The Buffalo Bills clocked into work again during the 2026 NFL campaign and came out with a thrilling victory to get back in the win column.
In Week 5, the Bills (4-1) took a back-and-forth 37-34 overtimewin against the LA Rams (2-3) on "Monday Night Football." After that one, did the Bills earn high marks across the board for their effort?
With that, here are Bills Wire's report card for this week:
Pass offense: C-
No. 1 receiver DJ Moore (shoulder) did not play. The difference showed.
For most of quarterback Josh Allen had 210 passing yards with a touchdown and interception. However, he only completed 12 of 19 pass attempts. Khalil Shakir led the Bills with 80 yards receiving with most of that coming on one play, but beside that, Allen's yardage completely came
from dump offs.
Call it what it was: A bad day passing for Buffalo.
Run offense: B-
Not all plays are the same. Running back James Cook was impressive with 111 rushing yards and two red zone scores. Allen did most of his work on the ground with 121 yards and another score.
Cook's fumble in overtime was one of the most costly plays you can make in football until he was bailed out.
Pass defense: F
Brutal game again for the Bills' secondary. The overrides any of the big plays the pass rush had when Rams quarterback Matthew Stafford dropped back.
LA's wide receiver room had a field day. Puka Nacua had 17 catches for 138 yards and a touchdown on 24 targets. Davante Adams added two touchdowns for the Rams.
How much worse can this secondary get?
Run defense: B+
At least the Bills got after Rams running backs Kyren Williams and Blake Corum. The Rams only had 77 yards on the ground as a team with Williams' 49 leading the way.
But let's be honest, it's because the Rams knew they could be a one-dimensional passing offense and the Bills couldn't do anything about it. That helped Buffalo keep LA to so few rushing yards.
Special teams: A-
Greg Dortch flashed with a few good returns but this was all about kicker Tyler Bass.
Bass did miss an extra point so special teams gets knocked for that. Bass's game-winning kick in such a whacky turn of affairs at the end of this game will carry such a grade. Bass is back.
This article originally appeared on Bills Wire: Report card: Bills defeat Rams 37-34 in overtime in Week 5
