Browns come up short against Bills

CLEVELAND — James Cook continues to show opposing defenses that they have to factor in more than Josh Allen when facing the Buffalo Bills. With Allen playing through a foot injury that he suffered in the first half, Cook rushed for 117 yards and two touchdowns as the Bills drew closer to a playoff berth with a 23-20 win over the Cleveland Browns on Sunday. "He's the best back in football. I don't know how the awards will shake out, but he should be in the running for every award. He makes our offense go," said Allen, who played the second half despite injuring his right foot during the second quarter after being sacked. Ty Johnson also had a rushing score for the Bills (11-4), who have won four straight and five of six. Buffalo still needs a loss or tie by Houston or Indianapolis to wrap up a playoff spot for the seventh consecutive season. It was only the third time this season Allen didn't have a rushing or passing touchdown. The reigning NFL MVP was 12 of 19 passing for 130 yards and also rushed for 17 yards on seven carries. Allen was favoring the foot after being sacked by Cleveland's Myles Garrett and Alex Wright for a 22-yard loss to Buffalo's one-yard line with 60 seconds remaining in the first half. "Just flamed up on me. Pain subsided, so we're good," said Allen about the injury. It was the ninth 100-yard rushing game this season for Cook, tied with Thurman Thomas for second in franchise history. OJ Simpson holds the single-season mark with 11. The four-year veteran also took over the NFL rushing lead with 1,532 yards. Indianapolis' Jonathan Taylor is second with 1,443 with the Colts facing San Francisco on Monday. "Yeah, but there's a lot of room for improvement," said Cook when asked if he's playing his best football since being drafted in the second round in 2022. "It ain't over yet, so we just gotta keep going." Cook tied it at 7 midway through the first quarter on a 44-yard run up the middle where he eluded tackle attempts by Cleveland's Mohamoud Diabate and Adin Huntington at the line of scrimmage. Grant Delpit had a chance to make a stop at the 27, but was spun around and unable to make the tackle. "We had to be able to run the football, be two dimensional," Bills coach Sean McDermott said. "Usually when you have a run like that you have wide receivers blocking down the field and that's a good thing for us as well." Cook then extended Buffalo's lead to 20-10 with 2:23 remaining on a three-yard carry up the middle. The Bills took a 23-10 lead with 9:37 remaining in the third quarter on Michael Badgley's 41-yard field goal. Cleveland rallied to get within a field goal, but couldn't generate anything on its final two drives. Cleveland's Shedeur Sanders completed 20 of 29 passes for 157 yards and a touchdown. He also was the Browns' leading rusher with four carries for 49 yards. The fifth-round pick also threw two interceptions which accounted for 10 of Buffalo's points — Johnson's two-yard touchdown run early in the second quarter and Badgley's field goal Tight end Harold Fannin Jr. scored both Browns' touchdowns, including a one-yard run in the third quarter to get them within 23-17. Raheim Sanders rushed for 42 yards on 11 carries. He was pressed into action when Quinshon Judkins was carted off after suffering an injury late in the second quarter. "Yeah, in total we ended up minus in the turnover margin. It's hard to do that versus a very good football team. And then they made their plays. We didn't make enough at the end," coach Kevin Stefanski said. One sack away The half-sack gave Garrett 22 on the season. He needs one more sack in the Browns' final two games to pass Michael Strahan and T.J. Watt for the single-season mark. Garrett said he disappointed "a bit" that he wasn't able to get the record against the Bills. "I wanted to get it for them, have some family show up. They felt like it was going to be the game in the moment, and so definitely want to give them something to smile about," he said. Garrett recorded only one pressure in 22 pass rushes. Buffalo left tackle Dion Dawkins limited him to one pressure in 18 pass rushes. "I'm gonna keep saying it: I'm thankful that I'm a good tackle. I have a great guard and a great center. We make the right calls," Dawkins said. "And the good thing about O-line play, you don't always have to do it by yourself, even though we all have our individual battles, but it takes five of us to block." Quick start for Browns Cleveland got the opening kickoff and scored when Sanders rolled right and connected with Fannin for a 13-yard touchdown. It was the first time in five starts that Sanders directed Cleveland to points on its first possession. It was also the seventh straight game in which the Bills' opponent opened the scoring. Judkins out for season Judkins will undergo surgery after suffering a dislocated right ankle and broken fibula during the second quarter. The rookie had his right leg put in an air cast and was carted off with the season-ending injury with 1:57 remaining in the first half. "Q's been incredible, so I'm disappointed for him," Stefanski said. "He's disappointed, but he's not somebody that I worry about. He'll bounce back." The rookie running back suffered the injury after catching a swing pass from Sanders on second-and-6 at the Browns 44. Judkins was quickly hit low at the 38 by Bills linebacker Matt Milano for a six-yard loss. Judkins rolled over in pain and was pounding his hands on his helmet and the ground. Officials originally ruled that Judkins had fumbled the ball and Buffalo linebacker Terrel Bernard ran it back for a touchdown, but replay reversed it to Judkins being down by contact. "Yeah, well, it really hurt that Quinshon went down. Me and Quinshon was in the room talking yesterday till like 11-11:30, just like about life, just about everything," Sanders said. "It was definitely sad because I'm like, backside, I can't throw this slant. They're covering it, you know, they ain't like, I can't throw this slant. He's heavy inside. So, yeah, so that was my only option, you know, that was my option with throwing it. "So I feel bad because I threw it, you know? But, yeah, truthfully, yeah, it hurts. It hurts." Judkins, a second-round pick out of Ohio State, came in leading NFL rookies in rushing and tied for first with seven touchdowns runs. He had eight carries for 22 yards and five receptions for 29 yards before being injured. Judkins finishes with 827 yards rushing, fifth-most by a rookie in franchise history. He missed all of the preseason after he was accused of domestic violence in Florida in July. Prosecutors declined to pursue a case against him following a state attorney's office investigation that found inconsistencies in the accuser's story. He didn't report to the Browns until after the first game against Cincinnati on Sept. 7. "He loves football, so I wouldn't be surprised if he was back for the start of next season. He'll attack this the best he can," offensive guard Joel Bitonio said. Up nextCleveland hosts Pittsburgh next Sunday.