Josh Allen and James Cook Approach Franchise Records in Bills’ Week 17 Blowout

Josh Allen - Buffalo Bills Quarterback

Josh Allen and James Cook Approach Franchise Records in Bills’ Week 17 Blowout | The Wandering Buffalo

Week 17 saw the Bills keep their dominance over the Jets continue (8-2 since 2000). Halfway through the first quarter the Bills took a 7-0 lead on a 1 yard rushing touchdown by Josh Allen. It was his 12th of the season and the 65th of his career, tying him with Hall of Famer Thurman Thomas for the Buffalo Bills all-time franchise lead. The rest of the first half was fairly uneventful until with about 2:30 left, A.J. Epenesa beat his man off the snap and came around the edge to sack Aaron Rodgers in the endzone for what would be a safety, and his sixth sack of the year. The first half would close out with a 39 yard Tyler Bass field goal, making the score 12-0 going into half.

The second half was filled with much more excitement from the Bills. Amari Cooper made a ridiculous catch falling backward in the corner of the endzone to make the score 19-0. Next, James Cook got into the party by scoring his 15th rushing touchdown of the season, making the score 26-0, and bringing him within 1 of O.J. Simpson for the single season rushing touchdown record of 16 that was set back in 1975 during a 14 game season. After Amari Cooper made an outstanding catch in the endzone, Keon Coleman didn’t want to be outdone and made his own incredible touchdown catch when he high-pointed the ball in the back of the endzone in front of the goalpost to make it 33-0 at the end of the third. The fourth quarter, or what in this game was also known as “garbage time”, Mitch Trubisky spelled Josh Allen and the main beneficiary was Tyrell Shavers, who took a screen pass 69 yards for a touchdown. The Jets did score 14 points in this game, after the Bills took a 40-0 lead. They threw 2 touchdowns, but not by Aaron Rodgers who the Bills intercepted twice on the day, but by Tyrod Taylor. The former Bill got a nice ovation as he entered the game, showing that fans remember how integral a part of the team that broke the playoff drought he was.

Josh Allen threw for 182 yards and 2 touchdowns while running in another touchdown, which only strengthens his already league leading case for MVP. Week 18 might seem meaningless seeing that the Bills have already locked up the 2 seed, but the game against the Patriots could be a historic one for the Bills. Josh Allen is 1 rushing touchdown away from taking the all-time franchise lead from Thurman Thomas, and James Cook is 1 away from tying O.J. Simpson for the single season record. Cook is also 19 yards away from his second 1000 yard season. Other notable achievements possible in Week 18 would include Josh being 269 yards away from 4000 on the season, and Greg Rousseau is 2 sacks away from 10 on the year.

Next up; The Patriots, Sunday at 1:00pm.

---