Bills beat Rams 37-34 in overtime on Tyler Bass field goal
Buffalo won an 890-yard game at SoFi Stadium after Los Angeles tied it with five seconds left and Harrison Mevis had a field goal blocked in overtime.
A blocked field goal and a fumble decided Monday Night Football. At SoFi Stadium in Inglewood, California, Buffalo beat Los Angeles 37-34 in overtime and improved to 4-1 in Week 5 of the NFL season. The Rams fell to 2-3, according to the team's official recap.
Buffalo opened with a 70-yard kickoff return by Ray Davis and two Tyler Bass field goals, from 40 and 23 yards, to lead 6-0 in the first quarter. In the second, Matthew Stafford threw a 4-yard pass to Davante Adams and James Cook gave the Bills the lead back with a 17-yard run (13-7).
Blake Corum scored from a yard out with 10:11 left in the third quarter and Los Angeles led 14-13. Josh Allen answered with a 7-yard pass to Keon Coleman with 2:45 left in the period, although Bass missed the extra point (19-14). Stafford closed the quarter with a 2-yard pass to Puka Nacua, and the Rams missed the two-point try (20-19).
Thirty-five points in the fourth quarter
Allen scored on the ground with 11:28 to play. Buffalo then went for two with a pass to Dalton Kincaid and got it (27-20). Adams tied it with another 5-yard pass, with 7:14 to play according to ESPN. With 1:39 left, Cook ran 5 yards for a touchdown and made it 34-27.
The Rams answered with an eight-play, 63-yard drive. Kyren Williams finished it with a 1-yard run, five seconds from the end, and the score was 34-34.
| Team | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | OT | Final |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Bills | 6 | 7 | 6 | 15 | 3 | 37 |
| Rams | 0 | 7 | 7 | 20 | 0 | 34 |
In overtime, the Rams won the coin toss and chose to kick. Khalil Shakir caught a 57-yard pass that put Buffalo at the Rams' 22-yard line. On the next play Cook lost the ball on a hit by Nate Landman, and Aaron Donald recovered it at the 20.
With the ball back, Los Angeles reached the Bills' 30. Harrison Mevis tried a 48-yard field goal and Greg Rousseau blocked it. Allen then led a five-play, 35-yard drive, with runs of 19 and 13 yards of his own, and Bass made the 45-yard field goal that ended the game, with 1:55 left in the extra period.
That's the beautiful thing about football: you get another drive.
Allen said so, according to ESPN. The quarterback finished 12 of 19 for 210 yards, one touchdown and one interception, and ran 10 times for 121 yards and a score, according to NBC Sports. It was his first overtime win after losing the previous seven, playoffs included, according to NFL.com.
Cook gained 111 yards and scored twice on 25 carries, and Buffalo ran for 234 yards as a team. Stafford completed 40 of 54 passes for 383 yards and three touchdowns. Nacua caught 17 passes for 138 yards and a score, and NBC Sports lists it as a career high and a Monday Night Football record for receptions. Adams finished with two receiving touchdowns; the second tied him with Larry Fitzgerald for sixth all time, with 121.
The Rams out-gained the Bills 454 to 436, and the two teams combined for 890 yards. Mevis missed two field goals, the blocked 48-yarder and a 50-yarder that went wide left in the first quarter, and 24 penalties were called.
On Cook's fumble, Bills coach Joe Brady said: "You don't want to fumble. That can't happen." According to ESPN, Rams coach Sean McVay said the team will evaluate "everything" about its kicking unit.
ESPN reported that receiver DJ Moore did not play because of a shoulder injury and that right tackle Spencer Brown left in the second half with a back injury. The sources consulted do not give a diagnosis from the team.
The Bills visit Las Vegas on Sunday and the Rams host Arizona.
