Josh Allen credits his fiancée Hailee Steinfeld for his MVP season

Orchard Park, NY – The reason Josh Allen is staking his NFL MVP claim this season while playing with such joyful abandon is obvious to Buffalo Bills left tackle Dion Dawkins.

It has to be love.

“There’s something to that,” Dawkins said Wednesday, referencing the quarterback’s recent engagement to actress/singer Hailee Steinfeld.

“When you’re in this world that we live in, and there’s a lot of people pulling at you and there’s a lot of ups and downs of a roller coaster ride, and you have that one stable person that you can rely on and go “Home.” “To go and hug and laugh no matter what happens, I think that’s great,” Dawkins said. “And that’s what I think is happening.”

Allen didn’t deny it.

“She played a big role. The morale, the support. When I come home, she is my biggest fan, my biggest supporter. She’s just the best,” Allen told The Associated Press.

Allen and the Bills (11-3) have been going well for most of this season and host the New England Patriots (3-11) on Sunday. With five games left, Buffalo secured its fifth straight AFC East title, defeating AFC leader Kansas City (13-1) and earning a 48-42 win over Detroit (12-2).

What’s strange is how the quarterback has taken his game to an even higher level since he proposed to Steinfeld on Nov. 22 during the Bills’ bye week.

In the three games since, Allen has scored a total of 14 touchdowns – seven passing, six rushing and one receiving pass to Amari Cooper, who passed him back to quarterback. And it would have been 15 touchdowns if his basketball-like chest pass over a flat-footed Detroit defender to a wide-open tight end Dalton Kincaid in the end zone hadn’t been negated by an offensive holding penalty.

Overall, Allen’s 37 total touchdowns are tied for the NFL lead with Lamar Jackson and Joe Burrow. On Sunday, he became the first NFL player to throw at least three touchdown passes and rush for at least two more in consecutive games.

The Bills have scored a total of 90 points in the last two games, including a 44-42 loss to the Los Angeles Rams, and have scored 30 or more in eight straight games, tying the NFL single-season record set last Set up by Denver in 2013.

Offensive coordinator Joe Brady joked that he wants to put some of Allen’s tricks into practice to show that they are actually part of the game plan.

“It would make us look like better coaches,” Brady said.

“But I mean, he is, right? He throws passes in front of him. And then he can do a chest pass and we’ll see what’s next,” he added. “He really enjoys playing out there. He has great control, great command, all the trust in the world rests in him, and why not?”

Allen’s relationship with Steinfeld began in the spring of 2023 when pictures surfaced of the two having dinner in New York City.

Steinfeld, who was nominated for an Oscar for her role in the 2010 remake of “True Grit,” has been a regular at Bills Games ever since. The couple posted pictures of themselves in Paris hosting a Halloween party.

Without mentioning Steinfeld, the 28-year-old Allen admitted he’s playing the best football of his seven-year NFL career while having fun.

“I’m just playing this game, the same game I’ve been playing since I was a kid. And that’s what matters,” Allen said. “What I get to do is really fun and I want to have as much fun as possible.”

Dawkins sees the positive energy impacting the team.

“Everyone is smiling. We don’t just smile because it’s Christmas. “We’re smiling not just because we’re winning, but because the energy is right,” he said. “Josh is the leader of our football team. If that’s true, everything is right.”

NOTES: LB Matt Milano was expected to participate in limited passing practice after suffering a groin injury last weekend. … CB Rasul Douglas (knee), S Damar Hamlin (rib) and S Taylor Rapp (neck) were listed as limited after not playing against Detroit. … Also listed as limited were WR Curtis Samuel (shoulder) and LB Dorian Williams (elbow).