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INGLEWOOD, Calif. -- The Buffalo Bills escaped with a 37-34 overtime victory over the Los Angeles Rams on Monday Night Football, thanks in large part to edge defender Greg Rousseau's special teams play and quarterback Josh Allen's running ability. The win came on a night when the Bills' defense struggled to make stops.
Buffalo relied on a throwback offensive approach, featuring downhill runs, screen passes, scrambles, and deep throws to tight ends, as wide receivers DJ Moore and Joshua Palmer were unavailable. Allen completed just four passes to wide receivers, but the Bills emerged victorious in a game that saw six lead changes, propelled by James Cook's 111 rushing yards and Allen's 121 rushing yards.
To illustrate Buffalo's game plan, the Rams targeted star receiver Puka Nacua more times than Allen attempted total passes. Meanwhile, Los Angeles's methodical offense proved efficient, with quarterback Matthew Stafford picking apart a depleted and maligned Bills secondary using a barrage of underneath passes. Injuries to cornerback Christian Benford and safety C.J. Gardner-Johnson made it even harder to slow the Rams' passing attack late.
However, Allen and the Bills had possession with seven minutes left in a tie game, and the small-ball offense that benefited coach Joe Brady's group all evening paid off. Buffalo drained 5:35 off the clock and methodically moved into the red zone for a go-ahead score with 1:39 remaining. Allen's legs were most valuable on that final regulation possession, with scrambles of 15 and 21 yards.
That soon became moot as the Rams marched down the field in about 90 seconds, thanks to more Stafford mastery, forcing overtime. Both teams made critical mistakes in the extra period: Cook fumbled away a would-be scoring drive for the Bills, and then Rams kicker Harrison Mevis had a potential game-winning kick blocked by Rousseau, giving Buffalo another chance. Thirty-two more yards of Allen runs helped set up Tyler Bass for the winning kick.
Key Analysis
For the Buffalo Bills (4-1), a troubling trend continued: James Cook III fumbled twice more, including the decisive overtime fumble that ended a scoring threat. Those were his third and fourth fumbles of the young season, following a 2025 campaign in which he fumbled six times in the regular season and once more in the playoffs.
Without Moore or Palmer, the Bills' passing attack was largely muted. This wasn't surprising, as similar struggles occurred in the second halves against Detroit and New England without Moore. Still, with Allen's receivers consistently unable to get open downfield, the quarterback incorporated more scrambles than he had since Week 2. All this made Allen seem more human. The fact that Buffalo played close with this Rams team without a superhuman Allen performance is encouraging in a sideways type of way.
Stat to know: The Bills converted only two of seven third-down attempts. That was a significant departure from the past three weeks, when they converted over 58% of their third downs and at least half in every game. Next game: at Las Vegas Raiders (Sunday, 4:25 p.m. ET).
For the Los Angeles Rams (2-3), the Rams entered the game with the NFL's second-worst special teams, according to ESPN Analytics. The unit continued to struggle in Monday's loss, allowing a 70-yard kick return to start the game (the fourth longest in the NFL this season), missing a 50-yard field goal in the first quarter, and having a potential 48-yard game-winning field goal attempt blocked in overtime. These special teams woes are nothing new for a Rams team that moved on from its kicker and long-snapper midseason and later fired its special teams coordinator after a Week 16 loss.
Along with the special teams miscues, the Rams could not get out of their own way. In the week leading up to the loss, coach Sean McVay emphasized that while Los Angeles got out of Philadelphia with a victory in Week 4, the Rams needed to "clean up" the penalties that could have cost them the game. "The things that really chapped me that I think are a reflection of an undisciplined team are the pre-snap, the procedural things," McVay said last Monday. "Those are the things that we can control with focus and concentration." But against the Bills, the penalties continued to be an issue. The Rams were called for 11 penalties for 84 yards, bringing their season total to 42, tied for the sixth most in the NFL. Los Angeles had four false starts on Monday, tied for its most in a game under McVay.
The Rams entered this season as Super Bowl favorites, and while they've played a tough schedule through five weeks, if they cannot fix these "undisciplined" mistakes, it will be an uphill climb to get out of the NFC West. Los Angeles is now 2-3 in a division that features the 5-0 San Francisco 49ers (Los Angeles' Week 1 opponent) and the 3-2 Seattle Seahawks.
Stat to know: Davante Adams had two red zone touchdowns, with catches of four and five yards. His fourth-quarter touchdown was his 62nd receiving touchdown inside the 10-yard line. He has the most in NFL history in both categories, according to ESPN Research, and his 87 receiving touchdowns in the red zone rank as the third most in league history.
Most surprising performance: Despite the success that Rams running back Kyren Williams has had the past two weeks, Los Angeles has insisted it believes it has two RB1s on the roster between him and Blake Corum. The 2024 third-round running back out of Michigan showed why on Monday night with 19 rushing yards and a touchdown on five carries and three catches for 53 yards. Next game: vs. Arizona Cardinals (Sunday, 4:05 p.m. ET).
Originally reported by espn.