Leave it to Josh Allen to sew up his first MVP in the city where MLB superstar Shohei Ohtani has won three. The Bills’ quarterback made it a second straight week of doing something the NFL has never seen before in its lavish history at the most important positions.
Buffalo did lose in Los Angeles, in a thrilling and only semi-stunning 44-42 setback to the Rams. But Allen, after passing, running, and catching TDs at home in the snow last Sunday night vs. the 49ers, found another way to put up numbers his league has never seen before.
Sound familiar? That’s the kind of unicorn feats Ohtani has pulled as baseball’s version of the dynamic, intimidating dual threat. Here’s looking at why Allen’s losing performance was one for the ages and also all but locked up his hold on the NFL’s most coveted individual award.
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Josh Allen stats today vs. Rams
Allen was left on an island trying to do it all with the Bills’ defense and special teams having awful days. As Buffalo fell into a 31-14 hole midway through the third quarter, the traditional running game also was almost zero help, with James Cook carrying only six times for 20 yards.
In true MVP fashion, Allen put the entire offense and team on his massive back. Allen was relentless as usual, too, pushing the Rams to the limit with his comeback attempt.
The result, to also channel the NHL, was a double hat trick that the NFL has never seen before. Allen became the first player in league history to post three passing touchdowns (22-of-37, 342 yards, 117.2 rating, 9.2 yards per attempt) and another three rushing (10 attempts, 82 yards). Allen also had zero turnovers through all that — another key MVP calling card for his season.
To also recall college football, that’s a ridiculous ‘Heisman moment’. All told, Alllen was responsible for 424 yards and six TDs in the same game in a prime television window. Doing that in the NFL should be impossible, but Allen still did it. His team gets blown out with absolutely no chance without him on the field. He’s the most valuable in every sense of the word now.
Allen has had other such moments the past two games, with his rushing TD to put away the Chiefs late in Week 11 and dashing through the snow to crush the 49ers in Week 13. Turns out, Allen had a charm ready for the third time, setting up what could be something epic in the monumental interconference matchup vs. the Lions at Detroit in Week 15.
MORE: How Bills loss affects AFC’s race for No. 1 seed
Josh Allen fantasy points vs. Rams
For those who started fantasy’s best QB not named Jalen Hurts in Week 14 as their weekly no-brainer, they got either 57.88 points (in leagues where passing TDs get six points) or 51.88 points (in leagues where passing TDs count four points). That’s the best fantasy day for a QB ever, blowing past Michael Vick, Mark Rypien, Peyton Manning, and Aaron Rogers to hold the new top spot.
If you don’t want to do the math, that would be 13.68 points for the passing yards, 8.2 points for the rushing yards, 18 points for the rushing TDs, and either 12 or 18 for the passing TDs. Either way, congratulations for either winning with him or beating the team that dropped the Allen bomb on you.
MORE: Most fantasy points by position in NFL history
Why Josh Allen has cemented NFL MVP (again)
Allen doesn’t deserve to fade in the MVP race behind Eagles’ running back Saquon Barkley because Philadelphia barely held off the lowly Panthers at home while the Bills had to deal with the dangerous Rams on the road. Allen has been the clear best quarterback on a big winning team this season, and when that’s true, MVP goes to a QB, not a RB.
Allen will hope he has one more thing in common with Ohtani — winning MVP and a championship ring during this season.
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