It was one of the more remarkable performances in a loss the NFL world has seen. In fact, it was a perfect fantasy football showing, as Bills star quarterback Josh Allen set an NFL record by logging three touchdowns passing and three touchdowns rushing, piling up a record 51.88 fantasy football points in doing so.
And just to emphasize that his day was one of fantasy-football brilliance, it almost did not matter that the Bills lost, so long as Allen's numbers are good.
In all, Allen was 22-for-37 passing for 342 yards in the loss for the Bills. He added 82 rushing yards on 10 carries. The Rams took the game on their home field, by a 44-42 mark, but it was tough not to notice that the entire Bills scoring reprertoire went through Allen.
While most probably found ample entertainment in such a high-scoring affair, no matter who won in the final outcome, Allen himself had plenty of incentive to find a way to win that game. He plays every game to win, of course, but with the Chiefs at 12-1, and the Bills entering the late game with a 10-2 record, Allen stood to still have a fighting chance to lead Buffalo into the No. 1 overall seed in the AFC.
That matters for Allen. As part of his contract, which was restructured this year, he has a $2.5 million bonus if he leads Buffalo to the top seed in the AFC playoffs. With the difficult loss to the Chargers on Sunday, it has become all but impossible for the Bills to make up two games in teh standings.
At "The Spotrac Podcast," NFL contract guru Mike Ginnitti broke down the situation:
"He’s making $60 million cash this year. That’s upwards of third or fourth in the league behind a couple of guys who got massive signing bonuses. There’s MVP incentives, which look phenomenal right now, you get a $1.5 million bonus for that. He had a chance at an extra $2.5 million if the Bills were the No. 1 seed, that seems to be slipping away after yesterday’s loss."
