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Alaina Getzenberg, ESPNDec 9, 2024, 06:00 AM ET
- Alaina Getzenberg is a staff writer who covers the Buffalo Bills and the NFL. She joined ESPN in 2021. Alaina was previously a beat reporter for the Charlotte Observer and has also worked for CBS Sports and the Dallas Morning News. She is a graduate of the University of California, Berkeley. You can follow her via Twitter @agetzenberg.
INGLEWOOD, C.A. — In almost every other game on any other night, Buffalo Bills quarterback Josh Allen‘s performance was more than good enough for a victory.
Bills coach Sean McDermott called what he did “incredible.” Los Angeles Rams coach Sean McVay referred to him as an “alien,” in terms of what he is capable of on the field. Bills left guard David Edwards said that he is, “the best in the world.”
Allen’s day was full of setting records. With six touchdowns, he now has 252 passing and rushing touchdowns in his career, matching Patrick Mahomes (107 games) for fewest games to reach 250. It was his fifth career game with multiple passing and multiple rushing touchdowns, breaking a tie with Steve Young for the most in NFL history.
“It’s hard to win in this league, but when our quarterback can continue to heat up and get in his rhythm and get his feel, it’s a plus in our book cause we’re still pushing forward,” left tackle Dion Dawkins said. “… When Josh Allen is Josh Allen, everybody’s better …. with six touchdowns, it’s incredible. That’s hard in this league, and for Josh to continue to go in and out of every week with the MVP mindset that just shows who our leader truly is.”
In the moments after the Bills’ 44-42 loss to the Rams, Allen took on part of the blame, including what went wrong on a quarterback sneak that resulted in McDermott using a timeout — a timeout that could have given the Bills another opportunity to win the game on the final offensive drive. Allen scored on the same play one down later.
“I just try to run the call as best as I can,” Allen said. “I’ve got to find a way to get in.”
Allen, however, was behind a second half effort that saw the Bills (10-3) come back from a 17-point fourth quarter deficit to get the game within two points. He became the second player in NFL history to record three passing touchdowns and three rushing touchdowns in any game (Otto Graham, 1954).
“You can’t make that up,” running back Ty Johnson said. “You see that hunger to keep making plays and put points on the board. It’s a spectacle to see and I’m glad to be his teammate.”
His 51.88 fantasy points (PPR) were the most by any quarterback in a game since 1950, per ESPN Research.
Allen finished the game completing 22-of-37 passes for 342 yards, while carrying the ball 10 times for 82 yards. His four second half touchdowns only aided his MVP candidacy, with his odds rising as he kept the Bills in the game. Per ESPN Bet, he entered the game as -240 favorite to win the award for the first time and as of Sunday night sits at -450.
The effort wasn’t enough to extend the Bills’ winning streak to eight games. The loss came in large part to miscues on defense — allowing the most points of any Allen start in his career — and special teams, including a blocked punt return for a touchdown and confoundingly having only nine players on the field for a punt on the final play of the game.
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“We gotta get off the field and get the ball back to Josh,” McDermott said. “You saw what he can do. So, we gotta do a better job. I thought we lost two of the three phases today.”
Not only did the Bills offense score on all but three drives, the team scored touchdowns on each one of them, while still being without two key offensive players in wide receiver Keon Coleman (wrist) and tight end Dalton Kincaid (knee).
The loss ended a streak of the Bills winning 15 straight regular season games in December and January (last in Dec. 2021). Only proving more difficult with a tough challenge ahead against the Detroit Lions next week (4:25 p.m. ET, CBS). All while trying to stay in contention for the No. 1 seed, now two games back of the Kansas City Chiefs.
Allen continues to show why he is putting together arguably his best season to date. Picking up the pieces from a concerning defensive effort against a Rams team fighting for the playoffs and taking advantage of Allen’s level of performance is the next step.
“We got to come out with some urgency though and I don’t think in any phase of the game did we do that today,” Allen said. “We’ll talk about it as a team and try to figure it out… playing [in a] playoff atmosphere, a team that’s playing like they’re in the playoffs right now and just again just trying to learn from this and move on.”
