ORCHARD PARK, N.Y. — It was impossible to ignore the spectacular catches from Bills receiver Gabriel Davis, hauling in Buffalo's first two touchdowns of the game.
One was for 98 yards on the Bills' opening drive, and the other, a 62-yard grab where he fought the ball out of Pittsburgh Steelers' safety Minkah Fitzpatrick's hands in the end zone.
But the Bills' 2022 fifth-round pick Khalil Shakir had three catches for 75 yards and a touchdown in the first half alone, along with a 34-yard kick return.
Shakir has been reliable in the return game, with veteran receivers and returners Jamison Crowder and Isaiah McKenzie out of the mix.
The 22-year-old stepped into the Bills' Week 4 win, 23-20, over Baltimore when Crowder and McKenzie went down.
He caught both passes Josh Allen threw to him in high-stakes situations, racking up 23 yards.
Shakir is proving he can be reliable while the Bills' receivers room is banged up.
Despite wind gusts of up to 20 mph, Allen’s 348 yards passing in the first half were tied for the second most over the opening two quarters in an NFL game since 1991, and 11 short of the 359 yards Patrick Mahomes had in Kansas City’s 27-24 win at Tampa Bay in 2020.
Pulled in favor of Case Keenum early in the fourth quarter, Allen finished 20 of 31 for 424 yards, the second most in team history, and most in a game ending in regulation.
Davis became just the fifth NFL player since 2000 to have two touchdown catches of 60 or more yards in the same game, and first since Cincinnati’s Ja’Marr Chase had a pair in a 34-31 win over Kansas City on Jan. 2 last season.
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