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.
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.
“I thought offensively and defensively we battled,” head coach Sean McVay said. “And then with our PAT, field goal, not even close to good enough. It cost us the game tonight.”
McVay said he couldn’t remember the last time he was this angry after a game. He paced the locker room, shaking hands with all the starters and telling him that he appreciated them and that he was “sick” about the result.
Part of it was his own decision-making, opting for a conservative running play on a third-and-5 and settling for Mevis’ ill-fated overtime attempt.
“I wish I would have had a better play call and gone for it, gotten it a lot tighter. I’m sick right now with myself,” McVay said. “That’s on me.”
Then there was just the sting of jubilation, such as Landman throwing his helmet to the sidelines after his forced fumble, turned into heartbreak.
“You feel the momentum switch,” Landman said when asked if he thought the game was over. “They’re a good football team, they made one more play than us. It wasn’t enough. Obviously it doesn’t come down to that play. There’s a lot of plays that happen throughout the course of the game that we gotta be better on as a team.”
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 goal attempts this season.
“I felt like I hit it good,” Mevis said of the overtime attempt. “That’s all I can tell you. I hit it good, gave it a chance. I’ll have to look at it.”
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 but finished the night 40 for 54 for 383 yards and three TDs.
All told, the Rams committed 11 penalties leading to 84 yards of field position for the Bills.
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.
“It really just comes down to stop shooting ourselves in the foot,” guard Steve Avila said. “We gotta stop putting ourselves behind the chains. We saw what happened when we didn’t do that. I like to think that things would have gone the other way if that didn’t happen.”
After a sloppy, plodding start, the game turned into the slugfest everyone expected coming into the night with six straight touchdown drives to end regulation.
Kyren Williams and Puka Nacua powered the Rams for much of the night, with Nacua finishing with a career-high 17 receptions. Davante Adams’ second touchdown of the day to tie the score at 27 with 7:14 to play.
Allen (210 yards passing with one TD, 121 yards rushing with one TD) worked the clock down to 1:37. 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.
And then with the defense’s second turnover, it appeared the Rams had their chance to make a statement. Until the old shortcomings reared their head again.
“This stings and it’s going to hurt but we can’t let this team beat us twice,” McVay said. “It’s been a while since I been this pissed after a game, too.”