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"I got a real good quarterback" | A look at Josh Allen's record-breaking numbers against the Steelers

Oct 10, 2022 at 07:00 AM

Grace Heidinger

Contributing Correspondent

From the opening drive until his last snap on Sunday afternoon, QB Josh Allen had his way on just about every play in the Bills' 35-point win over the Pittsburgh Steelers, which marks the team's largest margin of victory in Bills-Steelers series history.

It took the MVP candidate less than 90 seconds to complete the first and longest touchdown pass of the day to WR Gabe Davis. The 98-yard touchdown pass was the longest TD pass in Bills franchise history, and also marks the longest scrimmage TD in the first 90 seconds of a game in NFL history.

"Luckily once I looked back, I saw Josh releasing the ball and I knew it was going to be a big play," Davis said. "I didn't know it was going to be 98 yards, but I just happened to come down with that and have that big run."

With his 98-yard TD pass, Allen surpassed Peyton Manning (147) for the fourth-most total touchdowns in a player's first five NFL seasons and that number only kept going up throughout the game. Allen delivered three more TDs before the first half expired with another one to Davis, one to WR Stefon Diggs, and one to WR Khalil Shakir for his first career NFL touchdown.

"It's trusting the guys that we've brought into this building, and our front office, bringing in the right guys that care about football, care about each other," Allen said. "And when you have that, you're going to have success."

After connecting with Davis on the first touchdown, Allen and Davis connected again, this time with the receiver using one hand to catch the ball and another to fend off Steelers safety Minkah Fitzpatrick. Allen said he just gave Davis chance to catch the ball on the 62-yard TD pass. Davis, who had just three receptions, ended the afternoon with a career-high 171 receiving yards.

"It was an unbelievable play by him," Allen said. "But I've got so much trust and faith in 13, so it was good to see him get going and getting the ball early."

The record-breaking numbers kept coming for Allen, as he became the first NFL QB this season to surpass 300 yards in the first half of the game. The Bills offense as a whole also made their mark in the first half with 400 yards, and they became the first NFL team to reach 400 yards in the first half since Tampa Bay in 2020.

Diggs, who had one touchdown and 102 receiving yards, marking the third game this year he's gone over 100 yards. He gives credit to his QB and the Bills offensive line for the offense's success against the Steelers.

"I've got a real good quarterback," Diggs said. "And then it attests to the o-line also playing balls out. We don't get the ball unless the o-line plays at a high level. You see receivers getting open and catching the ball, and everybody's getting a little piece of the pie. It's just like playing as balanced as we can – running backs running, quarterback throwing."

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Coming into the game, Allen's career-high for first half yards sat at 282, a milestone he established back in 2020 against the Seattle Seahawks. On Sunday against the Steelers, he finished the first half with 348 yards and 4 TD passes, both setting new career-highs for first half totals.

The QB ended the day with 424 passing yards, the most a Bill has ever passed for in regulation, and completed 21 of 30 pass attempts. But even after breaking records across the board on Sunday, Allen shared after the game that he felt like he missed a few throws he hopes to clean up.

"I was a little ticked off for a couple of the passes I had early on in the game," Allen said. "I want to complete every ball. Obviously, I know it's not typically possible. But there are some things I could have done better early on in that game."

In Allen's perspective, the tone for the game was set in the opening drive and then continued for the remaining 59 minutes.

"It's not too often you get a chance to do that early on in the game," Allen said. "Obviously the kick return put us at the 2-yard line, put us behind the 8-ball there. But guys were resilient. We didn't blink. Just trusted our guys, and they made some plays."