Josh Allen makes early MVP case in Bills’ win over Lions

| Getty Images Josh Allen and the Buffalo Bills opened the new Highmark Stadium in style on Thursday night, with a 41-31 win over the visiting Detroit Lions on Thursday Night Football. The win propelled the Bills to a 2-0 start, and with a 36-31 victory over the Houston Texans and their vaunted defense in Week 1, Buffalo has put 77 points on the board in just two weeks. And in the process, Allen has made a strong, albeit early, case for his second MVP award. Allen was nearly flawless against the Lions defense, which has been hampered by injuries, on Thursday night. He completed 20-of-31 passes for 248 yards and three touchdowns, without an interception, and he added another 69 rushing yards and a pair of touchdowns. By doing so, Allen put himself back on one of the league’s smallest lists: Players in NFL history to have 5+ passing TDs and 4+ rushing TDs in a two-game span: Josh Allen (Week 1-2 2026) Josh Allen (Week 14-15 2024) Josh Allen (Week 13-14 2024) Eric Hipple (Week 7-8 1981) — Benjamin Solak (@BenjaminSolak) September 18, 2026 In the words of the great Tony Kornheiser, “that’s it, that’s the list.” Again, this performance comes in the wake of what Allen did against the Texans, and a defense considered by many to be among the league’s best. Against Houston in Week 1, on the road, Allen connected on 20-of-29 passes for 334 yards and a pair of touchdowns, while again chipping in with a pair of rushing touchdowns. Yes, one of those incompletions was a potential interception that was dropped, but he did this on the very next snap: Yes, I am working on some Josh Allen content. — Mark Schofield (@markschofield.bsky.social) 2026-09-18T13:45:23.491Z Third-and-11, absolute rope between the man coverage cornerback and the single-high safety for a touchdown. You know, normal stuff. It is worth noting that, while this is indeed a new year, the Texans did not allow a 300-yard passer during the entire 2025 campaign. For the year, Allen has completed 66.7% of his passes for five touchdowns, without an interception, while adding another four rushing touchdowns. He’s posted an ASTRONOMICAL 10.4 Adjusted Net Yards per Attempt, well ahead of the 8.0 ANY/A he posted in his previous MVP season of 2024, which to date is a career high. Yes, all of these numbers may come crashing back to Earth, but when you dive into just how well he looks on the field, you can see why he is off to the hot start, and it makes that “early season MVP” case a little easier. There are moments like the above throw to Joshua Palmer, and there are other moments like this throw, under pressure and in his own end zone, to Dalton Kincaid: "This freakin' guy" meter is pinned — Mark Schofield (@markschofield.bsky.social) 2026-09-18T13:50:56.650Z Or this absolute laser to D.J. Moore that, if it is an inch in any other direction, is an incompletion. Or worse: Absolute laser — Mark Schofield (@markschofield.bsky.social) 2026-09-18T13:53:20.425Z Then there is this moment from Thursday night against the Lions, as he moves the chains on a throw while rolling to his left, with defenders in his face, while throwing off his back foot through multiple defenders: Ok, yeah, sure, whatever, fine. — Mark Schofield (@markschofield.bsky.social) 2026-09-18T11:34:53.821Z You know, normal things for a quarterback to do. Of course, the huge caveat to all of this is that Allen is one of just two quarterbacks to have a pair of games under his belt this season. Some other MVP-caliber players will get a right of response this weekend, perhaps starting with Lamar Jackson, who made his own early case for another MVP award in last Sunday’s win over the Indianapolis Colts. In that victory Jackson completed 17-of-25 passes for 324 yards and a touchdown, while adding another on the ground, and if you still insist that Jackson cannot make plays from the pocket, watch plays like his 2nd-and-16 conversion to Mark Andrews from early in the second quarter, as he delivers a strike over the middle and between a pair of defenders with a free runner in his face. But the quarterback who “broke math” as a prospect might have some more numbers on his side already this season: Josh Allen is the third player all-time with 9+ Pass/Rush TD and no turnovers over his team's first two games of a season. The previous two both went on to win MVP 👀 pic.twitter.com/QNhX4uvaFK — ESPN Insights (@ESPNInsights) September 18, 2026 Again, another small list with Allen on it. Along with some history on his side.

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