Bills Roll Cowboys

Casual football fans will look at the box score Sunday and be thoroughly confused.

Hell, one of the teams in Highmark Stadium was outright flummoxed.

The Buffalo Bills ran all over the Dallas Cowboys, and Josh Allen didn’t leave the deepest cleat marks this time. James Cook continued his glow-up with an incandescent performance unseen from a Bills player in nearly 14 years to down the Cowboys 31-10.

On a wet track, Cook rushed for 179 yards with a touchdown and added two receptions for 42 yards and a touchdown. Allen, meanwhile, ran for a touchdown and threw for another. That’s a pretty normal sight in a Buffalo box score this year, but he completed seven whole passes for 94 yards and ran for just 24 yards.

The thing is, Allen didn’t perform shabbily. The Bills simply chose not to throw because Cook was that luminous.

“I just let it rip,” Cook said. “My O-linemen, they was opening it up, and I was hitting it and finding that rhythm.”

Some fascinating numbers are not found in the box score.

Although the Cowboys entered Sunday as the NFL’s highest-scoring team and it’s fourth-stingiest, the Bills ravaged them so badly Sean McDermott pulled his offensive starters with 10:37 to play and his defensive starters with 5:31 remaining.

“I was not expecting that,” said Bills left guard Connor McGovern, playing his former team for the first time. “Every week you want to be about that. You want to finish in victory (formation).

“But it’s a sweet feeling getting pulled off for a good reason, such a sweet feeling.”

Another notable stat not in the box score: the number of plays McDermott removed Cook for bumbling another would-be touchdown pass.

Cook has been yanked from games for mishandling the ball. He was stripped on the first snap against the Denver Broncos in Week 10 and dropped a touchdown pass against the Philadelphia Eagles in Week 12. The Bills narrowly lost both games.

But by the time Allen’s accurate, short offering bounced off Cook’s hands at the 3-yard line with 2:39 left in the third period, forcing a field goal on the next play, Cook already had proven himself Buffalo’s catalyst. He returned to the field on the next possession and ran on the first three downs for 21 yards.

Three plays later, Cook dashed 24 yards off right guard and flipped into the end zone for a 31-3 lead.

“You talk about the adversity and getting taken out (of games after mistakes),” Bills right tackle Spender Brown said, “I know it’s tough for him. I feel bad for him as a teammate. You never want to see a guy down on himself. It’s just good to see him be himself, be energetic and doing what he’s doing.

“It’s just fun to watch! He makes it easy on us; that’s for sure. He’s just an easy guy to cheer for.”

Cook’s 179 rushing yards and 221 scrimmage yards were the most in club history since Fred Jackson ran for 212 yards and added two receptions for 15 yards and a TD versus the Indianapolis Colts in the 2009 finale. Jackson played nearly the entire game to reach 1,000 yards for the season. Cook unofficially played only 39 of the Bills’ 68 offensive snaps, penalties included.

Cook has emerged as Allen’s most effective helper since Joe Brady took over the offense four games ago. Want another wild stat? Cook is the first Bills running back since Thurman Thomas in 1995 to score a receiving touchdown in consecutive games.

Latavius Murray and Ty Johnson have bolstered the backfield, forming a trio that provides freshness and situational flexibility. Murray ran five times for 11 yards and a touchdown. Johnson had nine carries for 54 yards and a catch for 4 yards. Allen ran eight times for 24 yards and a TD.

“It’s always a great time when you can run like that,” McGovern said. “Joe basically is able to just close his eyes and pick any single run call, and we’re able to hit it.”

It was the greatest rushing performance of the McDermott era and the most yardage Dallas has surrendered on the ground since 2020.