Josh Allen didn’t need a big passing night to drag Buffalo past the Rams on Monday. When the pocket collapsed, he turned the open field into the Bills’ best answer.
In Buffalo’s 37-34 overtime win over Los Angeles, Allen piled up 107 yards on scrambles alone, according to NFL Next Gen Stats. No one has done that more in a game this season, and only two such performances have been better since tracking began in 2016.
The bigger marker is even more striking: Allen now owns two 100-yard scramble games in that span, and the rest of the league combined has only two. He also racked up 91 rushing yards in the fourth quarter, the most by a quarterback in a fourth quarter or overtime in 26 years.
Those runs carried most of his 121 rushing yards and set up the finish, including back-to-back gains of 19 and 13 yards in overtime that put Tyler Bass in position for the game-winning kick.
It all came after a rough overtime track record for Allen, who had been 0-7 in overtime before Monday.
"When it's there, it's there," Allen said to the media after the win. "I don't want to make a living on that, I understand that, but I do know how much of a backbreaker that can be on a defense when you think you're in pretty good coverage. I felt like there was some room to maneuver there and keep the chains moving."
In Other News...
Bills Win Took A Back Seat To Bradley Chubb Postgame Drama
Buffalos overtime win over the Rams should have been the full story, but the postgame scene quickly pulled attention away from the result. During a jersey exchange after the game, Rams offensive tackle Alaric Jackson punched Bills linebacker Bradley Chubb, turning a routine moment into the kind of after-the-whistle flashpoint that can linger long after the final horn. The NFL responded with a two-game suspension for Jackson, adding an official layer to an incident that left the Bills dealing with more than just a hard-fought victory.
Joe Brady said there is still plenty to sort through about what happened after the game, and Buffalo is waiting for the details to continue coming in. For now, the Bills are moving on to the Raiders, trying to keep their focus on the next opponent while the league reviews a scene that overshadowed the ending in Los Angeles. [Read more 🡒]
Ray Davis Took Heat For A Bills Return Fans Can't Ignore
Ray Davis gave the Bills a jolt on the opening kickoff, but the return ended in a way Buffalo fans could not quite shake. What should have been a routine special-teams play turned into one of the more unusual moments of the day, with Los Angeles Rams punter Ethan Evans in the chase and Davis being steered toward the sideline before the return could fully break loose.
Evans, who is not exactly built like a traditional coverage ace, drew plenty of attention for the way he ran Davis down and finished the play. For Buffalo, it was the kind of sequence that leaves a little frustration behind, because the return had enough early momentum to make fans think something bigger might be coming. [Read more 🡒]
Raiders Face A Bigger Test Than Their Record Has Answered
Josh Allen and the Bills head into Week 6 with the kind of momentum that makes every matchup feel like a measuring stick, and the Raiders are the next team asked to see how real the start can be. Buffalo has already shown it can win in different ways this season, with Allen again carrying the offense and covering for the rough patches that tend to show up over the course of a game. Las Vegas arrives with a winning record of its own, which at least gives this one the outline of a legitimate test instead of a routine AFC checkpoint.
The intrigue is whether the Raiders can keep Buffalo from turning the afternoon into a familiar Allen-led grind, because the Bills have been living with a few self-inflicted issues even while the results keep coming. Las Vegas has enough on paper to make the game interesting on both sides of the ball, but the bigger question for Buffalo is whether its offense can keep separating when the margins tighten and the game starts asking for answers rather than projections. [Read more 🡒]