ORCHARD PARK — Mitchell Trubisky wanted to know who needed to hit incentives before entering the game.
The Buffalo Bills second-string quarterback knew tight end Dawson Knox needed 7 yards for $100,000 and a touchdown for another $100,000. He got them on the first drive of Buffalo’s 35-8 win over the New York Jets.
Trubisky also knew Ty Johnson needed two touchdowns to hit a $375,000 bonus when he flipped a short pass to the running back for a 6-yard score with 12:05 remaining. But Trubisky also likely made himself some more with his performance, it might just have to wait until free agency hits in March.
In his first extensive regular-season action since Week 18 last year, Trubisky went 22 of 29 for 259 yards and four touchdowns. He joined Drew Bledsoe, Tom Brady and Josh Allen (three times) as the only quarterbacks to throw for 250 yards, four touchdowns, no interceptions and at least 75% completions in Highmark Stadium’s history.
The last time the Bills got a big season-ending performance from a backup quarterback wearing No. 11 at Highmark was when Rob Johnson torched the Indianapolis Colts in 1999. The next week, at the owner’s insistence, Johnson started a wild-card game against the Tennessee Titans that’s just a tad famous.
OK, so the likelihood Allen is benched for performance is (and should be) somewhere around never. And the Jets showed little interest in winning the game. But Trubisky showed he’s still one of the best backups in the NFL.
Trubisky, a former Pro Bowler and No. 2 overall pick of the Chicago Bears, is 31-26 as a starter, but his odds of becoming an NFL starter again are slim. At 31, Trubisky should, however, be coveted as a quality backup and who can win a few games in a pinch.
“I can execute this offense and show my teammates I can come in there and make plays for this offense,” Trubisky said. “I just wanted to lead the guys today and put on a good performance for the fans.”
To get Trubisky to his stellar performance, entering the game after one play so Allen could extend his NFL-best 134th consecutive start (including the playoffs), the Bills leaned heavily into play-action passes. Buffalo ran or threw off play-action on 80.6% of the snaps, the highest under coach Sean McDermott since Week 3 of 2018.
Trubisky went 13 of 15 for 140 yards and four touchdowns off play-action. And he bit off big chunks, with 12 total completions over 10 yards and five over 20. And it happened after Trubisky spent the last two weeks taking scout team reps and first-team reps this week since Shane Buechele was signed off the practice squad by the Kansas City Chiefs.
“He was outstanding,” Bills offensive coordinator Joe Brady said. “… He didn’t take a rep off last week. And I felt like when he got out there, he was in such a comfortable position. … Mitch was able to capitalize on those reps.”
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The Bills entered Sunday’s game knowing how the NFL rushing title race stacked up. James Cook led Indianapolis’ Jonathan Taylor by 21 yards at kickoff.
Rather than making sure Cook got the rushing title despite what Baltimore’s Derrick Henry did in the Sunday Night Football game, the Bills gave him two carries for 15 yards before turning the game over to Johnson and Ray Davis, who finished with a career-high 151 yards on 21 carries.
Right tackle Spencer Brown admitted to being a diehard Pittsburgh Steelers fan, purely so Cook could win the rushing title. But Henry had 112 yards by halftime and only needed 41 yards to catch Cook.
“I knew the number and I stayed up to do everything I could to make sure it was going our way,” Bills coach Sean McDermott joked.
But Henry only had five carries for 15 yards in the second half. Cook’s 1,621 yards made him the first Bills rushing champion since O.J. Simpson in 1976.
“It was important for a lot of reasons to get it,” Brady said. “… I was happier knowing (after) his two carries he was off the field feeling good. He’s a critical element to our success. The (rushing title) was an added bonus, but his health was my priority.”
Cook ended the season with the third-most yards in a season in franchise history, trailing Simpson’s 2,003 in 1973 and 1,817 in 1975. Cook also became just the second player in franchise history to surpass 1,500 yards and was 88 yards short of hitting 2,000 scrimmage yards.
It all comes after Cook signed a four-year, $46 million extension before the season, ending a tumultuous offseason that included missing all voluntary workouts and a hold-in during training camp.
Buffalo’s 2,714 team rushing yards and 30 touchdowns were the most in the league, something it hasn’t achieved since 2016. The Bills also became the first team with 30 rushing touchdowns in consecutive seasons since the Kansas City Chiefs in 2003-2004.
“It means something to me, but it’s also for the rest of the offensive line and Jimmy obviously,” Brown said. “We help him tote the rock and he makes us all look good.”
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Kicker Matt Prater left Sunday’s game early after aggravating the right quad injury that caused him to miss two games. McDermott said Prater is day to day, but the team will still bring kickers in for a tryout Tuesday for an insurance policy.
McDermott also said linebacker Terrel Bernard (calf), defensive tackle DaQuan Jones (calf) and safety Jordan Poyer (hamstring) are all improving after missing Sunday’s game. Cornerback Maxwell Hairston, who injured his ankle and was sporting a walking boot in the locker room, is unlikely to play in the wild-card round against the Jacksonville Jaguars.
Hairston was injured with 9:46 left in the game while attempting to make a tackle. With only three cornerbacks on the active roster and practice-squad cornerback Dane Jackson out of elevations, the Bills rested Christian Benford, forcing Tre’Davious White and Hairston to play the whole game.
McDermott said he considered moving a safety to cornerback late in the game, but nickelback Cam Lewis had left the game with a hamstring injury and they were forced to play with three linebackers the rest of the way.
The Bills have cornerbacks Brandon Codrington, Te’Cory Couch, and M.J. Devonshire on the practice squad. But with Bernard out and Shaq Thompson and Matt Milano resting, the Bills called up linebacker Keonta Jenkins. And they used their other elevation on defensive end Matthew Judon to rest Joey Bosa and Greg Rousseau.
“We were losing players on the defensive side as it was,” McDermott said. “… There was only so many guys we could use at that point. You could go to a wide receiver, put them over there. We’ve done that before. Trying to protect everybody. It’s a tough deal.”