4 winners and 4 losers from Buffalo Bills’ miraculous victory over the Rams: Josh Allen steals one on the road in overtime
The Buffalo Bills bounced back from last week’s loss to the New England Patriots on Monday night, though a handful of players and coaches made the trip to Los Angeles much harder than it needed to be.
The Buffalo Bills tried to give one away multiple times on Monday Night Football, but they still came out on top against the Los Angeles Rams in overtime. After a rough outing against the New England Patriots last week, Buffalo is back in the win column.
It wasn’t pretty, and the Bills have plenty to clean up. So let’s get into this week’s winners and losers, starting with the winners.
Bills winners from Monday Night Football against the Rams
QB Josh Allen
Quarterback Josh Allen started slow. Going into the fourth quarter, he had fewer than 100 passing yards and an interception. He finished with more than 200 passing yards and more than 300 total yards.
It was his legs that propelled Buffalo’s offense, especially down the stretch. Allen ripped off multiple huge gains where he simply took the ball, got vertical, and showed why, when he’s on, he’s arguably the best player in the NFL.
Josh Allen stats vs. Rams
- 210 yards passing
- 1 passing TD
- 121 yards rushing
- 1 rushing TD
HC Joe Brady
I thought Joe Brady called an excellent game. He found ways to get Keon Coleman open inside the red zone, and he kept pushing the run even after James Cook’s fumbles (more on that later).
The menu of plays Brady called kept the Rams guessing, and he did it without DJ Moore on the field. That isn’t easy.
EDGE Greg Rousseau
Let’s be honest: Greg Rousseau is the reason the Bills won this game. We can talk about Los Angeles’ operation on the kick, but Rousseau blocked the field goal and gave his team the ball back. Buffalo went on to kick the game-winning field goal, which brings us to the final winner.
K Tyler Bass
Kicker Tyler Bass was headed for the losers list. If he doesn’t miss that extra point, do we even get to overtime?
Yet Bass locked in when it mattered most. He drilled one of the biggest field goals of his career in overtime to give the Bills a road win over the Rams.
Bills losers from Monday Night Football against the Rams
S Chauncey Gardner-Johnson
Chauncey Gardner-Johnson did not have a good night by any means. He struggled in man coverage and, frankly, in every coverage. He drew a personal foul on what you could argue was a bang-bang play, and Davante Adams cooked him at the goal line.
Gardner-Johnson does his best work coming downhill or playing in the top of the post. I don’t know what the coaching staff was thinking with some of these coverage concepts, because that is not CJGJ’s game.
The secondary
Any time you let a receiver go for nearly 20 catches and nearly 200 receiving yards, you have a major problem. I understand guys like Igbinosun were out there trying to guard Adams, but it was pitch and catch for Matthew Stafford all night.
Stafford completed 40 passes at a strong clip, throwing for nearly 400 yards and three touchdown passes. The Bills’ secondary was Swiss cheese. Buffalo cannot live and die by trying to score 40 points and hoping Allen doesn’t make a critical mistake, because as we saw in this game, he’s going to make one.
Jim Leonhard
Jim Leonhard had no answers. It didn’t matter whether it was the run game, the pass game, or a plan to create a pass rush.
To be fair to Leonhard, the Rams have one of the better offenses in the league, orchestrated by arguably the best head coach in the league in Sean McVay. But this wasn’t a one-off. Buffalo’s defense has struggled throughout the season, and it nearly cost the Bills a second straight game after last week’s loss to New England.
RB James Cook
This won’t get talked about nearly as much because Buffalo won, but running back James Cook fumbled twice. The Bills recovered the first one, but the second should have cost them the game.
Nate Landman punched the ball out, and the Rams drove into scoring position. Somehow, someway, the field goal got blocked, Buffalo got new life, and Bass split the uprights.
Cook had a great game on the ground for the most part, but those two fumbles nearly sank the Bills. Luckily for him, it didn’t matter, because Buffalo came out on top.

