ORCHARD PARK, NY – The “MVP!” The chants at Highmark Stadium started with 3:25 left in the first quarter.
Although excitedly premature, Buffalo Bills fans weren’t wrong.
They simply couldn’t have known that Josh Allen only started his offense on Monday night. By halftime, he had already completed one of the biggest statistical games of his career. But what was truly remarkable was the way Allen did his nasty business in a 47-10 win over the Jacksonville Jaguars.
We spent months analyzing, guessing and kvetching about how Allen would perform without Stefon Diggs and Gabriel Davis. Diggs and his brother, Dallas Cowboys cornerback Trevon Diggs, insinuated on social media that it was the receiver who made the quarterback, not the other way around.
So who would Allen throw to?
Whoever he wants, apparently.
GO DEEPER
Josh Allen, Bills dominate Jags in 47-10 throttling: Takeaways
By intermission, he had completed passes to nine teammates while leading Buffalo to touchdowns on each of five possessions. He was 22 of 28 for 247 yards and touchdowns to four players: tight end Dalton Kincaid, rookie receiver Keon Coleman, receiver Khalil Shakir and tailback Ty Johnson. Oh, Allen also led both teams with 22 rushing yards, 3 more than the entire Jacksonville roster, while protecting his injured left hand.
And there were still 30 minutes left in the match.
“MVP!” indeed.
Around that time, a minted MVP tweeted this:
I really enjoy watching Josh Allen play football! 🏈
— LeBron James (@KingJames) September 24, 2024
Bills edge rusher AJ Epenesa knows how LeBron feels, at least on this topic.
“As a defensive player, I get to watch him up close and personal a lot,” Epenesa said. “I’ve seen him do crazy things and it’s just…” He’s one of one. I don’t even want to say, ‘It’s miraculous,’ because he’s just doing his job the best he can, and he’s doing it so well and being such a great leader for us.
“Josh defines what a bill is.”
When Johnson grabbed Allen’s 16-yard lob into the end zone 19 seconds before halftime, he became the sixth Bill with at least one touchdown reception this year. No other club has so many TD catchers.
Winking locker room sources confirmed it was no coincidence that after two offensive plays in the third quarter, Allen set up the lone first-half backmarker, Mack Hollins, to get a reception. It was the tenth time in club history that at least ten players received a pass.
And then there were 25 minutes left in the match.
“It’s paying off what we’ve been working on all season and throughout training camp of the ‘everyone eats’ mentality,” Allen said. “It could be your play, this play. You never know when it’s going to happen. That’s the beauty of it, when guys believe in this and really understand, like, ‘I might not get the ball thrown to me four or five times a game, but the one or two times I do, I’ll get opportunities. to be in the end zone. ”
Coleman did not play the entire first quarter because he was penalized for being late. But on his third snap, he caught his first NFL touchdown with 6:19 left in the second quarter.
Rookie Keon Coleman scored his first NFL touchdown in the Bills’ win against the Jaguars. (Gregory Fisher / Imagn Images)
“It’s fun and great,” Allen said, “when you have a bunch of guys who don’t care about the statistics. They don’t care about the touchdowns.”
Davis, meanwhile, didn’t make Bills fans miss him Monday night. He caught two passes for 18 yards, both in the third quarter. Diggs has played decently for the Houston Texans, catching 20 passes for 164 yards and two touchdowns. But he is running the shortest routes of his career and is 4.0 yards below his career average per reception. The Bills visit Houston in two weeks as part of a grueling schedule. More about that below.
Shakir has emerged as Allen’s security blanket. They remained perfect, with Allen completing all six of his attempts and sending Shakir packing for 72 yards and the touchdown in the second quarter. Shakir has 16 catches on 16 targets for 168 yards and two touchdowns this year.
Are you still having fun? #BillsMafia?
📺: @ESPNNFL pic.twitter.com/v5FY4RWvFY
— Buffalo Bills (@BuffaloBills) September 24, 2024
“I can say this over and over again: He’s a crazy football player, with the emphasis on ‘football,’” Allen said. “He loves the game. He does things the right way. He’s been so selfless in his approach all week. He might get two passes in practice and he continues to find ways to be in the right place at the right time.
The Bills scored 34 points in two quarters for the fifth time in club history, including the playoffs, a feat not achieved since 1992. The regular season record for biggest halftime upset was 48-10 against the Miami Dolphins in 1966. The Bills led the Los Angeles Raiders 41-3 in the 1990 postseason.
Allen only managed 16 yards in the second half (Hollins’ completion), but still recorded the fattest Week 3 fantasy football total of any quarterback and ranked second only to San Francisco 49ers receiver Jauan Jennings in non-PPR competitions. Allen was also the game’s leading rusher with 44 yards, when Mitchell Trubisky replaced him with 9:58 to go.
The Bills are 3-0, but the schedule gets tough from here on out. Buckle up.
Their next three games – four of their next five games and five of their next six games – are on the road, starting Sunday night against the Baltimore Ravens.
Allen made an MVP Award reference of his own, unprompted. He knows the standard.
“We have a short week and we find ourselves in a hostile environment with the Ravens and two-time MVP Lamar Jackson,” Allen said. “We’re going to change this very quickly and start focusing on it very quickly.”
Next, the Bills visit the Texans and New York Jets before returning to Highmark Stadium. Their bye is in Week 12, sandwiched between a pair of home games against last season’s Super Bowl teams, the Kansas City Chiefs and 49ers.
“You don’t win a Super Bowl or get into the playoffs with just three games,” Allen said. “I think this team understands that. We will watch this movie and put this behind us as quickly as possible.”
The Ravens defense, on the other hand, will be reviewing Allen’s footage continuously throughout the week.
They’ll see what LeBron did, but it won’t be nearly as funny to them.
(Top photo: Bryan M. Bennett / Getty Images)