Corey Dillon is hanging on to a spot in the rushing touchdown top 20, but Josh Allen is coming fast.
Dillon, the former Bengals running back, sits 19th all-time with 82 rushing touchdowns. That number has him in range to be bumped down this week, with Allen sitting right behind him at 81 after scoring twice in Buffalo’s dramatic win over the Texans.
Allen didn’t just inch closer on Sunday. He jumped past Edgerrin James’ 80 and tied Ottis Anderson and Frank Gore for the 20th spot. Now the Bills quarterback is staring directly at Dillon, and the climb doesn’t look like it’s slowing down anytime soon.
What makes Allen’s surge so unusual is simple: everyone ahead of him in the rushing touchdown race is a running back. The lone active player near the top is Derrick Henry, who ranks third with 125.
Emmitt Smith leads the way with 164, followed by LaDainian Tomlinson at 145. The rest of the list is packed with names like Adrian Peterson, Jim Brown, Barry Sanders, and Franco Harris.
Allen, though, is the quarterback crashing the party.
He already leads all QBs in rushing touchdowns. Cam Newton is next with 75, while Jalen Hurts has 63 and counting. Hurts averages 10.5 rushing touchdowns per season, which leaves open the possibility that he could catch Newton this year.
Allen’s own pace has picked up, too. Over his first eight NFL seasons, he averaged 9.8 rushing touchdowns.
Over the last three, that number has climbed to 13.6. If he adds 11 more rushing scores after the two he put up against Houston, he would finish alone in 12th place by season’s end.
For Dillon, the line at 82 is the one to watch. He spent his first seven NFL seasons with the Bengals, and for a stretch, he was one of the few reasons to tune in at Riverfront Stadium or Cinergy Field. His scoring output also rose late in his career, jumping from a 6.4 average to 12.3 in his final three seasons with the Patriots.
The Bills face the Lions on the return of Thursday Night Football, and after Detroit allowed 30 points to the Saints, Allen may have another shot to close the deal. If he scores two rushing touchdowns, he would not only pass Dillon but also tie Jim Taylor at 83.
That would push Dillon down another rung, with Josh Jacobs at 74 and Jonathan Taylor at 71 among the players lurking behind him. For now, though, Dillon still has a place in the top 20 - even if Allen looks ready to take it away very soon.
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