By admin 
INGLEWOOD – It was all set up for the Rams. Nate Landman had punched the ball out of James Cook’s hands to give Matthew Stafford the ball in overtime. Stafford moved quickly against an exhausted Buffalo Bills defense. Before you knew it, the Rams were in field-goal range with a chance to win.
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But Harrison Mevis’ 48-yard attempt was blocked by Bills linebacker Greg Rousseau, his second miss of the game. And Bills quarterback Josh Allen wasn’t going to allow another opportunity at a win to slip through his fingers, rushing for 19 and then 13 yards to get within Tyler Bass’ range. And Bass did not let his 45-yard opportunity pass him by, giving the Bills a 37-34 win.
After a week spent talking about the team’s two prevailing issues – special teams and pre-snap penalties – the Rams (2-3) immediately put both on display.
The Bills’ Ray Davis had a huge hole to run through on the opening kickoff. Ethan Evans chased him out of bounds to save a touchdown, but only after a 70-yard return. A Josaiah Stewart looping stunt sack on third down limited the damage to a field goal.
Then four plays into the Rams’ first possession, right guard Kevin Dotson was flagged for a false start. It was one of four pre-snap penalties for the Rams in the game. The second, by Alaric Jackson, turned a third-and-10 into a third-and-15 and the Rams surrendered the possession with a screen pass.
Then Mevis missed a 50-yard attempt wobbling wide left. After his second miss, Mevis is 5 for 9 on field goals this year.
These recurring mistakes, especially after a week of reflection privately and publicly by coaches and players, made it hard to focus on what the Rams were doing well.
The defense made stops to negate the mistakes by the other two units. Aaron Donald looked more and more like his old self. The offense dissected the Bills (4-1) with short passes, with Stafford only completing one pass for more than 10 yards in the first half.
All told, the Rams committed 11 penalties leading to 84 yards of field position for the Bills.
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Two infractions on Buffalo’s first drive of the second half led directly to a Bills touchdown. An offensive pass interference had the Bills backed up to first-and-20 from the Rams’ 29-yard line, but safety Quentin Lake ran through Keon Coleman for a pass interference penalty that gave the Bills a first-and-goal.
The Rams appeared to have survived that when an Allen pass fell incomplete on third down. But Josh Wallace had dragged Bills tight end Dalton Kincaid to the turf on the opposite side of the field, and the holding call gave the Bills a new first down. Two plays later, Allen found Coleman for a touchdown.
After a sloppy, plodding start, the game turned into the slugfest everyone expected coming into the night with six straight touchdown drives.
Kyren Williams and Puka Nacua powered the Rams down the field on a six-play, 83-yard drive that ended in a lobbed fade ball to Nacua for a touchdown. The Bills responded with a five-play, 80-yard drive. Allen scrambled for a 22-yard gain before hitting Davis for 31 yards on a screen pass and muscling his way into the end zone for a QB sneak touchdown.
A two-point conversion gave the Bills a seven-point edge, but the Rams answered again. This time it took eight plays to go 71 yards. Williams and Nacua continued to power the machine; Nacua’s 17 receptions were a career-high. The Rams finished the drive with Davante Adams’ second touchdown of the day to tie the score at 27-all with 7:14 to play.
Allen (210 yards passing, 121 yards rushing) worked the clock down to 1:37, continuing to churn down the field to the tune of 89 rushing yards. James Cook broke a tackle into the end zone for his second touchdown of the night and a seven-point lead.
But the Rams returned serve, tying the score with five seconds left and a timeout in their pocket. Williams capped the tying drive with three tough plays, forcing his way out of bounds to stop the clock on a reception then bullying his way the final 10 yards on two carries for a touchdown to extend the game.
Allen won an overtime game for the first time in his career by besting Stafford, who finished 40 of 54 for 383 yards and three touchdowns.
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More to come on this story.
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This story was originally published October 12, 2026 at 9:21 PM.