It didn’t take long for the Bills to start making history in their new home.
The Buffalo Bills christened the new Highmark Stadium with a 41-31 win over the Detroit Lions on Thursday night, moving to 2-0 in the process. Josh Allen accounted for five touchdowns, James Cook ran for 139 yards, and Buffalo scored touchdowns on five of its first six possessions.
But the scoreboard wasn’t the only place the Bills were putting up numbers Thursday night. From Allen reaching all the way back to 1929 for company
to Cook moving up the franchise record book, there is plenty to Shout! about after Week 2.
_____________________________________________________________________________
Josh Allen became the first player in NFL history with at least five passing touchdowns and three rushing touchdowns through the first two games of a season. And somehow, that’s not the strangest Allen stat to come out of Thursday night.
Allen became just the second player in NFL history to account for at least nine total touchdowns, including four rushing touchdowns, over a span of five days. The other was Ernie Nevers, who did it in November 1929 when he ran for nine touchdowns and scored all 59 of the Chicago Cardinals’ points in two wins.
Yes, 1929.
Allen’s second rushing touchdown Thursday also gave him 82 for his career, tying Hall of Fame running back Jim Taylor for 18th on the NFL’s all-time rushing-touchdown list.
_____________________________________________________________________________
James Cook entered Thursday night needing 130 rushing yards to pass Joe Cribbs for fifth place on the Bills’ all-time rushing list. He got 139.
Cook passed Cribbs’ 4,445 career rushing yards and now sits alone in fifth place in franchise history. Next up are Josh Allen and Fred Jackson — although one of those two is going to keep moving the target.
_____________________________________________________________________________
Then there’s Dalton Kincaid. Apparently, he wasn’t satisfied after Week 1 After putting up a career-high 130 receiving yards in Week 1, Kincaid added seven catches for 95 yards and a touchdown Thursday night. That gives him 225 receiving yards through two games.
That’s the fifth-most receiving yards by a tight end through the first two games of a season in the Super Bowl era, trailing only Ben Coates (285 in 1994), Shannon Sharpe (247 in 1995), Rich Caster (240 in 1972), and Jared Cook (229 in 2018).
Kincaid has also led Buffalo in receiving in each of the first two games of the season.
_____________________________________________________________________________
Greg Rousseau recorded two sacks against Jared Goff, giving him four through the first two weeks of the season. That’s the most by a Bills player through two games since Mario Williams had 4.5 in 2013.
Rousseau also joined Bruce Smith as the only players in franchise history to record at least two sacks in each of the first two games of a season. But, the streak didn’t start this season. Rousseau has recorded at least half a sack in five consecutive regular-season games. The last Bills player with a longer streak was Lorenzo Alexander, who did it in seven straight games in 2016.
_____________________________________________________________________________
Joe Brady became the first head coach in Bills history to win each of his first two regular-season games with the team. But it isn’t just the wins we are Shout!ing about.
Buffalo has scored 77 points through Brady’s first two games as head coach. That’s the fourth-most points scored by a team in a head coach’s first two games during the Super Bowl era, trailing only Bud Carson’s 1989 Cleveland Browns (89), Dan Campbell’s 2015 Miami Dolphins (82), and Mike Martz’s 2000 St. Louis Rams (78).
_____________________________________________________________________________
The Bills didn’t waste much time making some history in their new home. Allen’s 1-yard touchdown run on Buffalo’s opening possession gave him the first regular-season touchdown in the new Highmark Stadium. And then the offense kept going.
Buffalo became the first team since the Arizona Cardinals in 2006 to score at least 14 points in the first quarter of the first game in its new home stadium.
By halftime, the Bills had 27 points, making them the first team to score at least that many in the first half of the first game in a new home stadium since the Dallas Cowboys scored 34 in the first half of their Texas Stadium debut in 1971.
So, yes, there were fireworks before the game. Turns out the Bills had plenty more once it started.
