Surpassing Ryan Fitzpatrick during a dominant performance against Detroit, Buffalo’s dual-threat superstar now sets his sights on Steve Young and Jim Kelly’s franchise passing record.
Josh Allen continues to rise up the all-time touchdown rankings in the NFL. Not only does the Buffalo Bills franchise quarterback (QB) have the most rushing touchdowns for a QB in NFL history, but he's quickly moving up the passing touchdown leaderboard as well.
In Thursday's 41-31 win over the Detroit Lions, Allen threw for three more touchdowns while adding two on the ground. While the rushing touchdowns are one thing, it's the passing touchdowns getting the focus right now. Why? Because Allen surpassed a Bills legend on Thursday in career passing touchdowns.
Allen entered Thursday's game with 222 passing touchdowns. That was good for 42nd all time, and one behind Ryan Fitzpatrick.
With his touchdown pass to Joshua Palmer in the first quarter, Allen tied Fitzpatrick for 41st at 223 touchdown passes. Then, early in the second quarter, Allen found Dawson Knox for his second of the game and 224th of his career. The put him past Fitzpatrick and alone in 41st place.
It was something that Allen acknowledged during his postgame interview on Amazon Prime, with Fitzpatrick right next to him.
With Allen smiling at Fitzpatrick, the 17-year-pro turned analyst quipped back.
"Here's what I'm going to tell you, Josh. I have seven children. You only have one right now," he said. "Beat that."
There's also another stat that Fitzpatrick has over Allen.
"I've still thrown more interceptions than you," Fitzpatrick said to a laughing Allen, who said, "We got time".
With Allen at 225 career touchdown passes, he now sits just two behind Jay Cutler for 40th and seven behind Hall of Famer Steve Young.
With five touchdown passes through two games, Allen is on pace for 42 touchdowns in 2026. Should he hit that mark, he'll be up to 263 for his career. That will put him ahead of QBs like Young, Donovan McNabb, Dan Fouts, and Drew Bledsoe.
Will Allen ever surpass Tom Brady's 649 passing touchdowns? Probably not. But it's all but certain he'll pass Jim Kelly (237) this season to become the Bills' all-time passing touchdown leader.
