It was a tough game to watch due to the fact that most of the starters either didn’t play, or played at a bare minimum. The main goal is that the Buffalo Bills left this game healthy and now it’s postseason time. The Bills played in one of their most pointless games today against the New England Patriots yet they kept it close, but ended up losing 23-16. However, this is a bigger loss for the Patriots who have played themselves out of the No. 1 overall pick in this coming NFL Draft.
Even though this game meant absolutely nothing to the Bills, it did matter to some players who earned money incentives (Von Miller, Mack Hollins, and Sam Martin), it also featured star running back James Cook make some history himself. In addition, the Bills as a team also re-wrote history themselves.
Buffalo Bills, James Cook make history in Week 18
Coming into this game, James Cook was 19 yards shy of reaching 1,000 rushing yards for the second consecutive season. He had 10 carries for 28 yards, which puts him at 1,009 rushing yards on the ground for the season. Not only did he become the first Bill since LeSean McCoy with back-to-back 1,000+ rushing yard seasons, he also tied Bills’ running back O.J. Simpson for the most rushing touchdowns in a season in franchise history (16). Coming into this season, Cook had only four rushing touchdowns.
James Cook rushes for his 16th rushing TD of the season, tying O.J. Simpson (1975) for the most in a single season in team history.
— Buffalo Bills PR (@BuffaloBillsPR) January 5, 2025
Along with Cook, the Bills became the first team in NFL history to score 30+ passing and 30+ rushing touchdowns in a single season. Joe Brady’s “everybody eats” mentality clearly worked in a year where a lot of people heavily doubted this offense. The fact that the Bills were still making history in a pointless game was great to see.
The regular season is officially over and the Bills will now wait to see who they will host in the first round of the playoffs. As of now, it will either be the Denver Broncos, who just have to win and they are in. It could be the Miami Dolphins, who need to win and hope the Broncos lose. Or it could be Joe Burrow and the Cincinnati Bengals who won yesterday but will need Denver and Miami to lose.