Bills news: Josh Allen, James Cook made history vs. Broncos, Allen career record vs. Lamar Jackson

For the fifth consecutive season, the Buffalo Bills earned a victory in the Wild Card Round, this time taking an easy 31-7 win over the Denver Broncos.

From a defensive perspective, the seven points allowed by the Buffalo defense were the fewest this team has allowed since holding the Baltimore Ravens to just a field goal in a 17-3 victory in the Divisional Round four years ago. That's obviously a good omen, as the Bills are set to square off with those same Ravens in the Divisional Round this Sunday night.

On the offensive side of things, the Bills played one of their most balanced games of the season, gaining 261 yards through the air and another 210 on the ground, marking just the second time in Buffalo playoff history that this team has hit the 200-yard mark on both fronts.

The first was in the AFC title game following the 1990 campaign in which the Bills threw for 300 yards and rushed for 202 in a dominant 51-3 victory over the then-Los Angeles Raiders.

And speaking of making history, does it really surprise anyone that Josh Allen made more of it during the Bills' win over the Broncos?

Josh Allen made both NFL and Bills history in Buffalo's win over Denver

Allen has made a habit of making history over these past few months and did so yet again on Sunday.

In gaining 46 of Buffalo's 210 yards on the ground, the sixth-year veteran now has 609 rushing yards in his 11 postseason appearances, which are now the most of any quarterback in NFL playoff history.

Oddly enough, Allen broke the record set just one day earlier by Lamar Jackson, who upped his postseason total to 602 with an 81-yard effort in the Ravens' 28-14 win over the Pittsburgh Steelers. So, it stands to reason that the two NFL MVP candidates will pass the mark back and forth on Sunday.

The previous record belonged to Hall of Famer Steve Young, who racked up 594 rushing yards in 22 playoff games with the San Francisco 49ers.

In addition to his rushing totals, Allen also threw for 272 yards and a pair of touchdowns. And with those two TD passes, the three-time Pro Bowler upped his career playoff total to 23, thus becoming the Bills' all-time postseason leader in that category.

Hall of Famer Jim Kelly, who famously led Buffalo to four straight Super Bowl appearances in the 1990s, threw 21 TD passes in 17 playoff games with the Bills.

James Cook made a little Bills history as well

With 16 rushing touchdowns during the regular season, James Cook tied O.J. Simpson for the most such scores in a single season in Bills history.

And with a strong outing against the Broncos on Sunday, the third-year back put himself alongside yet another Buffalo legend.

With a season-high 120 yards, Cook became the first Bills running back to reach the century mark in a postseason game since Thurman Thomas ran for 158 yards in a wild-card win over the Miami Dolphins following the 1995 campaign.

In adding a touchdown, Cook also became only the second running back in Buffalo playoff history to record at least 120 yards and a score, a feat Thomas accomplished on four occasions.

Josh Allen vs. Lamar Jackson: By the numbers

While there are several storylines surrounding Sunday's Divisional Round matchup between the Bills and Ravens, it's no secret that most of the attention will be on Josh Allen and Lamar Jackson.

Since coming into the league together in 2018, the two have squared off four times in the regular season, with Jackson holding a 3-1 advantage, including a 35-10 victory back in Week 4.

The two have also met once in the postseason, with Allen and the Bills earning the aforementioned 17-3 win over Baltimore in the playoffs following the 2020 season.

Not only does Jackson hold the overall 3-2 lead, but his stats in these head-to-head battles are better from an overall standpoint.

Can Allen even the score with Jackson this Sunday? We'll find out soon enough.