It wasn’t nice, but the Buffalo Bills won their third straight game on Saturday night, something they hadn’t done since October, and many players set career highs in the process.
In Week 16, against the Los Angeles Chargers, quarterback Josh Allen became the first player in NFL history to have four seasons with 40 total touchdowns. Allen connected with wide receiver Gabe Davis for a 56-yard touchdown in the second quarter before adding two more on the ground, one in the second quarter and one after halftime. The 50th and 51st rushing touchdowns of Allen’s career moved him into third place in team history, after only O.J. Simpson (57) and Thurman Thomas (65).
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In terms of quarterbacks, Allen is only the third in NFL history to have 13 or more rushing touchdowns in a season. He is joined in this honor by Cam Newton (14 in 2011) and Jalen Hurts (13 in 2022 and 14 this season). Allen has also tied Cam Newton for the longest road game streak with a rushing score (6) by a quarterback since the 1970 NFL merger. Allen still has one road game left this season to break the tie.
And, as if he didn’t have enough stats, Allen set a new season high with 11 games in which he scored at least one throwing and one rushing touchdown. For the fourth consecutive season, his combined 252 yards took him over 4,000 all-purpose yards.
But Allen wasn’t the only one who received honors on Saturday night. Running back James Cook had 20 carries for 70 yards, bringing his season total to over 1,000 yards. While it was Cook’s first 1,000-yard season — and, to be fair, his career is still in its early stages — it was the first time a Bills running back hit the 1,000-yard mark since LeSean McCoy had 1,138 yards in 2017. Cook’s 1,038 rushing yards are more than double his rookie season total of 507 yards, and his 433 receiving yards significantly outnumber his 180 yards from a year ago.
Stefon Diggs just had five catches on Saturday night, but it was enough to catapult him up the Bills’ all-time receiving leaderboard. His 96 catches this season have pushed him beyond Eric Moulds (2000) and Peerless Price (2002) for fifth-most in a season. Diggs has the team record with 127 (2020), and he is now chasing his 103 (2021) and 108 (2022) to own all of the top slots on the team leader board.
On Saturday night, the defense also made a lot of noise. Defensive tackle Poona Ford, who hadn’t played since Week 8, took advantage of his opportunity to play after Jordan Phillips was placed on Injured Reserve earlier this week. Ford had his first sack of the season and two tackles to demonstrate that Buffalo didn’t need to look outside the organization for a replacement for Phillips. Cornerback Rasul Douglas also had his first sack of the season, coming down on Chargers quarterback Easton Stick on a corner blitz early in the third quarter.
With two sacks on the night, including a game-sealing sack as the Chargers tried to get the ball into field goal range with less than 30 seconds left on the clock and down by just two points, Oliver set a new career high (8.5) and collected a $500,000 bonus.
The Bills’ primary goal remains on winning. While a month ago, sitting at home after Week 18 appeared to be a possibility for the Bills, they suddenly have control of their own future. The Buffalo Bills are in the playoffs if they keep winning. And at this time of year, they excel at winning more than any other team. Buffalo now has a league-best 17-2 record in regular-season games played in December and January.
