Seemingly lost in all the lamenting over the crushing manner in which the Buffalo Bills lost their previous game at State Farm Stadium in Glendale, Ariz., this season was the fact, when it counted, Josh Allen delivered.
On Monday night, Allen delivered again.
He did so not only in more impressive fashion than in providing what looked like the winning points in that heartbreaking loss against the Arizona Cardinals on Nov. 15, but in a way that elevated his status as one of the game's best.
So all that concern that returning to State Farm Stadium might wreak havoc with the Bills' psyche, even though the opponent was the San Francisco 49ers – who needed to relocate because of the pandemic – was for naught.
In one of the best performances of his young NFL career, Allen put on a prime-time show by throwing for 375 yards and four touchdowns to lead the Bills to a 34-24 victory, their first win on Monday Night Football since 1999.
Report Card: Coaching, passing offense produce perfect grades in Bills' big win
"Freaking fantastic game (by Allen)," 49ers veteran cornerback Richard Sherman told reporters.
It was Allen's sixth 300-yard game, the second-most in team history in one season behind the seven Drew Bledsoe had in 2002, and his third four-TD game of the season.
Offensive tackle Dion Dawkins, who interrupted Allen's postgame interview on ESPN to say, "Good game, kid!," wasn't the least bit surprised Allen rose to the occasion on Monday night.
"I think Josh loves the hype," Dawkins told reporters. "I think he loves to show people the truth. People always doubt and people always want to criticize and say bad things, but Josh is one of those guys that's built for the big moments."
How big? By going 32-for-40, Allen became the first passer in Bills history to attempt 40 or more passes in a game and complete at least 80%, according to the Elias Sports Bureau.
Allen's 26 passing touchdowns on the season ties him with Joe Ferguson for the second-most passing TDs by a Bills quarterback in a single season. Allen's 33 total TDs on the season are the second-highest total by a Bill and one shy of Jim Kelly's team-record 34 set in 1991. And the Bills still have four regular-season games to play.
Mentioning Allen, who had a passer rating of 139.1, in the same sentence as his Hall-of-Fame predecessor is happening with increasing frequency. That's appropriate because he keeps giving the Bills (9-3) the best quarterbacking they've had since Kelly.
Allen enjoys being part of such exclusive company, though only when it contributes to a win.
"As long as it correlates with team success, it means we're doing the right thing, making the right decisions and we're winning football games," he told reporters. "That's all that matters to me."
Report Card: Coaching, passing offense produce perfect grades in Bills' big win
Were it not for that Hail Mary loss to the Cardinals, the Bills would be riding a six-game winning streak heading into Sunday night's home game against the Pittsburgh Steelers (11-1). The Bills remain a game in front of the Miami Dolphins in the AFC East and currently have the third seed in the AFC, behind the Kansas City Chiefs and Steelers.
The bizarre circumstances surrounding where the game was played set the tone for the way it started.
First, the 49ers stopped the Bills on fourth down from the San Francisco 1-yard line when Allen threw high and behind wide-open tight end Lee Smith in the back of the end zone.
On the next series, the Niners, with no small assist from a questionable pass-interference penalty, drove to the Buffalo 1. This time, the Bills held, as the 49ers ran four times in a row – three from the 2 or closer. After Kyle Juszczyk was stopped inches short of the goal line on third down, the 49ers went for it and linebacker Tremaine Edmunds made arguably the best play of his NFL career when he slammed into Jeff Wilson to keep him out of the end zone.
However, on the next play, rookie running back Zack Moss lost the handle on the handoff and fumbled forward. San Francisco recovered at the Buffalo 3.
The 49ers went up-tempo, though they ran twice more and couldn't get closer than the 2. That set the Bills' defense up for a 2-yard throw by Mullens, who drew Edmunds forward just enough, to Brandon Aiyuk for a touchdown.
However, the Bills answered in the most pronounced way possible with Allen leading them on a five-play, 77-yard touchdown drive. It included consecutive Allen passes of 12 yards to Stefon Diggs and 35 yards to Cole Beasley, who caught a 5-yard TD throw to tie the game at 7-7 early in the third quarter.
Allen collaborated with Diggs and Beasley to shred the NFL's fourth-ranked pass defense that been allowing an average of 206.5 yards per game. Allen's 375 passing yards were the most the 49ers have given up this season.
Diggs caught a game-high 10 passes for 92 yards. Beasley finished with nine receptions for 130 yards and a score. His 66 catches on the season made him the first Bill since Sammy Watkins (2014-15) with 60-plus catches in consecutive seasons.
Allen continued to stay locked in the sort of can-do-no-wrong zone he resided through the Bills' 4-0 start and their 44-34 victory against the Seattle Seahawks.
With considerable time to throw, he showed excellent patience and poise as he went through his reads, usually finding the right place to throw the ball.
"I got into a zone," Allen said. "When it's spinning off your hand and you know what the ball's doing, what the tail's doing, that's kind of what I felt. I understood where my guys were. Coach (Brian) Daboll called a great game plan. Our guys did a great job of executing. And in a dome-type setting, with no wind and no cold, when the ball's spinning off your hand, you feel like you've got supreme control, and that's kind of what I felt tonight."
He was so in control, Daboll and coach Sean McDermott trusted him to come through on fourth-and-2 early in the fourth quarter. Allen did so with a seven-yard completion to Diggs. Two plays later, Allen found Gabriel Davis for a 28-yard touchdown to put the Bills in front, 34-17.
Jason Wolf: Steelers' loss deprives Bills' chance for 'euphoria'
Late in the first half, Allen moved the offense 69 yards on 14 plays, the last a short throw to tight end Dawson Knox, who made a diving leap for the touchdown to give the Bills a 14-7 advantage.
After the Bills took over with 1:05 remaining in the half, Allen was downright surgical. The drive began with an odd, time-consuming run play that forced the Bills to call timeout with 32 seconds left.
From there, though, Allen's hot hand kept sizzling as he got the Bills in range for Tyler Bass to kick a 37-yard field goal to increase the lead to 17-7 at halftime.
The 49ers' defense mostly struggled to generate pressure on Allen, thanks to solid protection and Allen's ability to escape whenever there was any heat. Allen was sacked once and hit three times.
"We've got a team that cares about each other," Allen said. "We practice extremely hard. I really think our main goal is not to let each other down. So, when you've got a group of guys wanting to do that, it doesn't matter how fast or how slow you start. You always feel like you've got to step up your game."
Once again, Allen did exactly that.
