Bills’ Josh Allen made NFL history again in regular season finale

#Bills’ Josh Allen made NFL history again in regular season finale:

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On a chilly Sunday night in Western New York, the Bills got a warmup for next Saturday’s first-round playoff game.

They clinched the AFC East beating a division rival in the Jets, and QB Josh Allen made some more NFL history in the process.

The Bills QB became the first player in NFL history to have over 4,000 passing yards and 750 rushing yards in a single season.

Allen finished the regular season with 4,407 passing yards and 763 rushing yards.

In Sunday’s win over the Jets, he also broke his own previous single-season franchise record for completions (401).

Making history has become a regular part of the fourth-year QB’s repertoire.

He even had his game jersey and cleats from his Week 16 win over New England exhibited in the Pro Football Hall of Fame when he became the first player in NFL history with at least 100 touchdown passes and at least 20 rushing touchdowns in his first four seasons.

He’d add to both numbers in the games that followed.

In Sunday’s game alone he threw for 239 passing yards and two TDs along with 63 yards rushing on five carries.

What drives Allen to play at the level he does, and to rack up these numbers and historic achievements along the way is his focus on getting to and winning the Super Bowl.

“Nobody at the end of careers looks back and really figures out how many times you won your division,” Allen said to the media after the game.

“I think the main goal is the Super Bowl and winning the division just gives you an opportunity to do that. So that’s really our focus. It’s great, it’s fine, hats and shirts are cool, but at the end of the day, we got a lot more work to do.”

Bills’ Stefon Diggs makes NFL history vs. the Jets

#Bills’ Stefon Diggs makes NFL history vs. the #Jets:

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The Bills clinched their second consecutive division crown, winning the AFC East in a 27-10 victory at home against the Jets.

WR Stefon Diggs played a big part in the win as well. He had nine receptions on fourteen targets for 81 yards and an impressive toe-tap touchdown catch on the sideline of the endzone

But that’s not all.

During the contest, the wideout caught his 224th catch since joining Buffalo in a 2020 trade with the Minnesota Vikings.

That was the most catches by any player in their first two seasons with a team in NFL history.

 

Diggs would finish the day and the regular season with 230 total catches as Bill, setting the new league mark in the newly extended 17 game season.

The previous record was 223 catches, set by WR Wes Welker while with New England in 2007-08.

Diggs had some more career numbers on the day, hauling in eight receptions in the first half alone which was a new career-high. In his seven years in the league, the Maryland product has had three previous occasions in which he finished the first half with seven catches.

He also finished the day with 103 catches on the year to become the first player in franchise history with 100-plus receptions in consecutive seasons.

Diggs had his QB’s full support both on and off the field as well.

“Throughout the year, he didn’t have as many targets and receptions as he did last year,” Josh Allen said while addressing the media after the game. “And maybe that was a little bit by design just to try to keep him fresh in the hopes that we have an opportunity to be in the playoffs. But he looks really good. And I want to try to throw it to him as much as possible because again with the ball in his hands, you never know what’s going to happen.”

The Bills and their pro bowl receiver will now turn his focus towards their first-round playoff game against the Patriots on Saturday in Orchard Park.

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Bills reflect on 9 sacks vs. Jets: ‘Everybody eats’

#Bills reflect on 9 sacks vs. #Jets: ‘Everybody eats’

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Rookie QB and second overall pick in the 2021 NFL Draft Zach Wilson faced a Buffalo defense on Sunday that he’ll deal with twice a season every year as a Jet.
It was a trial-by-fire, and Wilson got cooked.
The Bills had nine sacks for a total of 82 yards lost, and they held the Jets to a franchise-record low for net passing yards in a game (5). They also allowed only four fourth downs which were the fewest in franchise history.

The nine sacks against the Jets were Buffalo’s most in a game under Sean McDermott, and their most in a game since 2011 (10 against WFT Oct. 30, 2011). They now have 19 sacks in their last four games.

The first sack of the day came on Jets WR Jamison Crowder in a failed trick play while the other eight came on Wilson. It was the most he’s been wrapped up in a game this season.

Bills sack leader DE Mario Addison (7) and S Jordan Poyer had two sacks apiece. Poyer’s two takedowns were good for a single-game career-high, and his sack season total (3) is also a career-high.

DT Ed Oliver had a sack and a half in the game along with three quarterback hits, and LB Matt Milano, DE Boogie Basham, and DE A.J. Epenesa each had a sack as well while DE Jerry Hughes also added a half-sack

“Everybody eats,” Oliver said to the press after the game. “Everybody was just on it. It just seemed like everybody was flying around. He wanted to run around and just our overlap and everybody just rushing. So that was a good sight to see especially in the game like this with so much on the line.”

“We won a lot on first down,” fellow DT Harrison Phillips said during his media session. “Our coverage did some great things to make him hold the ball and then our offense scoring early being up kind of the whole game lets us get after the quarterback.”

Buffalo finished the regular season with the top-scoring defense for the first time in franchise history and as the number one total defense in the NFL.

“I just think overall they’re playing faster,” HC Sean McDermott said while addressing the media. “We had some young players mixed in there and then you’ve got some older guys with Jerry and Mario and that blend has come together at the right time.”

And McDermott wasn’t the only head coach in the game to compliment the defense’s level of play.

Jets HC Robert Saleh called the Bills defense a “buzzsaw” after the contest.

“Obviously they are one of the best defenses in football,” Saleh said during his postgame press conference. “We just could not run the ball very well. Obviously, it was tough sledding. And any time we got something going, their front was dominant.”

The Bills clinched the AFC East with the win and are now the No. 3 seed on the back of their four-game winning streak. They’ll host the Patriots for a third matchup this season on Saturday evening for the first-round Wild Card game.

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Bills vs. Jets: 3 keys to a Buffalo win

#Bills vs. #Jets: 3 keys to a Buffalo win:

The Bills punched their ticket to the playoffs last week, clinching a spot with a 29-15 victory over Atlanta at home.

Buffalo can secure the division crown this Sunday for a second straight year. They’ll have a chance to do just that as they host the Jets in the final game of the regular season.

Per ESPN’s Football Power Index, the Bills have a 95.6% chance to win the AFC East and the second-best chances in the NFL to both make the Super Bowl (27.6%) and to win it (15.4%).

With the division on the line, here are three keys to a win for the Bills (10-6) against the Jets (4-12):