The Buffalo Bills (4-1) likely have their eyes on the postseason, but they still have to treat every game like it could play a part in how their Super Bowl aspirations play out. In what was one of Buffalo's biggest games of the season, they visited Matthew Stafford and the Los Angeles Rams (2-3) for Monday Night Football and the Bills managed to win a game that came down to the very end.
The Bills beat the Rams on Monday 37-34 thanks to kicker Tyler Bass nailing a 45-yard field goal in overtime, but there were also other plays that led to Bass having to clutch up for his team. Quarterback Josh Allen had a slow start to this game, but he turned around his game in the second half and overtime while running back James Cook put the offense on his back whenever
he was on the field.
The Bills' defense was tested to the fullest extent against Stafford and company, especially with wide receiver Puka Nacua catching 17 of 24 targets for 138 yards and one touchdown against Buffalo's secondary. At one point, it looked like the Rams were going to walk away from this victorious, but the Bills made the necessary plays in the end. Here is the stock report for Buffalo following Monday's win over the Rams:
Stock Up: RB James Cook
To get the bad part of the way from the start, Cook fumbled the football twice and lost one of those fumbles at a critical moment for the Bills that could've sealed their fate. Outside of that, Cook was dominant on the ground as he carried the ball 25 times for 111 yards and two touchdowns and he kept the offense going even when the passing games wasn't able to get going in the beginning.
Stock Down: TE Dalton Kincaid
Kincaid had the hot start to the season in what looked like his breakout season for the Bills, but the past few games have shown him taking a backseat in the offense. Granted, Allen attempted just 19 passes over the course of the game so there weren't many targets to go around, but Kincaid has been better than what he put on display against the Rams.
Stock Up: LB Terrel Bernard
The Bills' defense was tested mightily given how often they were on the field and how much Los Angeles was moving the football over the course of the game. Bernard has long been one of the best players in Buffalo's defense and against the Rams, he made some important tackles and he was usually in the right spot at the right time even when the play didn't work in the Bills' favor.
Stock Neutral: LB Greg Rousseau
Similar to Kincaid, Rousseau had a hot start to this season as he looked like he was ready to take the next step in his career as a pass-rusher, but this game represented a stepback for him. Rousseau, who had been on fire with two sacks in each of his first three games, had just one tackle and one quarterback hit, showing how hard it is to sack someone like Matthew Stafford that gets the ball out as fast as anyone. Rousseau did make a huge play in overtime to block Harrison Mevis with the Rams in the position to win the game so he was still locked in for the entire matchup.
Stock Up: RB Josh Allen
At one point in this game, Allen would have been listed as a stock down given that he wasn't able to get anything going for the offense, but that turned around in the second half. Allen was able to find more success pushing the ball down the field in the second half and overtime and he also used his legs as much as he could to keep the chains moving.
Stock Down: WR Keon Coleman
Coleman had a touchdown in this one so given his history, this should probably be the case that he's a stock up or at least stock neutral, but his expectations have changed for the most part. Outside of that seven-yard touchdown reception, Coleman wasn't able to get anything going on the outside, even when considering that Buffalo did not air the ball out as much as they can in these kind of shootout games.
This article originally appeared on Bills Wire: Stock up, stock down after the Bills' 37-34 OT win over the Rams
