Josh Allen Equals Drew Brees Record in Bills' Rare Monday Night Football Win

Josh Allen produced one of the best games of his career as the Buffalo Bills defeated the San Francisco 49ers 34-24 on Monday Night Football to strengthen their grip on the AFC East.

Allen completed 32 of his 40 passes for 375 passing yards, four touchdowns and a 139.1 passer rating as the Bills improved to 9-3 and moved a step closer to a first divisional title since 1995.

It marked the third time this season that Allen finished with at least 375 passing yards, three touchdown passes and a passer rating of 130 or above. According to NFL Research, Allen is only the second quarterback in NFL history since 1950 to pull off the feat in at least three games, equalling a record set by New Orleans Saints quarterback Drew Brees in 2013.

The seventh overall pick of the 2018 NFL Draft now has four games this season with at least 300 passing yards and three touchdowns, the most of any Bills quarterback in a single season in franchise history. Jim Kelly and Drew Bledsoe did it in three games in 1991 and 2002 respectively.

Trailing 7-0 after the first quarter, the Bills offense erupted in the second quarter as Allen threw a pair of touchdown passes and Buffalo took a 17-7 lead at halftime.

The Bills quarterback hit Cole Beasley for a five-yard pass to cap a drive that saw Buffalo cover 77 yards in just five plays, before marching the Bills upfield over a 14-play, 69-yard drive which ended with him connecting with tight end Dawson Knox for a four-yard touchdown with 2:41 left in the first half.

After the two teams traded field goals each side of halftime, the Bills extended their lead to 24-10 as Allen threw a 23-yard pass to Isaiah McKenzie, capping an 11-play, 75-yard drive with 5:26 left in the third quarter. Allen's final touchdown of the night came in the final period, as he connected with Gabriel Davis for a 28-yard touchdown and the Bills stretched their lead to 34-17 before allowing a late touchdown.

"We were clicking," Allen told ESPN after the game.

"It just seemed like our guys were getting open and the ball was coming out of my hand really well.

"As long as it [his performance] correlates to team success, it means we're doing the right thing, making the right decisions and we're winning football games. That's all that matters to me."

The win had historic connotations for the Bills as a franchise too, as Buffalo won its first Monday Night Football game since Week 4 of the 1999 season. Up until Monday, the Bills were the only NFL team yet to win on Monday Night Football since the turn of the century and 7-22 in primetime games since 2000.

That run included a dismal 1-8 record on Monday, with the solitary win coming against the New York Jets in November 2014. The matchup, however, was not listed as Monday Night Football as the NFL was forced to postpone the game by a day and move it to Detroit when a major snowstorm hit Buffalo.

More importantly, the win consolidated the Bills' stranglehold on the AFC East, which they lead with a 9-3 record ahead of the 8-4 Miami Dolphins and 6-6 New England Patriots.

Buffalo currently holds the third seed in the AFC and hosts the Pittsburgh Steelers in a potentially season-defining matchup on Sunday Night Football in Week 14. The Steelers lead the AFC with an 11-1 record but suffered their first defeat of the season on Monday, losing 23-17 at home to the Washington Football Team.

The 49ers, meanwhile, slipped to 5-7 after suffering a first defeat in Arizona, where they have been forced to relocate following a ban on contact sports in Santa Clara County, California.