Josh Allen was named AFC Offensive Player of the Week after posting a career-high 424 passing yards on Sunday
The Bills defeated the Steelers 38-3 Sunday in what was a rout from the third play of the game. It was not a competitive game at all, and that was largely due to the fact that Josh Allen was so freaking good. The Offensive Player of the Week honors has now been given to Allen eight times in his career. He trails only Jim Kelly (10) for the most times earning the award in team history.
On the third play of the game, Allen hit Gabe Davis for a 98-yard touchdown, and that was just the start of a dominating victory and an unbelievable stat line from Allen.
Allen put Pittsburgh and Kenny Pickett away early with 348 pass yards and 4 touchdowns in just the first half in Week 5. It was the second-most pass yards in a first half since play-by-play data was tracked in 1991. Only his rival, and opponent next week, Patrick Mahomes has thrown for more in a first half (359 yards in 2020).
He hit Davis a second time in the half for a 63-yard touchdown. Davis was the biggest beneficiary of Allen’s hot hand, as he finished with 171 yards and 2 TDs.
Allen found Stefon Diggs for his third touchdown of the day. Diggs, as he usually does, punted the ball into the stands after his touchdown. That was the only time the Bills punted in the first half.
According to Next Gen Stats, Allen had 256 of his 348 first-half yards on passes of 10+ air yards. That is tied for the record in the Next Gen Stats Era with none other than Patrick Mahomes and Tom Brady.
Allen finished Sunday with 151 career offensive touchdowns in his 66th NFL game. He’s the fourth player in NFL history to reach the 150-touchdown mark in 70 or fewer games, joining Patrick Mahomes (60), Dan Marino (61), and Aaron Rodgers (70). Allen’s first touchdown of the day broke a tie with Hall of Famer Peyton Manning for the most touchdowns in a player’s first five seasons in NFL history.
That is some incredible company to be a part of, and Bills fans are lucky that he’s on their side.
He ended up finishing the game with a career-high 424 yards. I can’t imagine that record will stand much longer for him. Keep in mind, this was through three quarters of a football game! It’s insane that he put up those numbers in only 45 minutes of football.
He is furthering his case of MVP by each passing week and this game certainly helped his case. It’ll help his case even more, however, if he goes into Arrowhead next week and beats Patrick Mahomes and the Kansas City Chiefs. They’ve always been a thorn in the Bills’ side, but this year is different. Buffalo now has Von Miller, and a much more established and defined pass rush.
The Bills are going to get healthier next week as well. This is the perfect time for the Bills to be playing the Chiefs and just leave it all on the line before heading into their bye week in Week 7.
I was one to predict a blowout of the Steelers this week. It wasn’t much of a game at all. The Bills absolutely dominated the Steelers from start to finish. There wasn’t much resistance from the Steelers’ side of the ball and the Bills offense was able to do pretty much anything they wanted to do against this Steelers secondary.
Josh Allen has once again put himself in the record books and don’t be surprised if he does it again next weekend in a game that will surely have both teams going back and forth with each other.
It should be a great game to watch, and an even better game to win.
Go Bills!