Josh Allen’s first 50 NFL starts have surpassed the wildest dreams of Buffalo Bills fans.
The 25-year-old quarterback improved to 33-17 as a starter with Sunday’s 26-11 victory over the Miami Dolphins.
That’s the most by a Bills quarterback through 50 starts. Jim Kelly was 25-25 through his first 50. Jack Kemp was 32-15-3 through his first 50 with the Bills, although Kemp had started 28 games for the Chargers before he got to Buffalo.
And it’s worth rounding up Allen’s big accomplishments on the NFL charts through 50 starts:
• His 112 combined passing and rushing touchdowns rank tied for third for any QB, behind only Kansas City’s Patrick Mahomes (135) and Dolphins Hall of Famer Dan Marino (118).
• His 28 career rushing touchdowns are tied with Cam Newton for the most by a quarterback.
• Allen is the only quarterback in NFL history with 11,000 passing yards, 1,700 rushing yards and 100 total touchdowns through 50 starts.
• Allen’s 11,679 passing yards and 84 passing touchdowns are the most by a Bills quarterback, surpassing Kelly’s totals of 11,422 and 69 passing TDs.
“I have all the confidence in the world in Josh,” receiver Cole Beasley said after Sunday’s game. “To me, he’s the best quarterback in the league. He does so many things for us. I will never doubt him in any situation. He could throw four picks in the first half and I’ll still think he’s about to throw four touchdowns in the second half. That’s the kind of guy he is as a competitor. I’ll follow him any day. He’s such an easy guy to follow into battle.”
Offensive coordinator Brian Daboll said last week one of the things he likes best about Allen is he’s not caught up in his personal achievements.
“He’s not too concerned with stats and things like that,” Daboll said. “What he wants to do is put points up on the board and ultimately help our team win football games, and that’s what you appreciate about a player, particularly that you’ve been with for his entire career, is his mindset, his competitiveness, his love of the game. He’s a joy to be around, I would say, in the building, getting ready to play games, and outside the building, he holds a special place in my heart.
While Allen and his offensive mates were not productive in the first half vs. Miami, Allen said his focus was on the big picture.
“It's just we're fighting,” Allen said. “That's all we're trying to do. We're not trying to be the best team in the league every Sunday. We're trying to be the best team on the field that we're on every Sunday so we got to find a way and we did.”
Allen improved his season total to 17 touchdown passes, a team record for the first seven games of a season. He’s on pace for 38 through 16 games or 41 for 17 games. Last year he set a team record with 37 in 16 games. (Of course, this year is a 17-game season.) Allen has thrown a touchdown pass in 15 consecutive games, the longest by a Bills QB in 11 years and three shy of Kelly’s record of 18 straight.
Allen is on pace for 4,507 passing yards for 16 games and 4,789 for 17 games. His team record last year was 4,544.
According to the NFL, more than 30 quarterbacks posted 33 or more wins in their first 50 starts. Mahomes tied for the most wins in his first 50 starts at 40-10. Ken Stabler was 40-9-1 in his first 50 starts with the Oakland Raiders.
