Bills news: Allen makes more NFL history, Cook on cusp of record, McDermott shares Week 18 plan vs. Patriots

Needing a win over the New York Jets this past Sunday to lock up the No. 2 seed in the AFC, the Buffalo Bills went out and put on a fantastic overall performance to take an easy 40-14 victory.

Playing just three quarters, Josh Allen helped his NFL MVP case by accounting for three total touchdowns in the rout, completing 16 of 27 passes for 182 yards with TD passes to Amari Cooper and Keon Coleman and adding 17 yards and a score on the ground.

James Cook chipped in with a touchdown run as well, and to cap things off, even little-known Tyrell Shavers got in on the fun by taking his first career reception to the house for a 69-yard score.

Perhaps the bigger story, however, was the Buffalo defense, which has struggled in recent weeks but sacked Aaron Rodgers four times, one of which resulted in a safety, and intercepted the four-time MVP twice.

With the second seed locked up, the Bills have nothing on the line in their Week 18 matchup with the New England Patriots, which we'll get to in just a moment, and still don't know who their opponent in the Wild Card Round will be.

What they do know is that it can only be one of three teams, those being the Denver Broncos, who currently hold the No. 7 slot, the Miami Dolphins, or the Cincinnati Bengals.

Here's a look at some news and notes surrounding the Bills heading into the final week of the regular season.

Josh Allen made yet more NFL history in the Bills' win over the Jets

Over the last several weeks, Josh Allen has made all sorts of history, whether it be for the Buffalo franchise or the NFL as a whole. We won't go into the entire list here, as it's honestly just getting to be too many things to list, but if you've been following along, you know it's been a lot.

And to the surprise of absolutely nobody, he made a little more this past Sunday.

For starters, in picking up the 76th victory of his career, Allen now has more wins in his first seven seasons than any other quarterback in league history, breaking out of a tie with Russell Wilson, who notched 75 in his first seven years with the Seattle Seahawks.

In addition, with his 1-yard rushing score in the first quarter, Allen now has 65 such scores for his career, tying him with legendary Buffalo running back and 1991 NFL MVP Thurman Thomas for the all-time franchise lead.

Furthermore, with three total touchdowns against the Jets, Allen is now the only player in NFL history to account for at least 40 TDs in five straight seasons. Remarkable.

James Cook needs one rushing TD against the Pats to tie O.J. Simpson's single-season franchise record

As mentioned, James Cook contributed a touchdown run in Buffalo's Week 17 win over New York, scampering for a 1-yard score with just over a minute remaining in the third quarter to give the Bills a 26-0 lead.

With the score, the third-year back now has a career-high 15 rushing touchdowns on the season, tying him with Allen for the second-most in a single season in Bills history.

If Cook can tack on one more in Week 18 against New England, he'll tie the franchise record of 16, which was set by O.J. Simpson in 1975.

Cook also has a shot to end the season with the most touchdowns scored among all NFL players this year. In addition to his 15 rushing scores, he also has two as a receiver and enters Week 18 with a league-leading 17, one more than Derrick Henry, Jahmyr Gibbs, Kyren Williams, and Ja'Marr Chase.

One has to wonder if Sean McDermott will take that into account on Sunday against the Patriots, which leads us right into our final entry.

Sean McDermott says Bills will use a mix of starters and backups against New England in Week 18

With nothing to play for in Week 18 against New England, McDermott has the option to rest Allen, Cook, and anyone else he'd like ahead of the Wild Card Round. But it doesn't seem he's going to take that route, at least not completely.

Speaking to the media on Monday, McDermott stated that he does plan to rest some players but also said that some starters will be on the field.

"What we're going to do is you'll see some starters out there playing, and you'll see some other players who we want to take a good look at. So it'll be a blend of both," McDermott said.

As it pertains to Allen specifically, McDermott confirmed that he will start, partly to keep his streak of active starts alive, one that currently stands at 114, the most of any active quarterback. But he also said that Allen's time on the field will be very brief.