Associated Press

ORCHARD PARK, N.Y. (AP) — Taron Johnson could've kept running into next week on a 101-yard interception that carried the Buffalo Bills to their first AFC championship game appearance in 27 years.

Johnson's pick-6 of Lamar Jackson's pass with 41 seconds remaining in the third quarter secured a 17-3 win over the Baltimore Ravens in a divisional-round playoff game Saturday night.

The interception return matched the longest in NFL history and punctuated a stellar defensive outing in which Buffalo (15-3) limited the NFL's top running offense to 150 yards on 32 carries.

ALBANY, N.Y. (AP)  Security was tightened around the New York state Capitol on Thursday and law enforcement officials around the state were focusing on potential threats even as they continued to track down people involved in last week's mob attack on the U.S. Congress.

The  FBI warned  several days ago that armed protests by violent Trump supporters were being planned in all 50 state capitals in the days leading up to the inauguration of President-elect Joe Biden.

ALBANY, N.Y. (AP)  Restaurants in some COVID-19 hot spots in New York can once again offer limited indoor dining in the wake of the latest lawsuit against Gov. Andrew Cuomo's virus restrictions.

Up to four people per table can now dine indoors in seven so-called ``orange zones'' located in counties with some of the state's highest rates of COVID-19 cases or hospitalizations: including Monroe County in the Finger Lakes and New York City's Staten Island.

BUFFALO, N.Y. (AP) Some Erie County restaurants that had filed a lawsuit against New York state over a coronavirus restriction that bans indoor dining got a preliminary injunction on Wednesday against it being enforced.

State Supreme Court Justice Henry Nowak ruled the restaurants could go back to the limited indoor dining rules that went into effect when Gov. Andrew Cuomo designated the county as a “yellow zone" in terms of virus spread, instead of the stricter “orange zone" rules that forbid indoor service.

The Buffalo Bills have been granted permission to have a limited number of fans attend their second straight home playoff game.

Attendance for the Bills' AFC divisional-round playoff against the Baltimore Ravens on Saturday night will be capped at 6,700. That's the same number of fans who were allowed to attend Buffalo's 27-24 win over the Indianapolis Colts in a wild-card playoff this past weekend.

ORCHARD PARK, N.Y. (AP) The Buffalo Bills earned their first playoff victory in a quarter-century on Saturday when Josh Allen threw two touchdown passes, scored another rushing, and Micah Hyde batted down Philip Rivers' desperation pass for a 27-24 win over the Indianapolis Colts in a wild-card game.

Buffalo snapped an 0-6 postseason skid by winning its first playoff game since a 37-22 win over Miami on Dec. 30, 1995. And it came in the Bills' first home playoff game in 24 years, with a limited number of 6,700 fans in attendance for the first time this season.

ORCHARD PARK, N.Y. (AP)  Josh Allen and the Buffalo Bills were intent on not easing into the playoffs, while ending the Miami Dolphins' chances.

In a season-ending game in which the Dolphins had far more riding on the outcome, the Bills put an empathic stamp on their breakthrough year with a 56-26 rout on Sunday. In clinching the AFC's second seed, Buffalo will host its first playoff game in 24 years by facing the the Frank Reich-coached Indianapolis Colts next weekend.

DENVER (AP)  Floyd Little, the Hall of Fame running back who starred at Syracuse and for the Denver Broncos, has died. He was 78.

The Pro Football Hall of Fame said he died Friday night. No cause was given.

Little was a three-time All-American at Syracuse, where he wore No. 44 like Jim Brown and Ernie Davis before him. From 1964-66, he ran for 2,704 yards and 46 touchdowns.

ALBANY, N.Y. (AP)  New York is making an exception to its restrictions on large gatherings to allow about 6,700 fans to attend a Buffalo Bills home playoff game in January as long as all test negative beforehand.

That's about 10% of the stadium's capacity. Gov. Andrew Cuomo said the football team staff will only allow fans with negative tests to enter the stadium, where they will be seated distanced apart. Fans must wear masks once they leave their vehicles in parking lots until they return to their vehicles, and will be asked to leave if they take off their masks.

ALBANY, N.Y. (AP) New York lawmakers plan to convene remotely for a special session Monday to pass a bill extending the state's ban on residential evictions past its Jan. 1 deadline.

State Senate and Assembly leaders announced the session Sunday. The bill applies to evictions related to the coronavirus pandemic.

Pending evictions and those begun within a month of when the bill takes effect would be put on hold to allow people to submit a "hardship declaration" that would prevent any evictions until May 1.