Bills QB Josh Allen credits fiancee Hailee Steinfeld with influencing his MVP-caliber season

ORCHARD PARK, N.Y. (AP) — The reason Josh Allen is making his NFL MVP case this season while playing with such joyful abandon is obvious to Buffalo Bills left tackle Dion Dawkins.

It must be love.

“There’s something about it,” Dawkins said Wednesday, referring to the quarterback’s recent engagement to actor/singer Hailee Steinfeld.

“When you’re in this world that we’re in, and a lot of people pulling at you and a lot of sources of ups and downs of a roller coaster, and you have that one stable person that you can rely on and go home and hug and get a laugh no matter what, I think that’s dope,” Dawkins said. “And that’s what I think is going on.”

Allen didn’t deny it.

“She’s been a huge part. The morale, the support. When I get home, she’s my biggest fan, my biggest supporter. She’s just the best,” Allen told The Associated Press.

Allen and the Bills (11-3) have been on a roll for much of this season and host the New England Patriots (3-11) on Sunday. With five games remaining, Buffalo clinched its fifth straight AFC East title, defeated AFC-leading Kansas City (13-1) and is coming off a 48-42 win over Detroit (12-2).

What’s curious is how the quarterback has stepped up his game to an even higher level since proposing to Steinfeld on Nov. 22 during the Bills' bye week.

In the three games since, Allen has combined for 14 touchdowns — seven passing, six rushing and one receiving on a pass he completed to Amari Cooper, who lateraled it back to the quarterback. And it would've been 15 TDs if his basketball-like chest pass over a flat-footed Detroit defender to a wide-open tight end Dalton Kincaid in the end zone had not been negated by an offensive holding penalty.

Overall, Allen’s 37 total TDs 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, meanwhile, have combined for 90 points in their past two, including a 44-42 loss to the Los Angeles Rams, and scored 30 or more in eight straight to match a single-season NFL record last set by Denver in 2013.

Offensive coordinator Joe Brady joked that he wants to incorporate some of Allen’s trick plays into practice to show they’re actually part of the game plan.

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

“But I mean, that’s him, right? He throws passes to himself. And then he can chest pass, and we’ll see what’s next,” he added. “He’s having a lot of fun playing out there. He’s in great control, great command, all the confidence in the world in him, and why not?”

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

Steinfeld, who was nominated for an Academy Award for her role in the 2010 remake of “True Grit,” has since become a regular at Bills games. The couple have posted pictures of themselves in Paris and hosting a Halloween party.

Without mentioning Steinfeld, the 28-year-old Allen acknowledged he’s playing the best football of his seven-year NFL career while enjoying himself at the same time.

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

Dawkins sees that positive energy rubbing off on the team.

“Everybody’s smiling. We're not just smiling because it’s Christmas. We’re not just smiling because we’re winning, but because the energy is right,” he said. “Josh is the head of our football team. When that is right, everything is right.”

NOTES: LB Matt Milano was projected as being a limited participant in a walkthrough practice after hurting his groin 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).

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FILE -Hailee Steinfeld arrives at the world premiere of "Spider-Man: Across The Spider-verse" on Tuesday, May 30, 2023, at the Regency Village Theatre in Los Angeles. (Photo by Richard Shotwell/Invision/AP, File)

Buffalo Bills quarterback Josh Allen (17) runs against the Detroit Lions during the second half of an NFL football game, Sunday, Dec. 15, 2024, in Detroit. (AP Photo/Rey Del Rio)

UNITED NATIONS (AP) — North Korea demonstrated this year that it could produce ballistic missiles and supply them to Russia for use against Ukraine in a matter of months, the head of a research organization that traces weapons used in the war said Wednesday.

Jonah Leff told the U.N. Security Council that researchers on the ground examined remnants of four missiles from North Korea recovered in Ukraine in July and August, including one that had marks indicating it was produced in 2024.

“This is the first public evidence of missiles having been produced in North Korea and then used in Ukraine within a matter of months, not years,” he said.

Leff also had briefed the Security Council in late June, telling members that the organization he heads, Conflict Armament Research, had “irrefutably” established that ballistic missile remnants found in Ukraine early this year were from a missile manufactured in North Korea.

The U.K.-based organization, which was established in 2011 to document and trace weapons used in conflicts to assist governments in countering diversion and proliferation, has worked in Ukraine since 2018.

North Korean leader Kim Jong Un vowed his country would “invariably support” Russia’s war in Ukraine when he met Russia’s defense chief in late November, the North’s state media reported.

Russia’s U.N. Ambassador Vassily Nebenzia objected to the second appearance of Leff at the council meeting, chaired by Ambassador Linda Thomas-Greenfield of the United States, which holds the council’s rotating presidency this month.

He claimed Leff represents NATO and the European Union, and questioned whether his organization could provide impartial assessments. And he accused Thomas-Greenfield of violating Security Council practices and transforming its meetings “into a politicized act of buffoonery.”

The U.S. ambassador retorted that Russia had vetoed a resolution that ended the monitoring of sanctions against North Korea by U.N. experts, which she said makes organizations like Conflict Armament Research and its independent, well-regarded experts all the more critical.

She said its reports show why Russia was determined to block the renewal of the mandate for the U.N. experts. Russia and North Korea “are engaging in unlawful arms transfers and training, in brazen violation of numerous council resolutions," Thomas-Greenfield said.

Leff stood by the organization's research and said its analysis highlights three observations about North Korea’s missile activities.

It confirms the continued use of freshly manufactured North Korean ballistic missiles in Ukraine, he said, and the discovery of the 2024 manufacturing mark on one missile reveals the very short period between the production of these ballistic missiles, their transfer and eventual use in Ukraine.

Leff also said the presence of recently produced missile components not from North Korea, some bearing 2023 production marks, “illustrates North Korea’s robust acquisition network for its ballistic missile program, despite U.N. sanctions prohibiting the transfer of this material for military purpose.”

North Korea’s U.N. Ambassador Kim Song insisted that its relationship with Russia is “a positive contribution to international peace and security and can by no means be subject of the criticism.”

He accused the United States and its allies of inciting “confrontation and discord among nations,” by intervening militarily across the planet and providing Ukraine with billions of dollars in military aid, including long-range weapons.

Linda Thomas-Greenfield, United States Ambassador to the United Nations, speaks during a Security Council meeting at United Nations headquarters, Wednesday, Dec. 18, 2024. (AP Photo/Seth Wenig)