We got to break out the permanent marker last week as Josh Allen moved past Andre Reed and Thurman Thomas to take over the top spot on the Buffalo Bills’ all-time touchdown list. That one’s officially in the books, and we can put the pencil away.
But don’t put the office supplies back in the drawer just yet. James Cook is closing in on another milestone, Greg Rousseau is looking to climb the franchise leaderboard, and Dawson Knox has a couple of opportunities to make us do some rewriting. And Allen?
Well, he’s still got plenty of names to chase.
We’ve got our usual four chapters — Sure Things, A Good Bet, Not Impossible, and Superhuman — and a fresh batch of numbers to play with. Let’s see what Monday night might do to the record book.
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Chapter 1: Sure Things
James Cook: 4,700 career rushing yards
James Cook needs just 20 rushing yards against the Los Angeles Rams to reach 4,700 for his career. Considering he hasn’t finished a game with fewer than 75 rushing yards this season, this one seems like a pretty safe bet.
We’re tempted to go ahead and write this one in ink, but we’ll give Cook a chance to actually earn those 20 yards first.
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Chapter 2: A Good Bet
Josh Allen: Climbing the NFL rushing touchdown list
Josh Allen has 86 career rushing touchdowns, putting him in a tie with Priest Holmes for 16th place in NFL history. One more against the Rams would give Allen sole possession of that spot. And with Allen’s history of running the ball into the end zone, one touchdown seems like a pretty good bet.
But why stop at one? Allen started the season with back-to-back-to-back two-touchdown games, and if he can get back to that pace, things could get interesting in a hurry. Two rushing touchdowns against Los Angeles and another two next week would put him at 90 for his career, tied with Eric Dickerson and Curtis Martin. We’re not asking for much here. Just four touchdowns in two games.
Dawson Knox: Passing James Lofton
Dawson Knox is just 13 receiving yards away from passing James Lofton on Buffalo’s all-time receiving yards list. Knox has 2,724 yards. Lofton has 2,736. One decent catch could be enough to move Knox into 16th place in franchise history.
Now, Knox is averaging just 7.5 receiving yards per game this season, which doesn’t exactly scream Sure Thing. But we’re talking about 13 yards here. One catch could take care of the whole thing, and that’s not asking too much.
Greg Rousseau: Climbing Buffalo’s sack leaderboard
Greg Rousseau has 38 career sacks, putting him just half a sack behind Darryl Talley on Buffalo’s all-time list. One sack against the Rams would move Groot past Spider-Man and into eighth place in franchise history. Who knew the Bills record book had its own Marvel cinematic universe?
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Chapter 3: Not Impossible
We’re getting a little more ambitious now. Neither of these would be a huge shock, but we’re going to need a little more than business as usual to make them happen.
Dawson Knox: Catching Jerry Butler
Dawson Knox has 28 career receiving touchdowns, putting him just one behind Jerry Butler on Buffalo’s all-time list. One touchdown catch against the Rams would pull Knox into a tie with Butler at 29.
Of course, the Bills have several options when they get close to the goal line, and Allen has a habit of keeping the football for himself. Knox might have to convince his quarterback to share.
Greg Rousseau: Two sacks? How about three?
We already have Rousseau chasing Darryl Talley in A Good Bet, but let’s see how far we can push this. Two sacks against the Rams would give Rousseau 40 for his career and bring him to eight this season, tying his personal best.
And if he manages three? That would give him nine sacks on the season and a new career high. We’re getting greedy, sure, but that’s what this chapter is for.
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Chapter 4: Superhuman
James Cook — The quarterback is still in the way
Remember when we started tracking whether Cook could pass Allen on Buffalo’s all-time rushing list? What began as a ridiculous single-game possibility is slowly becoming a little less ridiculous.
Cook rushed for 75 yards against New England, while Allen managed just four. That 71-yard difference cut the gap between them from 230 yards to 159. The two currently sit fourth and fifth on Buffalo’s all-time rushing list, and if they swap places, Cook can start setting his sights on Fred Jackson, O.J. Simpson, and Thurman Thomas.
To make that happen against the Rams, Cook would need to outgain Allen by at least 160 yards.
That’s still a pretty tall order for one game, but considering Cook has already produced a 154-yard rushing performance this season, we’re not throwing away our scratch paper just yet. We may have to move this one out of the Superhuman chapter before long.
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We’ve got Cook chasing his quarterback, Groot taking on Spider-Man in the Buffalo-verse, and Knox hoping Allen remembers he’s allowed to throw touchdowns, too. Not a bad little to-do list for Monday night.
We’ll keep the pencils handy, just in case the Bills give us a reason to do some rewriting.
