James Cook locks up the rushing crown with a little help from the Steelers

The Buffalo Bills weighed the risks in their regular-season finale, opting for a conservative route regarding their players’ health. Josh Allen, as a prime example, played just one snap, handing the football off to James Cook for a 10-yard gain.

Cook got the next carry for five yards, and then his day was done. Cook finished his 2025 campaign with 1,621 rushing yards, hoping that a 149-yard lead on Derrick Henry would be enough to keep the league rushing title.

Henry got off to a strong start, eclipsing the 100-yard mark in the first half of the regular-season finale on Sunday night against the Pittsburgh Steelers. It’d be understandable for any Bills fan who conceded that Henry would take the lead in the second half before heading to bed, but luckily for Cook, that wasn’t the case. Henry finished with 126 yards, leaving Cook as the NFL’s top rusher for the 2025 season.

Bills RB James Cook takes NFL rushing title with 'assist' from Steelers

Of course, Cook can’t just thank the Steelers’ defense for slowing down Henry just enough in Week 18. The Steelers' total defensive collapse against the Bills' rushing attack back in Week 13 was plenty helpful enough to give Cook a shot at the rushing title in the first place.

Cook rushed for 144 yards against the Steelers in the final game before December, as the Bills set an opponent rushing record in Acrisure Stadium with 249 yards on the ground. It was the seventh of nine 100+ yard performances for Cook on the season, matched by Thurman Thomas and only exceeded by O.J. Simpson in franchise history.

"It means a lot. Just something nobody in my family has done, just nothing somebody has done here [with the Bills] in a long time. So, it'd be special,” Cooks said after the game, not yet knowing if he’d win the title by the end of the day. "As a running back, that's everybody's goal just to win the rushing title."

Cook is the first Bill to win the league rushing title since Simpson did so in 1976. He also became just the third Bill in history to rush for 1,000+ yards in three consecutive seasons, once again following Thomas and Simpson.

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While Cook likely won’t win NFL Offensive Player of the Year over Seattle WR Jaxon Smith-Njigba, Cook will be awarded the Jim Brown Award at the NFL Honors ceremony on February 5, the Thursday before Super Bowl LX.

Hopefully, Cook and the Bills will be playing in Super Bowl LX afterward. To do so, they’ll have to get past the Jacksonville Jaguars in the Wild Card round, and follow the path from there to Santa Clara, California.