Remember in Week 9, when the Bills looked again like the best team in the AFC after beating the red-hot Chiefs, 28-21 at home?
Everyone might be forgetting that in Week 10 after Buffalo suffered a bad 30-13 upset loss at Miami in Week 10.
The Bills looked like they were rolling toward finally hitting their conference championship ceiling with Josh Allen and the rest of the offense when hosting Kansas City. But they lost all of that mojo — and go-to tight end Dalton Kincaid to a hamstring injury — with an awful all-around performance against the previously 2-7 Dolphins.
Here's why Buffalo's disastrous showing against the Dolphins proved Allen is not the team's MVP in 2025.
MORE: Updated NFL playoff picture through Week 10 games
Why James Cook, Josh Allen, is Bills' 2025 MVP
Don't just chalk Sunday's loss up to an unpredictable AFC East rivalry game — the Dolphins should in no way have dominated the matchup. Allen, by his 2024 NFL MVP standards, did have a shaky performance (28-of-40 passing, 306 yards, 7.1 yards per attempt, 3 sacks, 2 TDs, INT, 31 rushing yards, fumble lost) with two key turnovers that contributed to the loss.
The Bills, however, also came into Week 10 with the league-best rushing offense, averaging 161.5 yards per game. They also had the No. 28 rushing defense, allowing on average 141.4 yards per game. The Dolphins were No. 30, allowing on average 145.6 yards per game.
Go figure, Miami outrushed Buffalo 197-86. Dolphins running back De'Von Achane provided 174 of that rushing total with his two long touchdown bursts (59, 35 yards) in the fourth quarter.
MORE: De'Von Achane runs all over Bills defense en route to upset win
Meanwhile, Bills running back James Cook came in averaging both a league-leading 5.7 rushing yards per carry and 108.4 rushing yards per game. Cook was contained to only 53 yards on 13 carries. He also couldn't compensate as a receiver, with only 24 yards on 5 catches.
Cook's stats were the most important to explain the result, not Allen's. When Cook is held to fewer than 100 scrimmage yards in a game in 2025, the Bills are 0-3, losing to the Patriots, Falcons and Dolphins.
Cook rushed for 108 or more yards in five of the other six games. He also tallied 102 yards from scrimmage in the Week 1 epic comeback the Ravens. The Bills are 6-0 in those games.
New England held Cook to 49 rushing yards and zero receiving yards. Atlanta contained Cook for 87 rushing yards and zero receiving yards. When Cook is a limited factor in the Bills' offense, they lose. When he thrives, they win. It's been that simple.
The Bills know Allen is the reigning MVP, but he's not Superman. Not getting him any kind of receiving help, name veteran or upside youngster, at this week's past trade deadline might come back to haunt them. They need to hope Kincaid won't be out long, because between Khalil Shakir and Keon Coleman being their top wide receivers, there's little reliability for Allen there.
MORE: How Josh Allen's turnovers contributed to upset loss
The Dolphins forced Allen to pass a lot more than expected, with his 43 dropbacks nearly doubling the Bills' 22 rushing attempts. This team can score when Cook gets them rolling. Buffalo averaged 29.4 points per game going into Week 10, No. 3 in the league.
But much like the No. 1 and No. 2 scoring teams, Indianapolis and Detroit, when the running game breaks down and can't get going, the whole attack tends to fall apart. When MVP candidate and Offensive Player of the Year front-runner Jonathan Taylor stars, the 8-2 Colts win.
When Taylor doesn't, the Colts lose — see Week 9 at the Steelers and Week 4 at the Rams. The 5-3 Lions likewise have lost every game when top explosive back Jahmyr Gibbs is rendered a non-factor (at Packers, at Chiefs, vs. Vikings).
So if Taylor is getting more of the Indianapolis MVP buzz over Daniel Jones, shouldn't the same apply to Cook vs. Allen? "Most valuable" is seen in both team success and team failure.
The twist is, overall, Allen is playing better as a passer than he did in his 2024 MVP campaign with much more efficiency. But his numbers are close parallels to Jones, who thrives playing off the run with his downfield passing and mobility. Allen has been built the same way this season, just with more cachet.
What is shocking is the fact that the Dolphins put much of their efforts into stopping Cook early, despite having a bad run defense. The same Falcons team that contained Cook just saw the Colts stick with Taylor while trailing and gave up 244 yards and 3 TDs to him through four quarters in overtime.
MORE: How Patriots win, Bills upset loss impacts AFC East standings
The Chiefs didn't stop Cook much in Week 9 and lost. The AFC East-leading Patriots are No. 1 against the run. The Buccaneers (No. 8 going into Week 10), the Texans (No. 6) and the Steelers (No. 14) are the next three Bills opponents. Should those teams succeed in taking away Cook and making Allen throw to a limited receiving corps, they have a good chance of beating them with some fair offense of their own.
The Bills do put too much on Allen, by not giving him more receiving help in 2024 and then laying everything on him to lead the comeback from 16-0 down at halftime against the Dolphins. But in the end, Buffalo goes more as Cook goes this season, not Allen.