The closing arguments for NFL MVP have begun.
With voting by The Associated Press panel set for Jan. 5, Josh Allen is making a strong case.
If it's about generating strong numbers, the Buffalo Bills' quarterback is doing it. If it's about rising to the occasion when it matters most, he's got that covered, too.
"He continues to take steps in his development, which is awesome," Bills coach Sean McDermott told reporters. "He's hungry to grow, and when your top player or top players embrace that growth mindset and lead by example, I think it goes a long way in our locker room."
Maybe Bill Belichick didn't "buy into the Josh Allen craze" before Monday night's game between his New England Patriots and the Bills, as the ESPN announcing crew mentioned, noting Allen's unspectacular showing in Buffalo's 24-21 win against New England on Nov. 1.
Josh Allen and Stefon Diggs absolutely toyed with the New England Patriots, writes Jay Skurski.
But Belichick probably had second thoughts after the Bills' 38-9 victory at Gillette Stadium. At least, he should, even if he told reporters afterward, "I don't know what (the ESPN announcers) said. I'm on the record with that. ... I've said multiple times that Josh Allen is a good football player and he's having a good year."
Try great, Coach. Try spectacular.
Allen has done every bit as much to earn the honor, even if oddsmakers have him third on the list of front-runners, behind Green Bay's Aaron Rodgers and Kansas City's Patrick Mahomes.
Allen was his typical, humble self.
"There's still some things we can grow on and work on," he told reporters. "We're nowhere near perfect and nowhere near where we want to be."
Against the Patriots, Allen threw for 320 yards, giving him a franchise-record eight 300-yard passing games in a season, and four touchdowns, three to Stefon Diggs. Allen's 34 TD throws for the season broke the team record of 33 that Hall of Famer Jim Kelly set in 1991. Allen also broke Drew Bledsoe's 2002 team records for completions (378 to Bledsoe's 375) and total yards (4,738 to Bledsoe's 4,426).
Diggs was more than happy to praise his quarterback, with whom he has developed instant chemistry as both put themselves among the best at their respective positions.
"If (bleep) ain't going right in the game, he just looks at me and says, 'Just get open and catch the ball,' " Diggs, who set a single-season record for receiving yards, told reporters. "He just keeps it in the simplest form for a receiver ... That just gives me confidence. I ain't even going to overthink it. I can just play ball and my quarterback is going out there throwing darts."
Don't miss Mark Gaughan's quarter by quarter look at the Buffalo Bills' 38-9 victory over the New England Patriots on Monday night at Gillette Stadium in Foxborough, Mass.
At 12-3, the Bills have their most victories since 1993, and it gave them their first sweep of the Patriots since 1999 and first by any AFC East team since the New York Jets and Miami Dolphins did it in 2000.
Shedding the Patriot albatross wasn't much of a big deal to Allen or other players, at least based on what they told reporters.
"It's (win) No. 12, we've got one game left," Allen said. "We plan to get to 13-3 and get ourselves in the playoffs. We've got our minds on bigger things."
Before this season, the Bills had lost 34 of 38 to the Patriots. Two of Buffalo's victories (including their previous win in Foxborough, Mass., in 2016) came in games when the Pats didn't have Tom Brady, who now plays for the postseason-bound Tampa Bay Buccaneers.
But that was when the Pats ruled the AFC East.
Now, the division title belongs to the Bills, who are looking to capture the No. 2 playoff seed, something they can secure with a win in Sunday's regular-season finale against Miami.
How humiliating was this loss for Belichick and the Patriots? The Bills pulled Allen with 11:56 left and replaced him with Matt Barkley.
Buffalo's defense did its job, though it did have some familiar issues against the run in the first half.
Sony Michel ran for 29 yards on the Patriots' opening possession. Two plays later, they appeared to be on the verge of burning the Bills with a trick play when Michel took a pitch and lateraled to Newton, who threw a pass that receiver Damiere Byrd allowed to go through his hands. The Pats ended up settling for a 45-yard Nick Folk field goal take a 3-0 lead.
Jay Skurski weighs in with his grades on the Buffalo Bills' 38-9 victory over the New England Patriots on Monday night at Gillette Stadium.
On the ensuing kickoff, Andre Roberts set up the Bills near midfield with a 49-yard return. Allen was 5-for-5 for 41 yards on the Bills' opening series and they were able to drive to the New England 4. But they also had to settle for a field goal, from 22 yards, by Tyler Bass to make it 3-3.
On their second possession, the Bills caught the Patriots off guard with a fake punt as Jaquan Johnson threw a 13-yard pass to Siran Neal to give the Bills a first down at their 48 late in the first quarter.
The Bills converted another fourth down when Allen ran for 22 yards to the Patriots' 21. One play later, Taiwan Jones dropped an Allen pass in the end zone.
Buffalo caught a break at the end of the quarter when a Patriots offside wiped out an Allen interception in the end zone. After Dawson Knox dropped a touchdown pass, Zack Moss ran five yards up the middle for a score to give the Bills a 10-3 lead 10 seconds into the second quarter.
The Patriots then gouged the Bills for runs of 21 yards by Michel and 28 yards by J.J. Taylor, which helped set up a nine-yard Newton touchdown run. Folk's missed extra point allowed the Bills to stay in front.
The Bills answered with a drive that opened with a 24-yard connection with Knox over the middle and was kept alive with a 12-yard completion to Knox on fourth-and-two from the New England 43.
An 11-yard Allen run and a 13-yard screen to Isaiah McKenzie put the Bills at the Patriots' 4. From there, the Patriots' secondary converged toward Gabe Davis in the end zone, leaving Lee Smith wide open for a TD to make it 17-9.
Late in the half, Allen first looked as though he was going to go deep to Davis, who took defenders with him, then went long instead to a wide-open Diggs with a perfect throw for a 50-yard touchdown connection to give the Bills a 24-9 halftime advantage.
"Josh is really playing some good football and I'm just trying to do my job in getting open," Diggs said. "And then he did the rest. He threw me a great ball. I just had to catch and run."
By halftime, Allen had thrown for 173 yards and two touchdowns, while Newton had 34 passing yards. In the third quarter, Belichick yanked Newton in favor of Jarrett Stidham.
Allen found Diggs for two more scores, an 18-yarder in the third quarter and an eight-yarder in the fourth, as the Bills continued their mission of making up for years of embarrassment at the hands of the Patriots.
