Josh Allen accounted for 331 total yards and two touchdowns, Greg Rousseau blocked a 48-yard field-goal try in overtime, and Tyler Bass made a 45-yard kick with 1:55 left in the extra period as the Buffalo Bills outlasted the Los Angeles Rams 37-34 on Monday night at SoFi Stadium.
The win lifts Buffalo to 4-1 in Joe Brady’s first season as head coach and gives Allen his first career overtime victory. Los Angeles falls to 2-3 after Matthew Stafford threw for 383 yards and three touchdowns and Puka Nacua caught a career-high 17 passes for 138 yards and a score.
Overtime turns on a block
Buffalo opened overtime by driving deep into Rams territory when Khalil Shakir took a short throw 57 yards to the Los Angeles 22. On the next snap Nate Landman punched the ball out of James Cook’s hands, and Aaron Donald recovered.
Stafford moved the Rams to the Buffalo 30, but Sean McVay settled for a field goal on third down. Harrison Mevis’s 48-yard attempt never had a chance: Rousseau burst through and got a hand on it.
Allen then scrambled for 19 and 13 yards to put Bass in range. Brady sent the kicking unit out on second down with nearly two minutes still on the clock, and Bass drilled it down the middle.
Six lead changes and a regulation thriller
The fourth quarter alone featured six consecutive lead changes. Davante Adams’s second touchdown catch with 7:14 left put the Rams ahead, and Allen answered with a 71-yard drive built on two scrambles before Cook’s go-ahead score with 1:39 remaining.
Stafford completed six of his next seven throws to set up Kyren Williams’s 1-yard plunge with four seconds left, forcing overtime. Adams’s two touchdown catches tied him with Larry Fitzgerald for the sixth-most scoring receptions in NFL history.
The numbers
Allen completed 12 of 19 passes for 210 yards with a touchdown and an interception and added 121 rushing yards and a score on 10 carries. Cook ran 25 times for 111 yards and two touchdowns before the overtime fumble. Buffalo finished with 234 yards on the ground.
Stafford went 40 of 54 for 383 yards and three touchdowns. Blake Corum also rushed for a score, and Tyler Higbee had five catches for 83 yards. The Rams’ special teams, including Mevis’s second miss of the night, decided the game after the offense had done enough to win.
What comes next
The Bills visit the Las Vegas Raiders on Sunday, October 18. The Rams host the Arizona Cardinals the same afternoon. Full box score and scoring are in the Game Center.
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