The Buffalo Bills number one running back achieved something against the Cleveland Browns that the team hasn't seen since the 1970s.
Josh Allen might be the face of the Buffalo Bills, but James Cook is the engine that has made the team go in 2025.
The fourth year running back out of Georgia received a four-year, $48 million-dollar extension last Summer after a productive first three seasons. Since getting that new contract that will keep him with the Bills through 2029, he's had a season that's put him near the top of the Bills record books.
During the team's 23-20 win over the Cleveland Browns on Sunday, Cook ran for 117 yards on 16 carries. His performance actually put him in the lead as the NFL's top rusher at the end of Sunday's games. But that wasn't all it did.
Cook now has 1,532 rushing yards on the season. It's the first time since 1976, when Hall of Famer O.J. Simpson ran for 1,503 yards, that a Bills running back has rushed for 1,500 yards. The 1,532 yards also puts him in third place on the Bills all-time single season rushing list.
In addition to passing Simpson's 1976 season, Cook jumped over former Bills back Travis Henry's 1,438 yards from 2002 and Hall of Famer Thurman Thomas' single-season career high of 1487 from 1992.
The top two spots on the list are also both held by Simpson. In 1975, Simpson ran for 1,817 yards while in 1973 he rushed for 2,003 yards in just 14 games. That number is still the most yards ever by a running back through 14 games.
With two games left to play, Cook sits 285 yards behind second on the list. To pass Simpson for that spot, he'd need to average 142.5 yards per game. Currently, Cook is averaging 102.1 yards per game, meaning he'd have to have back-to-back well-above average games to hit the mark.
Buffalo's final two opponents on the season are the Philadelphia Eagles and New York Jets. The Eagles are the 12th-worst defense against the run, giving up 123.5 yards per game on the ground. The Jets are even worse, giving up 133.7 yards per game, which is the fifth worst in the NFL.
Should Cook hit those averages, that still would put him just short of Simpson's 1975 season.
Whether he passes another Simpson season or not, it really doesn't matter at this point. What does matter is the fact that as Cook goes, so do the Bills. He's now rushed for 100-plus yards in nine games this season, tied for the second most in a single season with Thomas. The Bills are 8-1 in those games while being 3-3 when he fails to hit 100.