Bills survive five turnovers, beat Chargers 24-16 to stay unbeaten

Five turnovers and Buffalo still wins

Buffalo turned the ball over five times on Sunday at Highmark Stadium and still walked away with a 24-16 win over the Los Angeles Chargers. Josh Allen threw two interceptions and lost a fumble among the Bills' five giveaways, while the Chargers turned it over just once. That disparity should have decided the game, but a stalled Chargers offense in the second half evened things out. Buffalo improved to 3-0 on the season and 2-0 at home. Los Angeles dropped to 0-3 overall, 0-1 on the road.

Fourth quarter belonged to Allen and Cook

Buffalo trailed 13-10 after a Cameron Dicker field goal in the third quarter, then took over in the fourth. Allen scored his second rushing touchdown of the day on a 1-yard run with 7:35 left, putting the Bills ahead 17-13. About four minutes later, James Cook III punched in a 3-yard touchdown run to make it 24-13. Cook finished with 154 yards on 24 carries, the biggest rushing total in the game. Allen's night through the air was rougher, 16 of 26 for 204 yards with two interceptions, but both of Buffalo's rushing touchdowns came off his own legs. DJ Moore led Buffalo's receivers with six catches for 67 yards.

Chargers can't finish drives

Los Angeles actually started fast. Justin Herbert found Keaton Mitchell for a 1-yard touchdown early in the first quarter, and Dicker added a 31-yard field goal before the period ended, building a 10-0 lead off two early Buffalo turnovers. The Chargers offense went cold from there, settling for field goals the rest of the way. Dicker made four field goals in all, from 31, 28, 21 and 33 yards, and Los Angeles had six drives that reached inside Buffalo's 30-yard line without turning most of them into touchdowns. Herbert finished 20 of 34 for 226 yards with a touchdown and an interception. Tre' Harris caught six passes for 76 yards, and Omarion Hampton led the ground game with 56 yards on 15 carries.

Chargers coach Jim Harbaugh did not point fingers afterward. "We did not win the game. That's painful. That hurts," he said, adding that the team wins and loses together. The loss was Los Angeles' third straight to open a season for the first time since 2017, following earlier 26-14 losses to Arizona and Las Vegas.

Injury report and what comes next

Buffalo held on despite the turnovers thanks to its defense. Greg Rousseau had two sacks, and Dorian Williams led the team with nine tackles. Daiyan Henley paced Los Angeles with nine tackles of his own, and Tuli Tuipulotu had a sack and a half. On the injury front, Buffalo's Ar'maj Reed-Adams (elbow) and T.J. Sanders (surgery) were out, while Josh Allen (knee) and Christian Benford (toe) carried questionable tags. The Chargers were down Brenen Thompson (quadriceps), Dalvin Tomlinson (hamstring), Charlie Kolar (forearm surgery) and Elijah Molden (hamstring). Buffalo has now started 3-0 for the third straight year. Los Angeles is still looking for its first win, with an offense that through three games has punted 10 times and turned the ball over six times, more than it has scored touchdowns.

Facts per ESPN box score. Opinion is the taproom's.