ORCHARD PARK, N.Y. -- Buffalo Bills outside linebacker Greg Rousseau has quite literally run out of room in his trophy case.
Coach Joe Brady keeps giving Rousseau game balls for his performances that earned him AFC Defensive Player of the Month, and, given the limited space in Rousseau's modest game room display case, the sixth-year sack artist admits he might need to invest in a bigger one.
Rousseau is on a torrid pace, logging two sacks in each of the Bills' first three games and his total of six leads the NFL. If Rousseau's having those problems, just imagine the boondoggle quarterback Josh Allen is in.
Like Rousseau, Allen's out to a blazing start, leading MVP discussions with not only five passing touchdowns but six rushing touchdowns too, two in each game.
With two rushing touchdowns in Week 4 against the New England Patriots on Sunday (1 p.m. ET, CBS), Allen would be the first player in NFL history -- regardless of position -- to punch in multiple touchdowns in four straight games to start a season. He's already in rarified company by even doing so in his first three games; only Priest Holmes (2003), Stephen Davis (1999) and Hall of Famer Jim Brown (1958) had done so previously.
The last time a player had any streak of four or more games with multiple rushing TDs no matter what point in the season was Hall of Famer LaDainian Tomlinson in his record-setting 2006 MVP season.
As for Rousseau, two sacks this week would make him the second player ever to log multiple QB takedowns in each of his team's first four games -- Hall of Famer Kevin Greene did it in 1998 with the Carolina Panthers. The only other player to do it in three straight games is Mark Gastineau, who had a then-record 22 sacks in 1984 with the New York Jets.
The only player this century with a streak of four or more games with multiple sacks at any point in a season was Simeon Rice on the Super Bowl champion 2002 Tampa Bay Buccaneers.
Rousseau's coaches and teammates attribute his early success to a variety of factors. New defensive coordinator Jim Leonhard transitioned the Bills from the 4-3 philosophy they ran under former coach Sean McDermott to a 3-4 base, allowing Rousseau to play from an upright position and create better angles to take advantage of his length and power.
Adding veteran Bradley Chubb in the offseason gives him a natural foil to draw attention away, and the emergence of second-year defensive tackle Deone Walker has a similar effect.
Mainly, though, Leonhard concedes Rousseau's just "on a heater." Dudes on hot streaks make plays. Rousseau's making plays. Chubb, for one, hopes the heater never fades. Leonhard admits offenses are going to try to scheme Rousseau out of his heater, but Rousseau's not particularly concerned about opponents paying him too much attention.
"You feel real good about yourself and then you get out there Sunday and that first play you see how fast the offense is moving and it's like 'Bruh, they're trying to win this game,'" Rousseau told ESPN. "They don't care if you had 20 sacks the week before. It doesn't matter. They're out here trying to win the game."
Allen, meanwhile, is of the mind that his rushing success is coincidental. Five of his six rushing touchdowns have come from inside the opponents' 2-yard line. It's not as if the Bills are trying to get down to the 2-yard line just so Allen can sneak his way to statistical glory.
"Those sneaks aren't as glamorous as everyone thinks they are," Allen said. "You're putting yourself up to getting some nice little hits on you there, and I know that to do this as well as I want to play, and to play as long as I want to play, I know I have to limit those hits. And I haven't been doing a great job of that early on this season."
Allen's carried 28 times in three games, seven on scrambles. Throw in the nine times he's been sacked or hit as he was throwing and the math works out to roughly a dozen plays per game where Allen's absorbing contact.
It's not ideal, but it's helping cement Allen's name in the Bills' record books. With his next rushing (or receiving) touchdown, Allen will break a three-way tie with Hall of Famers Thurman Thomas and Andre Reed to set the Bills career record with 88 touchdowns.
"Yeah, I mean, it's cool," Allen says. "The job of a quarterback and job of an offense is to score the football, score touchdowns, and it means I'm doing my job."
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