Bills grind past Vikings 23 to 6 to reach 7 and 1 as Josh Allen ties Peyton Manning mark ahead of NFL trade deadline

Josh Allen threw a crucial touchdown pass in the closing minute of the first half to tie Peyton Manning’s historic NFL scoring benchmark and James Cook carried 31 times for 107 yards and a fourth quarter score as the Buffalo Bills suffocated the Minnesota Vikings 23 to 6 in Minneapolis, wrapping up early Tuesday Eastern time to lift Buffalo to 7 and 1 entering Tuesday afternoon’s 4 p.m. Eastern NFL trade deadline. According to the official CBS Sports and Associated Press recap, head coach Joe Brady’s Bills held the football for an astonishing 42 minutes and 32 seconds to match the franchise’s best eight game start since 1993.

Winning ugly on the road without injured starting left tackle Dion Dawkins and left guard Alec Anderson confirmed Buffalo’s status atop the AFC playoff race alongside an aggressive pack of two loss contenders led by the 6 and 2 Jacksonville Jaguars. While American sports fans watched historic career scoring milestones fall on the NBA hardwood overnight, Allen authored a landmark of his own inside U.S. Bank Stadium: his second quarter strike gave him 322 career regular season touchdowns across passing, rushing, and receiving, tying Manning for the most in NFL history across a player’s first 10 seasons despite Allen being only halfway through his ninth year.

For 6 and 2 Minnesota, playing without hamstring injured starter Kyler Murray turned into an offensive nightmare that ended with veteran backup Carson Wentz benched in the fourth quarter after committing three turnovers and leading the Vikings to just 178 total yards.

How Buffalo survived Minnesota’s blitzes and monopolized the clock

Billed beforehand as a collision between the NFL’s highest scoring offense and its most relentless blitzing defense, the contest initially tilted toward Brian Flores’s pressure packages. Minnesota sacked Allen four times and baited a third and 23 heave into the end zone during the opening quarter that cornerback Byron Murphy tracked down and returned 55 yards the other way.

Yet Buffalo refused to abandon its ground commitment or force reckless middle field throws against disguised coverages. Cook battered Minnesota’s front seven repeatedly between the tackles, calling it a bloody game afterward that demanded patience until the dam finally broke. Just 44 seconds before halftime, Allen rolled right against heavy pressure, absorbed a punishing hit from edge rusher Andrew Van Ginkel, and lofted a 25 yard touchdown pass to tight end Keleki Latu in the back of the end zone to seize a 10 to 6 halftime lead.

Kicker Tyler Bass drilled three field goals to extend his franchise record streak to 24 consecutive makes, while linebackers Terrel Bernard and Dorian Williams intercepted Wentz to slam the door in the second half. Allen finished a composed 21 of 31 for 234 yards according to the official game box score, content to bleed play clocks dry as Joe Brady marveled at how Buffalo dragged Minnesota into an attrition contest the hosts had zero appetite to play.

Carson Wentz benched for Max Brosmer as Kevin O’Connell takes blame

Minnesota’s defense handed its offense golden field position throughout the first half, including four straight possessions starting past the Vikings 40 yard line, yet none of those drives crossed Buffalo’s 48. Wentz endured one of the bleakest nights of his eleven year career, completing just 8 of 25 passes for 81 yards while coughing up two interceptions and a disastrous first quarter backward pass sailed over Justin Jefferson’s outstretched hands for a lost fumble near midfield.

After completing 1 of 8 throws after halftime and visiting the sideline medical tent for a lower leg check, Wentz was pulled midway through the fourth quarter in favor of reserve quarterback Max Brosmer. Star wideout Jefferson finished with three receptions for 58 yards on 11 targets, while head coach Kevin O’Connell shouldered 100 percent of the blame afterward for calling just 11 combined rushes by Jordan Mason and Aaron Jones despite Wentz’s obvious struggles ahead of Sunday’s NFC North trip to Green Bay.

Jaguars’ triple defensive trade blitz sets stage for Tuesday’s 4 p.m. cutoff

Buffalo’s statement victory sends front offices across the league into the final hours before Tuesday’s 4 p.m. Eastern trade deadline following an unprecedented run of draft pick movement across the 2026 regular season. Leading the charge in the AFC South, Jacksonville general manager James Gladstone stunned rival executives ahead of the cutoff by swinging three separate defensive trades in a single day, headlined by sending a 2027 first round pick and a 2029 second round selection to the struggling Philadelphia Eagles for star defensive tackle Jordan Davis as confirmed by NFL.com.

Gladstone paired the 26 year old Davis, whose 23 run stops rank second among NFL interior linemen this season, with separate acquisitions of Atlanta Falcons All Pro safety Jessie Bates for a second round pick and New Orleans Saints nose tackle Davon Godchaux. Surrendering five total draft selections including a first and two seconds allowed 6 and 2 Jacksonville to replace injured starters DaVon Hamilton and Eric Murray overnight for defensive coordinator Anthony Campanile.

Those blockbusters cap a historic 2026 trading cycle that has already seen Marvin Harrison Jr. dealt to Houston, Cam Jurgens and Jacoby Brissett moved to Baltimore, Joey Porter Jr. shipped to Dallas, and J.J. McCarthy traded to the New York Giants. With Buffalo sitting 7 and 1 ahead of Sunday’s AFC East trip to face the New York Jets and contenders scrambling to match Jacksonville’s defensive arms race before 4 p.m. Eastern on Tuesday, the battle for January seeding has reached full throttle.

Injury pressures driving contenders before the Tuesday afternoon bell

Across both conferences, front office urgency ahead of Tuesday’s 4 p.m. Eastern bell has been sharpened by a wave of midseason injuries to focal stars. In the NFC West, the Los Angeles Rams are weighing emergency roster depth options as star wide receiver Puka Nacua prepares for a likely injured reserve stint with knee and toe ailments, while Green Bay and other playoff hopefuls monitor ball security and trench depth ahead of cold weather divisional play.

Contrast that scramble with teams choosing discipline over panic. Sitting at 4 and 5 after a five turnover second half collapse against the 6 and 1 San Francisco 49ers, Las Vegas Raiders head coach Klint Kubiak signaled ahead of Tuesday’s deadline that Las Vegas is better served preserving future draft picks than overpaying for short term wide receiver or defensive line rentals before its Week 13 bye.

Buffalo’s gritty triumph in Minneapolis demonstrates why established AFC heavyweights value roster resilience so highly in November. Winning by seventeen points on the road while resting two injured starting offensive linemen, holding possession for more than forty two minutes, and watching Allen match Peyton Manning’s ten year touchdown standard leaves the 7 and 1 Bills firmly in command of their own January path regardless of which last minute deals cross the league wire before 4 p.m.