Bills’ Josh Allen did something since rookie season in win vs Cowboys
Orchard Park, N.Y. — It had been 84 starts since the last time Buffalo Bills quarterback Josh Allen finished a game with less than 100 yards in a game he started and finished.
But that’s exactly what happened on Sunday night in the Buffalo Bills’ 31-10 blowout win over the Dallas Cowboys.
Allen didn’t need to do much on Sunday evening at Highmark Stadium because Buffalo’s run game erupted for 266 yards – the most ever in the Sean McDermott era. Allen finished with 94 yards on 15 passes in a quiet day for the NFL’s no. 4 ranked passing offense.
The last time Allen threw for less than 100 yards in a game he started and finished was in 2018 as a rookie in a 13-12 win over the Tennessee Titans. Allen had 82 passing yards in that game.
How did the Bills quarterback feel about his opportunity to sit back and watch as another player carried the load for the Buffalo offense? He felt like a kid again.
“I felt like the kid that didn’t do anything in the class project but got an A,” Allen joked. “But again, I’ll do this 10 times out of 10 times, man.”
Allen admitted that the plan going into the game wasn’t to rely heavily on the run game. But once the team started having success on the ground, offensive coordinator Joe Brady remained determined to execute in the run game. Bills coach Sean McDermott credited Brady for recognizing that the run game was working and for staying with it.
McDermott said that when teams take away the passing attack, the run game has to produce.
“You need to be able to play that way down the stretch because of weather or they’re taking away your fastball,” McDermott said. “I just believe it philosophically, holistically you’ve got be able to show that you can do that. Be a two dimensional offense or in this case a one dimensional offense via the run. It just helps the whole football team. It keeps their explosive offense on the sideline. Their explosive players.”
The Bills passing attack has been its offensive identity ever since Allen took the step into superstardom in 2020. The Bills had only had seven 100-yard rushing games since drafting Allen in 2018 – and two of those came from Allen himself. LeSean McCoy did it once in 2018, Frank Gore did it in 2019, and Devin Singletary did it in 2022.
James Cook ran for 179 yards on Sunday, marking the third game this season the 24-year-old has gone over 100 yards in a game. That rushing total is the most in a game by a Bills running back since Fred Jackson ran for 212 in 2010. Bills Hall of Fame running back Thurman Thomas ran for more than 179 yards in a game just once in his career, totaling 214 yards against the Denver Broncos in 1990.
Cook has been a revelation for the Bills offense in his second season. He ranks third in the NFL in total yards from scrimmage (1,401 yards) behind only San Francisco running back Christian McCaffery (1,801) and Miami Dolphins wide receiver Tyreek Hill (1,557). Cook has four touchdowns in his last four games.
The Bills defense was dominant, too, holding Dak Prescott and the Cowboys offense to just 10 points. In the previous four games, Dallas had scored 30 or more points and registered a win over the Philadelphia Eagles last week. When Ed Oliver and Greg Rousseau weren’t on the field attacking the Cowboys, they were on the sideline, marveling at Cook’s handiwork
“He’s a dog, man,” Rousseau said. “I played against Cook when I was like 10 years old, we’re both from Florida. So, he’s like a legend down there and he’s doing his thing up here. So real proud of him. He’s a younger guy but you wouldn’t even know it by the way he plays. So he’s a baller. He’s certified. He’s a dog.”
Oliver said that he felt like he was watching the same play over and over as Cook put together multiple runs of 10 yards or more. He finished with seven runs of 10 yards or more and put an exclamation point on the game with a 24-yard rushing touchdown in the fourth quarter.
