Star RB Was Recognized by the NFL for His Dominant Week 8 Performance
Following their dominant 40-9 win over the Carolina Panthers on Sunday, the Buffalo Bills are just one game behind the New England Patriots for the AFC East lead.
That victory was dominant on both sides of the ball, but the story of the game was the performance of star running back James Cook.
The $48 million RB rushed for a career-high 216 yards and two touchdowns, marking his fifth 100-yard game of the season and the fifth game out of seven he recorded at least one rushing touchdown or more.
But Cook’s accomplishments didn’t stop there.
According to the Bills, he also hit a couple of other milestones in the process. Cook logged the most single-game rushing yards by a Bills player since O.J. Simpson rushed for 273 yards in Week 12 of the 1976 season.
He also became just the third player in franchise history to hit 214 or more rushing yards with two or more rushing touchdowns in a single game, joining Simpson and Cookie Gilchrist.
Cook’s 11.4 yards per carry was also the highest by an NFL running back since Derrick Henry averaged 14 yards per carry during his 238-yard, four-touchdown performance with the Tennessee Titans back in Week 14 of the 2018 season.
Cook also had 141 of his 216 yards before contact, marking the most in a game this season and the third-most since 2018, according to NextGen Stats.
If not for the eye-popping season Indianapolis Colts Jonathan Taylor is having—850 yards rushing, 12 touchdowns, 206 yards receiving, two touchdowns—more people would likely be talking about Cook as the NFL’s top RB.
The 26-year-old ranks second to Taylor un rushing yards (753), though he’s played in one fewer game, his seven rushing touchdowns are fourth-most, and he leads the NFL in yards per carry (6.0).