CLEVELAND (AP) — James Cook continues to show opposing defenses that they have to factor in more than Josh Allen when facing the Buffalo Bills.
With Allen playing through a foot injury that he suffered in the first half, Cook rushed for 117 yards and two touchdowns as the Bills drew closer to a playoff berth with a 23-20 win over the Cleveland Browns on Sunday.
“He’s the best back in football. I don’t know how the awards will shake out, but he should be in the running for every award. He makes our offense go,” said Allen, who played the second half despite injuring his right foot during the second quarter after being sacked.
Ty Johnson also had a rushing score for the Bills (11-4), who have won four straight and five of six. With Houston’s win over Las Vegas, Buffalo needs a loss or tie by Indianapolis on Monday night against San Francisco to wrap up a playoff spot for the seventh consecutive season.
It was only the third time this season Allen didn’t have a rushing or passing TD. The reigning NFL MVP was 12 of 19 passing for 130 yards and also rushed for 17 yards on seven carries.
Allen was favoring the foot after being sacked by Cleveland’s Myles Garrett and Alex Wright for a 22-yard loss to Buffalo’s 1-yard line with 60 seconds remaining in the first half.
“Just flamed up on me. Pain subsided, so we’re good,” Allen said about the injury.
It was the ninth 100-yard rushing game this season for Cook, tied with Thurman Thomas for second in franchise history. OJ Simpson holds the single-season mark with 11. The four-year veteran also took over the NFL rushing lead with 1,532 yards. Indianapolis’ Jonathan Taylor is second with 1,443 with the Colts playing Monday night.
“Yeah, but there’s a lot of room for improvement,” said Cook when asked if he’s playing his best football since being drafted in the second round in 2022. “It ain’t over yet, so we just gotta keep going.”
Cook tied it at 7 midway through the first quarter on a 44-yard run up the middle where he eluded tackle attempts by Cleveland’s Mohamoud Diabate and Adin Huntington at the line of scrimmage. Grant Delpit had a chance to make a stop at the 27, but was spun around and unable to make the tackle.
“We had to be able to run the football, be two dimensional,” coach Sean McDermott said. “Usually when you have a run like that you have wide receivers blocking down the field and that’s a good thing for us as well.”
Cook then extended Buffalo’s lead to 20-10 with 2:23 remaining on a 3-yard carry up the middle.
The Bills took a 23-10 lead with 9:37 remaining in the third quarter on Michael Badgley’s 41-yard field goal. Cleveland rallied to get within a field goal but couldn’t generate anything on its final two drives.
Cleveland’s Shedeur Sanders completed 20 of 29 passes for 157 yards and a touchdown. He also was the Browns’ leading rusher with four carries for 49 yards. The fifth-round pick also threw two interceptions which accounted for 10 of Buffalo’s points — Johnson’s 2-yard TD run early in the second quarter and Badgley’s field goal
Tight end Harold Fannin Jr. scored both Browns’ touchdowns, including a 1-yard run in the third quarter to get them within 23-17.
Raheim Sanders rushed for 42 yards on 11 carries. He was pressed into action when Quinshon Judkins was carted off after suffering a dislocated right ankle and broken fibula late in the second quarter.
“Yeah, in total we ended up minus in the turnover margin. It’s hard to do that versus a very good football team. And then they made their plays. We didn’t make enough at the end,” coach Kevin Stefanski said.
One sack away
The half-sack gave Garrett 22 on the season. He needs one more sack in the Browns’ final two games to pass Michael Strahan and T.J. Watt for the single-season mark.
Garrett said he disappointed “a bit” that he wasn’t able to get the record against the Bills.
“I wanted to get it for them, have some family show up. They felt like it was going to be the game in the moment, and so definitely want to give them something to smile about,” he said.
Garrett recorded only one pressure in 22 pass rushes. Buffalo left tackle Dion Dawkins held him to one pressure in 18 pass rushes.
“I’m gonna keep saying it: I’m thankful that I’m a good tackle. I have a great guard and a great center. We make the right calls,” Dawkins said. “And the good thing about O-line play, you don’t always have to do it by yourself, even though we all have our individual battles, but it takes five of us to block.”
Rousseau’s big game
Buffalo defensive end Greg Rousseau had a season-high 2 1/2 sacks and nine pressures. It’s the second time in his five-year career he has had at least 2 1/2 sacks.
“We needed that from Greg. We believe that he can do that. He can impact the game. So it’s good to see him get back in that kind mindset,” McDermott said.
Quick start for Browns
Cleveland got the opening kickoff and scored when Sanders rolled right and connected with Fannin for a 13-yard TD. It was the first time in five starts that Sanders directed Cleveland to points on its first possession.
It was also the seventh straight game in which the Bills’ opponent opened the scoring.
Injuries
Bills LB Shaq Thompson (neck) was injured in the first quarter and did not return.
Up next
Buffalo: Hosts Philadelphia next Sunday.
Cleveland: Hosts Pittsburgh next Sunday.
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