Josh Allen almost flawless as Bills beat Jaguars

ORCHARD PARK, N.Y. — The Buffalo Bills' offense couldn't be stopped Monday night against the Jacksonville Jaguars in a 47-10 victory that kept the Bills perfect on the season and handed the Jaguars their third loss.

Quarterback Josh Allen led the Bills on touchdown drives on all five of their first-half possessions to take a commanding lead at home. The win ended a two-game losing streak to the Jaguars. This is the fifth time the Bills have scored 30 points in each of their first three games of a season.

Here are the most important things for both teams to know from Monday night:

Buffalo Bills (3-0)

“Perfect” is a difficult word to use and is rarely achieved.

There is, however, an argument to be made that the Bills' offense and Josh Allen (247 first-half passing yards and four touchdowns) came pretty close to doing so in the first half against the Jaguars.

Allen completed 23 of 30 passes for 263 yards and four touchdowns in the game. He also rushed for 44 yards on six carries. He edged out Kansas City Chiefs quarterback Patrick Mahomes for the best MVP odds, according to ESPN BET, and matched his own record for touchdown passes in a game — all in the first 30 minutes. Through the first drive of the third quarter, he was 6 of 6 for 77 yards with two passing touchdowns on third down.

The stats are impressive, including his performance under pressure: his four touchdown passes under pressure this season lead the NFL.

The Bills have scored 30-plus points in each of their first three games of a season for the first time since 2011. This offense has made it clear to the entire league that stopping it will be no easy task.

Fundamental play: Damar Hamlin interception. The Bills offense is going to get a lot of love for this performance, and rightfully so, but the defense did its job. On a difficult pass from Jaguars quarterback Trevor Lawrence on first-and-10 deep in the second quarter (with no one near the throw area), Hamlin intercepted Lawrence and returned the ball 19 yards. Hamlin's first career interception set up the team's fourth touchdown of the day, with Allen passing to wide receiver Khalil Shakir for a score five plays later.

Promising trend: The offense is involving a variety of players. Four different Bills players caught touchdowns against the Jaguars, and running back James Cook had a rushing score. Six Bills have caught touchdowns this season, the most in the NFL. Getting the ball to a variety of players has been an early trend for the Bills, and one that offensive coordinator Joe Brady should continue. This only increases how dangerous this unit can be.

Amazing statistics: Allen is the first player with four touchdown passes in the first half of a “Monday Night Football” game since the Steelers' Ben Roethlisberger did it on Nov. 5, 2007, against the Ravens. The last time he did it was Brett Favre (2003, Packers vs. Raiders).

Next game: At Baltimore Ravens (8:20 p.m. ET, Sunday)

Jacksonville Jaguars (0-3)

It may not be time to panic just yet, but the Jaguars are inching closer to victory after the drubbing they suffered Monday night. They're now 0-3, and that makes the playoffs (which owner Shad Khan said before the season were his expectations) even more of an uphill battle.

Only six teams since 1979 have made the playoffs after starting a season 0-3. Only one has done it this century: the 2018 Houston Texans. That list includes the 1992 San Diego Chargers, the only team to make the playoffs after starting a season 0-4.

There is still plenty of football to be played and the schedule looks set to get easier after next week's game in Houston with matches against Indianapolis, Chicago and New England. But the poor start after the collapse at the end of the 2023 season (1-5 finish) will undoubtedly increase the pressure on head coach Doug Pederson.

Describe the game in two words: Defensive meltdown. The Jaguars allowed 34 points in the first half, which is the most points they’ve allowed in a first half in franchise history, according to ESPN Research, and just four shy of the most they’ve allowed in any half. The Jaguars were without two starters in the secondary and lost another, linebacker Foyesade Oluokun, too, but that’s no excuse for allowing Allen to throw for 247 yards and four touchdowns in the first half.

Worrying trend:The Jaguars were already dealing with injuries to cornerback Tyson Campbell (on IR with a hamstring injury) and nickel cornerback Darnell Savage (quad), but now cornerback Jarrian Jones (shoulder) — who replaced Savage in the lineup — and Oluokun (foot) are also out. Defensive coordinator Ryan Nielsen likes to play a lot of man coverage, but those injuries will severely impact the Jaguars' ability to do that, especially heading into a short week and having to go to Houston to deal with CJ Stroud, Tank Dell, Nico Collins and Stefon Diggs.

Amazing statistics: The Jaguars finally got receiver Christian Kirk to play more of an offense. After being targeted seven times and catching just two passes for 29 yards in the first two games, Kirk was targeted seven times and caught six passes for 73 yards through the first two minutes of the fourth quarter. That was dictated in part by the score and the fact that the Jaguars had to pass more to try to stay in the game, but Kirk needed to be a bigger part of the offense.

Next game: At Houston Texans (1 p.m. ET, Sunday)