The Los Angeles Rams had the Buffalo Bills right where they wanted them. Kicker Harrison Mevis lined up for a potential game-winning field goal in overtime from 48 yards out. Greg Rousseau blocked the kick. Josh Allen did the rest to get the Bills the field goal they needed to seal the win.
Buffalo finishes on top 37-34. The Rams fall to 2-3 on the season. LA is third in the NFC West divisional race behind the Seattle Seahawks and San Francisco 49ers.
It’s too early to pay too close attention to the
standings. Still, the Rams would feel much better if they were instead moving into a favorable stretch of their schedule with a winning record.
How did they get here? Let’s take a look at the individual performances from Monday Night Football.
Winners
Nate Landman, LB
Nate Landman broke out early in his first season in LA. The Rams gave him a contract extension around this time last year. His production fell off a cliff.
Perhaps the most important aspect of his production is his ability to create splash plays. Landman punched out two fumbles from James Cook. The first was initially called as recovered by the Rams before being reversed. The second came in overtime and set up LA for a potential game-winning field goal.
It’s not sustainable to expect punch outs all the time. Landman needs to be a more consistent defender on a down-to-down basis. However, turnovers can swing outcomes as we saw on Monday night. Landman also has a knack for making important plays at the right time.
The veteran linebacker did enough to help the Rams get a win.
Puka Nacua, WR
The offense ran through Puka Nacua against the Bills. Matthew Stafford attempted 54 passes. 24, good for 44% of the total, went in Nacua’s direction. He caught 17 passes for 138 yards and a touchdown. It’s more of a running back statline than you’d normally expect for one of football’s most dangerous receivers.
Davante Adams was productive in the red zone with two touchdowns as an honorable mention. Adams still needs to be more productive between the 20 yard lines and co-exist with Nacua as dual focal points in the offense. We saw Adams perform at a high level with Nacua out due to injury. They both rarely fire on all cylinders at the same time.
Trent McDuffie & Jaylen Watson, CB
If you carve out a 57-yard catch by Khalil Shakir in overtime that can be attributed to Quentin Lake, Buffalo receivers finished with just three receptions for 30 yards.
The corners were stingy in this game. Allen only completed 12 passes and most went to either running backs or tight ends. While the defensive front continues to be a going concern without Myles Garrett, the revamped secondary is doing their part to make life difficult for opposing quarterbacks.
Losers
Harrison Mevis, K
Mevis missed both of his field goal attempts including the aforementioned blocked kick in overtime. While he made all four of his extra points, his shortcomings easily made the difference in the outcome.
The Rams do not have much confidence in Mevis outside of 45 yards. Still, for some reason, they opted to play their final offensive ultraconservative and settle for a 48-yard field goal. That is inexplicable.
But you have to assume your kicker is capable of knocking in the game-winning kick from inside 50 yards. The fact the Rams obviously do not have a reliable player in this facet is telling. LA should be keeping an eye on the market for an upgrade.
The rest of special teams
LA opened the game by allowing a long kick return to hand Josh Allen the ball in scoring position. The defense fortunately held the Bills to a field goal following a dropped touchdown pass and a sack by Josaiah Stewart. The Bills accumulated 219 kick return yards in this game and averaged 31 yards per run back.
The punting game was a nonfactor, which just means the Rams didn’t have much of an opportunity to screw that up too.
Run defense & contain on Josh Allen
It’s not often that a team like the Bills finishes with more rushing than passing yards. James Cook had 111 yards on 25 rushes (4.4 average) with two scores. Allen added 121 yards on 10 rushes of his own with a touchdown. Buffalo finished with 234 yards on the ground compared to Allen’s 210 gross passing.
You can live with Cook’s rushing output most days. Allen’s ability to break contain was crippling to the Rams’ defense.
Quentin Lake, DB
Credit to Quentin Lake for battling through an injury to suit up for this game. He was listed as “questionable” on the final injury report for the week.
But it’s clear that Lake was not at full force Monday night. He allowed a long reception in overtime with the Bills backed up because of a holding penalty. He also just looked out of sorts for most of the game.
Lake has been one of the NFL’s best safeties to start the year. The Rams must hope that he can return to health and his pre-injury level of performance down the stretch. What he showed on tape against the Bills was not good enough.
