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The Buffalo Bills have already locked up the No. 2 seed in the AFC, and now they are just trying to get some momentum and stay healthy heading into their first playoff game in a week. On Sunday, they are playing a relatively meaningless Week 18 game against the New England Patriots.
The Bills let Josh Allen start to extend his consecutive starts streak, but pulled him after just one play in favor of Mitchell Trubisky. Without the benefit of the bye week after missing out on the No. 1 seed, the Bills are using this week as their de facto bye before the playoffs.
Even with a depleted roster for the day, the Bills made some NFL history on a Ray Davis touchdown catch from Trubisky in the second quarter. With that score, the Bills became the first team in NFL history to record 30 or more rushing touchdowns and 30 or more passing touchdowns as a team, according to NFL insider Jordan Schultz.
Obviously, a lot of that production comes from Josh Allen, who has a good argument to win the NFL MVP award this season. However, the Bills transforming into a power running team over the last few seasons has been a big part of how they have remodeled this team, and this stat is further proof that the makeover has been a resounding success.
Using Allen in the running game is obviously a big part of why the Bills are able to move the ball so effectively on the ground, but James Cook has also taken a massive step forward this season. Later in the game against the Patriots, Cook found the end zone for his 16th rushing touchdown of the season, which is tied for the league lead. He has developed into a physical runner who also has the burst and explosiveness in the open field to create big plays, which has given this offense so much balance.
Because of that, the Bills are one of the teams to beat heading into the playoffs next week. Even though they didn't earn the first round bye and home field advantage throughout the AFC playoffs, they can still compete with any team on any day.
