In what might qualify as a strange-but-true story, the Buffalo Bills are still on the outside of the AFC playoff picture looking in, even after Sunday’s thorough 31-10 beatdown of the Dallas Cowboys.
The Buffalo Bills sit two spots removed from the playoffs, immersed in a crowded house of four 8-6 teams all jockeying for position for one of the seven playoff openings over the next few weeks.
No AFC team has even clinched a playoff berth. But when the seven AFC playoff teams are finalized, the Buffalo Bills will be among them.
And the Buffalo Bills will be that team — the one nobody wants to play.
The Bills’ victory Sunday was only their second in a row and third over the past four weeks. That’s nothing to get too excited about, at least on the surface.
But there’s a strong emerging trend that bodes so well for the Bills’ fortunes that it could take them from where they are now — the No. 9 spot in the AFC — all the way to Las Vegas for Super Bowl LVIII.
The Cowboys (10-4) fell victim to this emerging force, and no one would blame them if they might even have nightmares after getting trampled so resoundingly.
The Buffalo Bills have finally found what they’ve needed all along, since the beginning of the Josh Allen era.
James Cook is the answer for the Buffalo Bills
The emergence of James Cook is the solution to what has ailed the Buffalo Bills in previous pursuits of NFL postseason glory.
Cook, a second-year running back, ran all over the Cowboys on Sunday in a manner not seen since the days of Thurman Thomas. The 5-foot-11, 190-pound Cook set career highs in carries (25), rushing yards (179) and all-purpose yards (221) and scored two of the Bills’ four touchdowns, once rushing and once receiving.
But more importantly, James Cook is succeeding in an area that hasn’t been addressed: He’s taking the load off Josh Allen.
Ever since Allen became the Bills’ quarterback in 2018, he’s been the single biggest reason they win, and the single biggest reason they lose. That’s because the Bills have never had a running back who could ease the burden on Allen to feel like he needs to carry the team, quite literally, with his right arm and his legs.
Without a quality featured back, one who could chew up yards on a regular basis, Allen has often been the team’s primary ball carrier. And that’s a suspect approach not only from a health standpoint, because it’s incumbent upon them to protect their most valuable investment, but also as a viable team strategy.
Just as Hall of Fame quarterback John Elway didn’t win a Super Bowl until a running back named Terrell Davis came along — and Elway won two — Josh Allen was never going to lead the Bills to the Super Bowl without a quality running back. And that’s Cook is proving to be.
Who is Buffalo Bills RB James Cook?
Cook, who was drafted in the second round out of Georgia, spent his first year mostly backing up Devin Singletary, who then signed with Houston in the offseason.
That opened up an opportunity for Cook to prove he could fill the role. And he has, better than anyone before him with Allen at quarterback.
Allen threw only 15 passes Sunday, the lowest number of attempts in a game he’s played from start to finish since his inaugural NFL game in 2018.
But the good thing for Allen and the Bills was that he didn’t need to throw. Handing the ball to Cook worked out so well that the Bills bludgeoned the Cowboys’ vaunted defense with 49 carries for 266 yards and three touchdowns.
Now with 968 rushing yards, Cook is on the cusp of becoming the Bills’ first 1,000-yard rusher since LeSean McCoy in 2017. And no one should be happier than Josh Allen.
Buffalo Bills now have all the tools
There’s no question that Josh Allen is perhaps the most physically gifted quarterback in the NFL. He’s just as liable to hurt teams with his laser throw from his powerful right arm as he is with his strong and often hard-nosed running style as he often single-handedly tries to will the Bills to a victory each week.
But the best development for both Allen and the Bills is that interim offensive coordinator Joe Brady is designing more plays to get the ball into Cook’s hands, a strategy that has paid off, with Cook now exceeding 100-plus all-purpose yards in each of the past five weeks.
After Cook’s breakout game Sunday, the Bills should just continue to feed him the ball and take the pressure off Allen, who could then excel in a play-action passing attack that might be more potent than ever before.
The Bills are coming together at the right time. Along with having a new offensive weapon in Cook on offense, the defense produced a masterful effort Sunday in holding Dak Prescott and the Cowboys’ offense to 195 total yards.
The Bills finish their regular season with a game at the Los Angeles Chargers, and a home date with the New England Patriots, and then a monumental road showdown against the Miami Dolphins in Week 18.
And once they are done finding their way to the playoffs, and they will, watch the Buffalo Bills ride Josh Allen and now James Cook as far as they can take them.