Buffalo’s James Cook should cook in Week 14. The Bills RB’s special season has been overshadowed by Josh Allen’s MVP bid, but Cook is making history in his own right. Cook, who has scored a TD in all but three outings while never surrendering a fumble this season, is just the second player in Bills franchise history to have more than 10 rushing TDs through his first 11 games of a season, per Next Gen Stats.
The Bills’ big men have played a huge role in Cook’s success. Buffalo’s starting offensive line has played a league-leading 82.1% of snaps together this season, used jumbo personnel (6+ OL) on a league-high 15.0% of plays and average 6.83 yards of width this season, which ranks second in the NFL. That has opened holes inside for Cook, who is rushing between the tackles on a career-high 56.3% of his carries this season. It’s been a recipe for success as Bills RBs have been contacted behind the line of scrimmage on just 28.0% of runs between the tackles, the league’s second-lowest mark. Meanwhile, the Rams hold the second-lowest run stuff rate (8.3%) on such carries.
Los Angeles’s 28th-ranked run defense is giving up 144.2 rushing yards per game, on average, but the unit’s problems run deeper. Over the past two weeks, the Rams are giving up the third-most fantasy points to opposing RBs. And offenses are noticing. Running backs have tallied seven red zone touches in that span, which bodes well for Cook’s chances to increase his TD total. (Check out this All-22 playlist of Cook rushing between the tackles.)
Cook has finished outside the top 30 fantasy running backs on the week just once this entire season and has been inside the top 12 a whopping seven times. He’s been a touchdown machine — 12 so far on the year — and is averaging 81.6 scrimmage yards per game. Sunday brings a matchup with the Rams, who have struggled to stop the run all season — the only defenses to see more rush attempts per game are the Panthers and Colts, and this was the team to surrender 302 scrimmage yards and 46.2 fantasy points to Saquon Barkley a couple of weeks ago. Expect another RB1 week from the Bills back.
