Bills news: Buffalo missed NFL history, Allen MVP odds, QB can set record vs. Jets

The Buffalo Bills certainly didn't look their best this past Sunday against the New England Patriots, falling down 14-0 before rallying to take a 24-21 victory.

The same can be said about Josh Allen, who's been nothing short of spectacular over the last few weeks, setting multiple NFL records in the process. But even No. 17 can have an average day at times, and he certainly did just that against New England, completing just 55.2% of his passes for 154 yards with a touchdown and an interception.

With the win on Sunday, Buffalo improved to 12-3 on the season, but failed to gain any ground on the Kansas City Chiefs, who improved to an NFL-best 14-1 on Saturday with a 27-19 victory over the Houston Texans.

With just two weeks remaining in the regular season, the Bills must win their upcoming Week 17 matchup with the New York Jets and their rematch with the Pats in Week 18 and have the Chiefs lose their final two games against the Pittsburgh Steelers and Denver Broncos to earn the No. 1 seed in the AFC, which doesn't seem overly likely.

Nevertheless, with a two-game lead on the Steelers, the Bills can lock up the No. 2 seed with one more win or one more Pittsburgh loss. So, while home-field advantage throughout the AFC portion of the playoffs seems improbable, they're still in relatively good shape, as they could still host a pair of games in Orchard Park if they advance to the Divisional Round.

Here are a few news and notes surrounding the AFC East champs heading into Week 17.

The Bills narrowly missed out on making NFL history against the Patriots

Despite Allen and the Buffalo offense putting up their lowest yardage total since their Week 5 loss to the Texans, the Bills were still able to score 24 points in the win over New England, thanks in part to the defensive touchdown scored by cornerback Taron Johnson on an unsuccessful backward pass from Drake Maye to Rhamondre Stevenson.

Coming into Sunday, the Bills had scored 30 or more points in eight straight games, which tied an NFL record that's also shared by the 2007 and 2010 Patriots, the 2000 "Greatest Show on Turf" St. Louis Rams, and the 2013 Peyton Manning-led Denver Broncos.

As such, Buffalo obviously could've taken sole possession of the record on Sunday but fell just a touchdown shy.

Josh Allen remains the betting favorite to win NFL MVP

While some think Allen may not be deserving of his first NFL MVP due to the incredible campaigns being strung together by Lamar Jackson and Saquon Barkley.

And there are certainly arguments to be made for both.

While Allen enters Week 17 having completed 63.8% of his passes for 3,549 yards with 26 touchdowns against six interceptions, adding 514 yards and 11 scores on the ground, Jackson has completed 67.9% of his throws for 3,787 yards with 37 touchdowns against just four picks, adding 765 yards and three scores on the ground.

Barkley, meanwhile, still has a great shot at the NFL's all-time single-season rushing record. With a league-leading 1,838 yards on the year, he needs just 267 yards over the final two weeks to break Eric Dickerson's all-time mark of 2,105, set in 1984 with the Rams.

All that said, however, per the fine folks at DraftKings, Allen remains the overwhelming betting favorite in the MVP race, as he enters Week 17 at -550. Jackson sits in second at +400, while Barkley is now a distant third at +1200.

Allen tied an NFL record against the Pats and can take it over with a win against the Jets

As referenced in the intro, Allen has been setting all sorts of NFL records as of late.

In Buffalo's Week 13 win over San Francisco, he became the first player ever to record a passing touchdown, a rushing touchdown, and a receiving touchdown in a single game.

In a loss to the Rams the following week, Allen became the first with three passing scores and three rushing scores in a single game.

And in the Bills' big win over the Lions in Week 15, he became the first ever with at least two passing touchdowns and two rushing touchdowns in back-to-back games, as he had a pair of each against Detroit. He also became the first to record three such games in a single season and the first with 25 passing touchdowns and 10 rushing touchdowns in multiple seasons.

Now, with the Bills' win over the Patriots, Allen has tied Russell Wilson for the most regular-season wins by a quarterback in his first seven seasons with 75, breaking out of a second-place tie with Patrick Mahomes, who had 74. It's important to remember, though, that Mahomes only started one game in his first season.

Nevertheless, it's quite the impressive feat for Allen and with a win over the Jets this Sunday, he'll take sole ownership of the record with win No. 76.