INGLEWOOD, Calif. (AP) — Josh Allen realized that his extraordinary efforts throughout this frenetic game might all amount to nothing Monday night when the Buffalo Bills fumbled deep in Rams territory early in overtime.
The Bills’ defense — and Greg Rousseau’s outstretched hand — somehow gave him one more chance, and Allen again did everything necessary to get Tyler Bass in position to kick the field goal that ended a memorable evening.
Allen accounted for 331 total yards and two touchdowns, Bass made a 45-yard field goal with 1:55 left in overtime shortly after Rousseau blocked the Rams’ field goal attempt, and the Bills outlasted Los Angeles for a 37-34 victory.
“That’s the beautiful thing about football: You get another drive,” Allen said. “All you can do is keep moving forward. You’re hoping someone on defense or special teams can make a play, and that’s what happened. Greg Rousseau made a play.”
Allen passed for 210 yards and rushed for 121 more for the Bills (4-1), who rallied to win a back-and-forth thriller befitting the teams with the NFL’s last two MVPs at quarterback. Buffalo is off to a 4-1 start for the sixth time in eight seasons, but the first under rookie head coach Joe Brady.
The Bills appeared to be in trouble after James Cook fumbled early in OT, but Rousseau gave Allen another chance — and the star quarterback finally won an overtime game for the first time in his career while besting Matthew Stafford, who passed for 383 yards and three touchdowns.
“That overtime kind of showed the type of character of who our team is,” Brady said. “You don’t want to fumble. That can’t happen. But we just keep playing.”
Cook scored his second touchdown with 1:39 left in regulation for Buffalo, but Kyren Williams scored on a 1-yard surge with 4 seconds left to force overtime. The Bills began OT by driving again, but Aaron Donald recovered Cook’s fumble after Nate Landman punched it out.
Stafford drove the Rams to the Buffalo 30, but Sean McVay made a curiously conservative play-call on third down before Harrison Mevis missed his second field goal attempt of the night when Rousseau got a piece of it.
“The kicking game, with our PAT, field goal (unit) — not even close to good enough,” McVay said. “It cost us the game tonight. … I’m going to evaluate everything.”
Allen then made scrambles of 19 and 13 yards, moving the Bills into range before Brady elected to try the field goal on second down with nearly two minutes still on the clock. Bass blasted his kick and ran away to celebrate before the officials signaled it good.
“The confidence I had in T-Bass was, ‘Hey, 45 yards, he’s going to make this kick,’” Brady said of his decision process.
Puka Nacua had a career-high 17 receptions for 138 yards and a score for the Rams (2-3), who are under .500 after five games for the fourth time in five seasons.
Along with McVay’s fury over the Rams’ latest special teams debacle, the coach rued his decision to get conservative before going to Mevis, whose three missed field goals this season are the most in the league.
“I wish I would have had a better play call and gone for it, got it tighter,” McVay said. “I’m sick right now with myself, and I’m so proud of that group. This is the tough part of sports, but I’m proud of that team. I’m proud of the way we battled, and I’m sick that we came up short.”
With superior special teams play and Allen’s relentless effort, Buffalo held on to win another offensive shootout between these teams. The most recent time they met in December 2024, Los Angeles and Buffalo combined for 902 yards in the Rams’ 44-42 win.
After Davante Adams’ second TD catch with 7:14 left for the Rams in a game featuring six consecutive lead changes, Allen drove the Bills 71 yards with two scrambles through Los Angeles’ defense. After Cook scored the tiebreaking touchdown, Stafford completed six of seven throws down to the Buffalo 1, where the Rams eschewed a timeout so Williams could punch it in.
Adams tied Larry Fitzgerald for the sixth-most scoring receptions in NFL history (121). Blake Corum also rushed for a score, and tight end Tyler Higbee had five catches for 83 yards.
Keon Coleman caught Allen’s only TD pass for Buffalo.
Buffalo’s running game
Cook rushed for 111 yards before his latest fumbling woes for the Bills, while Allen got more than 100 of his yards rushing on scrambles, repeatedly escaping the pocket and rendering useless the Rams’ tenacious secondary coverage. Buffalo finished with 234 yards rushing.
“When it’s there, it’s there,” Allen said. “I don’t want to make a living on that, I understand that, but I do know how much of a backbreaker that can be on a defense when you think you’re in pretty good coverage. I felt like there was some room to maneuver there and keep the chains moving.”
Injuries
Bills: RT Spencer Brown left in the second half with a back injury. … Top WR DJ Moore sat out with a shoulder injury.
Up next
Bills: At Vegas on Sunday.
Rams: Host Arizona on Sunday.
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