Bills Overtime Win Over Rams Is a Super Bowl Preview

The Bills overtime win over the Rams on Monday night was the kind of game that makes a whole fan base forget to breathe. Buffalo beat Los Angeles thirty-seven to thirty-four at SoFi Stadium, and the finish had everything: a blocked field goal, a fumble, a game-tying drive with five seconds left and a walk-off kick.

According to NBC News, the matchup pitted the last two league MVPs against each other, and it lived up to the hype. Josh Allen, the twenty twenty-four MVP, and Matthew Stafford, the reigning MVP, traded blows all night. The Bills moved to four wins and one loss, while the Rams slipped to two and three.

Allen Does It With His Legs

Allen threw for two hundred ten yards and one touchdown, but the story was what he did on the ground. He ran ten times for one hundred twenty-one yards and a score, per NBC News. ESPN described the Bills offense as a throwback built on downhill runs, screens and scrambles, with receivers DJ Moore and Joshua Palmer missing.

On the final regulation drive, Allen scrambled for fifteen and twenty-one yards to keep Buffalo moving. The Bills then drained more than five minutes off the clock and scored to take the lead with one minute thirty-nine seconds left. It felt like the game was over. It was not.

Stafford Refuses to Go Quietly

Stafford was sensational in defeat. He completed forty of fifty-four passes for three hundred eighty-three yards and three touchdowns, and it was his third straight game with at least fifty attempts. After the Bills went ahead late, he marched the Rams sixty-three yards in eight plays to tie it with only five seconds on the clock.

The teams scored touchdowns on five straight drives in the fourth quarter. After the two sides combined for thirty-three points through three quarters, they piled up thirty-eight more in the fourth and overtime. In the second half, the offenses combined for seven touchdowns and just two punts.

The Overtime Chaos

The Rams won the toss and chose to defend first, a decision that looked smart almost immediately. On the third play, Allen hit Khalil Shakir for a fifty-seven-yard gain that nearly went all the way. Kam Kinchens dove and barely clipped Shakir's feet to stop a touchdown.

Then came the turning point. On the next snap, running back James Cook fumbled, and Los Angeles took over at midfield needing only a field goal. The Rams drove to the Buffalo thirty-yard line, where coach Sean McVay called a run on third-and-five rather than going for a closer kick.

Harrison Mevis then tried a forty-eight-yard field goal, and defensive end Greg Rousseau blocked it. McVay did not hide from it afterward. According to NBC News, he said he wished he had made a better play call and added that he would be regretting kicking it. He also said it was on him.

Why It Matters Now

Sunday's slate had its own storylines, but nothing on the schedule comes close to this one for pure entertainment value. Six lead changes and eight hundred ninety yards of combined offense, according to NFL.com, tell you how wild the night was. A game like this reminds everyone why people stay up past midnight on a school night.

The Bills overtime win also says something about how Buffalo can survive when its defense struggles. The defense gave up big plays all evening, yet special teams and an elite quarterback covered for it. That is a useful identity for a team with championship hopes, and it will be tested again quickly.

After four runs by Allen and company, Tyler Bass drilled a forty-five-yard field goal with one minute fifty-five seconds left in overtime. The Associated Press reported that Allen won an overtime game for the first time in his career, and the Bills' official recap noted it was his hundredth career win.

For Buffalo, it keeps them in first place in the AFC East and gives them a statement win on the road. Next up, the Bills visit the Las Vegas Raiders on Sunday, October eighteenth. For the Rams, the problem is consistency: they have not won two straight games all season, trading a loss and a win every week.

NBC News called it a possible Super Bowl sixty-one preview, and for once the hot take might hold up. If you missed it, find the highlights, because this one will be replayed for years. For more on the league, check out our sports coverage.