The “MVP” chants that rained down on Josh Allen from ecstatic Buffalo fans in the first half of Monday night’s 47-10 loss to the Jacksonville Jaguars may have been a little premature, but no less accurate.
Allen dominated, leading five consecutive drives to build an incredible 34-3 halftime lead. Allen completed 23 of 30 passes for 263 yards, four touchdowns and zero interceptions. It was Allen’s eighth career game with 4 or more passing TDs and no interceptions. The quarterback’s passer rating of 142.1 was the third-highest of his career. He also led the Bills with 44 rushing yards.
His teammates joined in the “MVP” chants.
“Personally, I think he’s the best quarterback in the league,” corner Cam Lewis told the Buffalo News.
Guard David Edwards added: “He’s just special. What he does when he throws the ball, it’s really hard to describe how good a player he is. I think he’s one of the greatest of all time.”
“Almost a perfect game,” tight end Dawson Knox chimed in, according to ESPN.
The Bills entered the season needing to bring Allen back after an offseason of changes, and he was better than even Buffalo’s leadership expected.
After three games, he is the only NFL player with nine total touchdowns and zero interceptions. It is the first time in his career that he has had no interceptions in the first three games.
The Bills’ 37-point victory was their second-largest in the last 30 seasons (40-0 against Houston in Week 4, 2021) and the second-largest victory in a primetime game for the club all-time (38-0 in Week 3, 1992 against Indianapolis). The performance marked the most first-half points for Buffalo since Week 12, 1992, against Atlanta.
“It feels good, I can tell you that. This easily could have been a game where we had 10 days off and took our foot off the gas. We didn’t feel that from our guys, put a lot of pressure on all week, practiced really hard and had a really good game plan,” Allen said, according to the team’s official website.
Allen lost a fumble on the opening drive of the 2024 season. Since then, the quarterback has been outstanding, avoiding turnovers that plagued him in previous seasons, playing within Joe Brady’s offense, making the right decisions at the line, distributing the ball like a beefed-up point guard and using his legs to extend drives when needed.
According to NFL Research, the Bills are 18-0 and average 35.8 points per game when Allen doesn’t lose a turnover since 2020.
Monday night highlighted the Bills’ offense, which has operated in its own unique way this season. Allen was targeted by 10 different players before leaving early in the fourth quarter of the sweep. Six different players scored touchdowns.
Keon Coleman, who was benched for a delay in the first quarter, pointed out that the lack of a key target makes the Bills’ offensive preparation more dangerous for the defense.
“The motto is: We all eat. So everyone will eat, everyone will go and do what they have to do when they get the ball in their hands. We just want to show the versatility of our team and show that we have playmakers,” he said.
As one of three undefeated teams in the AFC (Chiefs, Steelers), the road is getting more difficult for Allen and the Bills. Four of the next five games are away games: in Baltimore (1-2), in Houston (2-1), at the New York Jets (2-1), against Tennessee (0-3), in Seattle (3-0).
