck Clark was ruled out in the second quarter with an ankle injury. ... CB D.J. Reed left in the third quarter with an injured groin.

Bills: Host Tennessee on Sunday.

Jets: Play at Pittsburgh on Sunday night.

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New York Jets place kicker Greg Zuerlein (9) reacts after missing a field goal attempt with Thomas Morstead during the second half of an NFL football game against the Buffalo Bills in East Rutherford, N.J., Monday, Oct. 14, 2024. (AP Photo/Adam Hunger)

Buffalo Bills cornerback Taron Johnson, right, intercepts a pass intended for New York Jets wide receiver Mike Williams (18) during the second half of an NFL football game in East Rutherford, N.J., Monday, Oct. 14, 2024. (AP Photo/Pamela Smith)

Buffalo Bills cornerback Taron Johnson, left, intercepts a pass intended for New York Jets wide receiver Mike Williams, right, during the second half of an NFL football game in East Rutherford, N.J., Monday, Oct. 14, 2024. (AP Photo/Adam Hunger)

New York Jets interim head coach Jeff Ulbrich watches from the sideline during the first half of an NFL football game against the Buffalo Bills in East Rutherford, N.J., Monday, Oct. 14, 2024. (AP Photo/Adam Hunger)

New York Jets quarterback Aaron Rodgers (8) celebrates with running back Frank Gore Jr. (20) after throwing a touchdown pass to wide receiver Allen Lazard during the first half of an NFL football game against the Buffalo Bills in East Rutherford, N.J., Monday, Oct. 14, 2024. (AP Photo/Adam Hunger)

New York Jets quarterback Aaron Rodgers (8) celebrates after throwing a touchdown pass to wide receiver Allen Lazard during the first half of an NFL football game against the Buffalo Bills in East Rutherford, N.J., Monday, Oct. 14, 2024. (AP Photo/Adam Hunger)

Buffalo Bills wide receiver Mack Hollins, left, celebrates with quarterback Josh Allen (17) and wide receiver Keon Coleman (0) after scoring against the New York Jets during the first half of an NFL football game in East Rutherford, N.J., Monday, Oct. 14, 2024. (AP Photo/Adam Hunger)

Buffalo Bills quarterback Josh Allen (17) gestures during the first half of an NFL football game against the New York Jets in East Rutherford, N.J., Monday, Oct. 14, 2024. (AP Photo/Adam Hunger)

SEOUL, South Korea (AP) — North Korea blew up the northern parts of inter-Korean roads no longer in use on Tuesday, South Korea said, after the rivals exchanged threats of destruction amid rising animosities over North Korea’s claim that South Korea flew drones over its capital.

The roads’ demolition is a display of North Korea’s growing loathing of South Korea’s conservative government, as its leader Kim Jong Un has vowed to sever relations with South Korea and abandon the goal of achieving peaceful Korean unification.

Observers say it’s still unlikely for Kim to launch preemptive, large-scale attacks on South Korea, because that would certainly invite massive retaliation by the more superior South Korea-U.S. force that will pose a threat to his survival.

South Korea’s Joint Chiefs of Staff also said South Korea's military fired within southern sections of the border in response to the explosions. Its statement did not give details on the firing. It could have been an attempt to avert cross-border fire by North Korea. It wasn't immediately known whether North Korea has made any response.

South Korea’s military said it is bolstering its readiness and surveillance posture in coordination with the United States.

Video provided by South Korea’s military showed a cloud of white and gray smoke emerging from the explosion at a road near the border town of Kaesong and North Korea sending trucks and excavators to clear out the debris. Another video showed smoke emerging from a coastal road near the Korea’s eastern border.

North Korea has a history of staging choreographed events to destroy facilities on its soil as a political message.

In 2020, North Korea blew up an empty, South Korean-built liaison office building just north of the border in retaliation for South Korean civilian leafleting campaigns. In 2018, North Korea demolished tunnels at its nuclear testing site at the start of nuclear diplomacy with the U.S. In 2008, North Korea blew up a cooling tower at its main nuclear complex when earlier disarmament-for-aid negotiations with the U.S. and others were alive.

Destroying the roads would be in line with leader Kim Jong Un’s order in January to eliminate the goal of a peaceful Korean unification, formally designate South Korea as the country’s “invariable principal enemy” and define the North’s sovereign, territorial sphere. Kim’s order stunned many outside North Korea watchers because it seemed to break from his predecessors’ long-cherished dreams of unifying the Korean Peninsula on the North’s terms.

Experts say Kim likely aims to diminish South Korea’s voice in the regional nuclear standoff and seek direct dealings with the U.S. They say Kim also likely hopes to diminish South Korean cultural influence and bolster his rule at home.

North Korea has accused South Korea of infiltrating drones to drop propaganda leaflets over Pyongyang three times this month and threatened to respond with force if it happened again. South Korea has refused to confirm whether it sent drones but warned North Korea would face the end of its regime if the safety of South Korean citizens is threatened.

North Korea put frontline artillery and other army units on standby to launch strikes on South Korea, if drones from South Korea are found over North Korea again. The North Korean Defense Ministry said that the entire South Korean territory “might turn into piles of ashes” following the North’s powerful attack.

North Korea's state media reported earlier Tuesday that Kim Jong Un called a meeting with his top military and security officials the previous day. During the meeting, Kim described the alleged South Korean drone flights as the “enemy’s serious provocation” and laid out unspecified tasks related to “immediate military action” and the operation of his “war deterrent” for defending the country’s sovereignty, the North's Korean Central News Agency said.

During the previous era of inter-Korean detente in the 2000s, the two Koreas reconnected two road routes and two rail tracks across their heavily fortified border. But their operations later were suspended one by one as the Koreas wrangled over North Korea’s nuclear program and other issues.

Last week, North Korea said it would permanently block its border with South Korea and build front-line defense structures to cope with “confrontational hysteria” by South Korean and U.S. forces. South Korean officials said North Korea had already been adding anti-tank barriers and laying mines along the border since earlier this year. They said North Korea has also planted mines and removed lamps along its sections of the inter-Korean roads and taken out ties on the northern side of the railways.

Tensions on the Korean Peninsula have sharply increased in recent years, with North Korea performing a run of provocative missile tests and South Korea and the U.S. expanding their military drills

Follow AP's Asia-Pacific coverage at https://apnews.com/hub/asia-pacific

South Korean visitors look at a map which shows a border area of two Koreas with a railroad line between Munsan city in south and Kaesong in north, at the Imjingak Pavilion in Paju, South Korea, near the border with North Korea, Monday, Oct. 14, 2024. (AP Photo/Ahn Young-joon)

Barricades are placed near the Unification Bridge, which leads to the Panmunjom in the Demilitarized Zone in Paju, South Korea, Monday, Oct. 14, 2024. (AP Photo/Ahn Young-joon)

A North Korean soldier stands guard at the North's military guard post as a North Korean flag flutters in the wind, as seen from Paju, South Korea, near the border with North Korea, Monday, Oct. 14, 2024. (AP Photo/Ahn Young-joon)

South Korean army soldiers patrol along the barbed-wire fence in Paju, South Korea, near the border with North Korea, Monday, Oct. 14, 2024. (AP Photo/Ahn Young-joon)