Bills’ Josh Allen cements his spot in NFL history, and it may never be repeated again, plus other takeaways from Week 4 win vs. Saints
The Bills remain undefeated after a Week 4 victory over the New Orleans Saints.
The Buffalo Bills remained undefeated after an ugly game against the New Orleans Saints. A win is a win, and Buffalo fought through some adversity in the contest against the Saints.
In the victory, quarterback Josh Allen cemented his spot in NFL history. Allen tied quarterback Cam Newton for the most games with a passing and rushing touchdown in NFL history with 45. Allen is one of the best dual-threat quarterbacks in the history of the league, and he just keeps shattering records.
Again, it wasn’t all pretty as the team was heavily penalized and offensive lineman Spencer Brown’s absence was felt in the contest. Running back James Cook looked to be worth nearly every penny, and one of the team’s biggest issues reared its ugly head in the contest. Here are our biggest takeaways from the Week 4 victory.
James Cook continues to amaze and break records
Cook needed to find the end zone once in the contest to make the Bills’ franchise history, and he did just that in the first half. With his touchdown, Cook became the only running back in Bills’ history to have eight straight games with a rushing touchdown. Letting Cook, well, cook has been one of the bright spots of the offense through the early stages of the season.
That’s not all, as Cook had over 100 yards on the ground as well. He became the first Bills running back with more than 100 yards rushing and a rushing touchdown in three straight games since Thurman Thomas in 1991.
Cook finished with 22 carries for 117 yards and a touchdown, while adding three catches for 18 yards as a pass-catcher.
The run defense struggles, pass rush looks non-existent until the end
The Bills spent valuable draft capital and made some offseason acquisitions in an attempt to better get after the quarterback, while also improving their run defense. Ahead of the contest, head coach Sean McDermott expressed that the team needs to get pressure with its front four, something that was lacking in the victory against the Saints up until the last few plays.
Buffalo was only brought down quarterback Spencer Rattler three times throughout the contest as the Saints ran roughshod over the Bills. Two of the sacks came during the closing moments of the game, which allowed Buffalo to secure the victory. Bills Mafia is hoping to see more of that throughout the game, rather than just in the closing moments.
The Saints finished with 34 carries for 189 yards and a touchdown, with Buffalo unable to shut down the run throughout.
Penalties crushed the Bills. Heading into the matchup, the team led the league with the fewest penalties, but was called for 11 penalties for 55 yards against the Saints. Despite Ed Oliver and Matt Milano being out on defense, Buffalo got it done and walked away with the victory
Josh Allen is inevitable
While Allen had a relatively quiet afternoon, he made NFL history and still found the end zone, throwing and running. Allen finished his day going 16-for-22 with 209 yards and two touchdowns with one interception. However, when the game mattered most, he put on his Superman cape and led the Bills to a scoring drive in the fourth quarter.
Allen had a 27-yard rushing play where he bounced off defenders and stiff-armed his way to a first down before hitting tight end Dalton Kincaid for a 28-yard touchdown to seal the game for Buffalo.
An ugly second quarter saw the Bills, at one point, have negative six net yards, which helped the Saints start to mount a comeback. Much has been the case throughout the season; the defense found a way to step up in a big moment. This time, it was safety Cole Bishop making a crucial interception toward the end of the first half that was one of the best plays of the entire game.
Plenty to clean up, but the Bills are undefeated on the season and have scored at least 30 points in every game. Allen put on his Superman cape in the closing moments, with the defense showing up exactly when it needed to.
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