Eye-Opening: Winners and Losers from the Bills 44-42 loss to the LA Rams

Sunday afternoon certainly provided fireworks for the entire nation as well as heartburn for Bills fans, as the valiant comeback fell short on the road in a 44-42 loss to the LA Rams.

While there is definitely some room for concern among Bills fans, there were still some bright spots. Let’s take a look at the winners and losers coming out of this Week 14 game.

Winners:

Josh Allen

In a losing effort, #17 was just about the only player on the field trying to will this Buffalo team to victory. In a historic effort, Allen completed 60% of his passes for 342 yards and added 82 yards on the ground. Not to mention, he became the first player in NFL history to pass for three touchdowns and rush for three touchdowns in a single game. While this game certainly affects their chase for the number one seed in the AFC, this performance likely keeps Allen as the NFL MVP favorite.

Amari Cooper

Although he didn't lead the Bills in yards on the game (Khalil Shakir), this was hands down Cooper’s best performance since the trade. Outside of a couple miscommunicated routes, Allen and Cooper seemed to really find their rhythm. Cooper was able to stretch the field and made a couple of tightly contested catches in some key moments. He finished with 95 yards on 6 grabs (which was a team high), and the Bills will hope to build on this momentum in Detroit next week.

Losers:

Defense and Special Teams

No other place to look first than the defense. In my pregame article this week, I warned that if the Bills were unable to get pressure on Matthew Stafford, that he would pick them apart. Zero sacks, just three hits on the quarterback, and zero turnovers. That was a true recipe for disaster. The defensive line was invisible and even when defensive coordinator Bobby Babich dialed up a blitz, that was unable to get home too. Stafford played from a clean pocket the entire night and ended with 320 yards passing and two touchdowns. Majority of those yards went to Cooper Kupp and Puka Nacua. The two alone accounted for 17 catches and 254 yards (Nacua also added a rushing touchdown). The lights seemed too bright, and the Bills defense had no answer for the stars of LA. 

While the defense was the reason for the majority of the damage, the special teams unit didn’t bring their best either. The blocked punt returned for a touchdown early in the second quarter extended the Rams lead to ten, truly flipping the game on its head and gave them an extra spark that they truly didn’t even need. The kickoff coverage unit allowed 82 total return yards on just three returns which also provided the Rams with some shorter field situations. Lastly, on the final play of the game, the Bills only had nine players on the field, which McDermott cited as the reason for not blocking or returning the punt. All in all, a poor performance from these two phases.

Sean McDermott

Towards the end of this game, we saw some glimpses of the old Sean McDermott. When things got down into crunch time, McDermott seemed to fold up in the big moment and he made some questionable decisions.

The first was the accepted holding penalty in the fourth quarter. The Bills were down 38-35, there was 4:47 on the clock, and the Rams had the ball 3rd and 7 from the Bills 37 yard line. Stafford was pushed out of bounds around the 36 and a flag flew in. Instead of forcing Joshua Karty to attempt a 55 yard field goal (which is his career long) and keep it a one score game, McDermott accepted the penalty to make it 3rd and 17. The Rams got back 11 yards on third down and picked up the first down on a 4th and 5 conversion with an 11 yard pass to Tutu Atwell. They capped off the drive with a touchdown three plays later, essentially ending the game.

However, despite being down nine points with less than two minutes to go, the Bills still found themselves with a not so impossible chance to win the game. On the ensuing drive, the Bills marched it down to the Rams' one yard line in just 48 seconds. They were still left with all three timeouts and having them all after a score would allow them to kick the ball away and try to force a three and out. Instead of throwing the ball to the endzone to conserve the timeouts, the Bills attempted a Josh Allen sneak that got stuffed at the goal line, forcing them to use a timeout. They got the touchdown on the second sneak attempt, but were forced to try an onside kick that was unsuccessful, sealing the win for the Rams.

Ultimately, the defense needs to take some serious time in the film room this week as they prepare for another explosive offense when they head to Detroit to take on the 12-1 Lions. In the meantime, McDermott needs to take a long hard look in the mirror and put these mistakes behind him, because these are the types of mistakes that can cost your team the season come playoff time. As for the offense, they just need to keep being dynamic and keep opposing defenses on their heels with their balanced attack and MVP caliber quarterback.

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