The Buffalo Bills beat the San Francisco 49ers 34-24 on Monday night… in Arizona instead of San Francisco, due to COVID-19. This appeared to be a pretty even game on paper, with the 49ers even entering as 1.5-point favorites after an impressive win over the Los Angeles Rams in Week 12.
But Bills quarterback Josh Allen had his way with the San Francisco defense, completing 32-of-40 passes for 375 yards (9.4 AVG), four touchdowns, no interceptions, and a 139.1 passer rating. He’s the first quarterback in Bills history to have both a completion percentage of 80 and four touchdowns in a game, and the first in team history to have four games with at least 300 passing yards and three touchdowns.
Allen did pretty much whatever he wanted in the passing game all night. Stefon Diggs and Cole Beasley combined for 19 receptions and 222 yards. Four different players had touchdown receptions, and Diggs wasn’t even one of them.
Here are Allen’s four passing touchdowns:
Killer Bease. 😈
📺 #BUFvsSF: https://t.co/yhpv11tWIF pic.twitter.com/2nyveDjYTg
— Buffalo Bills (@BuffaloBills) December 8, 2020
The Bills take a 14-7 lead after a Josh Allen pass to Dawson Knox.
Allen is 15-of-18 for 173 yards (9.6 AVG), two touchdowns, and a 143.7 passer rating. pic.twitter.com/Mrk4w7Fuuo
— The Comeback (@thecomeback) December 8, 2020
The 49ers have no answer for the Bills' passing game so far on MNF.
Josh Allen is 25-of-30 for 301 yards, 3 touchdowns, 0 interceptions, and a 141.8 passer rating. 🏈🔥 pic.twitter.com/i3ffSV66Wg
— The Comeback (@thecomeback) December 8, 2020
Josh Allen: 31-of-38, 364 yards, 4 touchdowns, 0 interceptions, 141.7 passer rating. 🔥🔥🔥🔥 pic.twitter.com/P5qa6lbD9z
— The Comeback (@thecomeback) December 8, 2020
And here’s the most incredible factoid to come out of the game: it’s the Bills’ first win on Monday Night Football since 1999. Yes, the Bills hadn’t won a MNF game this century!
The @BuffaloBills have won their first Monday Night Football game since Week 4 of the 1999 season.
Buffalo was the only franchise since the start of 2000 that had not won on Monday Night Football. pic.twitter.com/rZxGOMucH6
— ESPN Stats & Info (@ESPNStatsInfo) December 8, 2020
The Bills definitely won’t have to wait that long for their next MNF win. This is a title-contending team that should be competitive for a long time with the 24-year-old Allen at quarterback and plenty of talent on both sides of the ball.
Buffalo is 9-3, with wins over the Rams, Seattle Seahawks, Las Vegas Raiders, Miami Dolphins, New England Patriots, and now the 49ers. The Bills’ only losses came against the Kansas City Chiefs, Tennessee Titans, and Arizona Cardinals (in Hail Mary fashion).
And the Bills get the chance to make another statement in Week 14, when they host the (now 11-1) Pittsburgh Steelers on Sunday Night Football.
