The Buffalo Bills lost their final game of the 2024 NFL regular season against the Patriots in New England.
However, the game was played more like a preseason contest.
The Pats got a 23-16 win and lost the No. 1 pick in next year’s NFL Draft, while the Bills rested many of their starters and played backups, depth players, and rookies.
But they also took some opportunities to help some of their starters and vets reach incentives and milestones.
Two of which went to the team’s RB1 James Cook.
Cook tied the Buffalo franchise record with his 16th rushing TD of the season and finished the regular season campaign with over 1,000 yards rushing.
Let James Cook!
📺: @NFLonCBS pic.twitter.com/27QJrgkypj
— Buffalo Bills (@BuffaloBills) January 5, 2025
Midway through the third quarter Cook ran up the middle for 2 yards on first-and-goal from the 3-yard line. He followed that up with another carry for 1 yard out for the touchdown.
“It was big,” Cook said to the media in the postgame. “Just to have your name in the record book is great, man. First of all, I’ve gotta give thanks to my O-line, though. Without them, nothing would be possible. Just blessed.”
Going into the matchup the third-year pro needed just 19 rushing yards to surpass 1,000 on the season, and one more touchdown on the ground tie O.J. Simpson (16.)
“It was nice, it was just a good moment,” right guard O’Cyrus Torrence said via The Buffalo News. “Because we talked about it all week. We knew he needed 19 yards to get to 1,000. And we knew he needed at least one touchdown to tie the record. So, we (were) glad we were able to get both of those.”
Cook did just that on 10 carries finishing the regular season with 1,009 yards total to go with 32 receptions for 258 yards and two receiving touchdowns. Initially, he saw limited action but noted “We discussed it during the week, and it happened,” and how “that was always the plan” for him to reach the mark.
“It’s great,” he added. “That’s just something I’ve been working for and working hard throughout the year. I mean, to do that, and to go for 1,000 yards for my second year is a blessing.”
It took the RB 17 weeks to achieve the mark (as the Bills had a Week 12 bye) and it’s worth noting that there were only 14 games in 1975 when Simpson set the mark. Nonetheless, Cook’s matching the total could be a forecast of seasons to come.
Buffalo head coach Sean McDermott spoke after the game about helping Cook have a chance to gain over 1,000 yards while having a shot at the franchise rushing touchdown mark.
“No. 1, you’re trying to make sure you’re protecting (Cook) as much as you can and we’re smart with it,” McDermott said during his postgame press conference. “He’s worked all year. The offense has worked all year, the O-line and James, and so get a chance to get it on a short run was good to see.”
It was Cook’s second consecutive year with 1,000+ rushing yards becoming the first Bills RB since LeSean McCoy to do so in back-to-back campaigns (2016-17.)
His improvement of +14 in rushing TDs going from two in 2023 to 16 in 2024 is tied for the third-largest improvement all-time among players to play 16+ games in consecutive seasons in NFL history.
The running back plans to keep the ball from the touchdown and to get it painted as a keepsake.
“Just something that I can tell my kids, and their kids’ kids, something that had never been done in some years,” Cook shared. “So, just a blessing.”