Bills Beat Rams in Overtime After Blocked Kick

The Buffalo Bills beat the Los Angeles Rams 37⁠–⁠34 in overtime on Monday Night Football on 12 October at SoFi Stadium in Inglewood, California (AP via ESPN; Buffalo Bills). Overtime is the extra period played when the score is level after four quarters. Tyler Bass won it with a 45-yard field goal with nearly two minutes left in the extra period (AP via ESPN).

The win took the Bills to 4⁠–⁠1, their first such start under Joe Brady, their first-year head coach. The Rams fell to 2⁠–⁠3 (AP via ESPN; ESPN box score).

Josh Allen accounted for 331 yards, passing for 210 and running for 121, and scored two touchdowns, one passing and one running (AP via ESPN). It was his first win in an overtime game after losing his previous seven, including the playoffs, NFL.com reported (NFL.com). The Bills said it was the 100th win of his career (Buffalo Bills). Most of Allen's running yards came on scrambles, runs he makes when a planned pass breaks down (AP via ESPN).

Matthew Stafford threw for 383 yards and three touchdowns for Los Angeles. Puka Nacua caught a career-high 17 passes for 138 yards and a touchdown, and Davante Adams caught two touchdown passes (AP via ESPN).

The game had six lead changes in a row, according to AP (AP via ESPN). After Adams's second touchdown tied the game at 27⁠–⁠27 midway through the fourth quarter, Allen led a 71-yard drive and James Cook scored his second touchdown with under two minutes left in the fourth quarter to put Buffalo ahead 34⁠–⁠27 (AP via ESPN). Stafford then completed six of seven passes to reach the Buffalo one-yard line, and Kyren Williams scored with seconds left to tie the game (AP via ESPN).

Buffalo received the opening kickoff of overtime. Khalil Shakir caught a short pass and ran 57 yards to the Rams' 22-yard line, but on the next play Cook had the ball knocked from his hands and the Rams recovered (Buffalo Bills; AP via ESPN).

Stafford moved the Rams to the Buffalo 30. On fourth down, Harrison Mevis tried a 48-yard field goal that would have won the game. Rousseau broke through the line and blocked it (Buffalo Bills; NFL.com). It was Mevis's second miss of the night after a 50-yard attempt in the first quarter (NFL.com).

Allen then ran twice, for 19 and 13 yards, to put the Bills in range (AP via ESPN). Brady sent Bass on to kick on second down with nearly two minutes left. "Hey, 45 yards, he's going to make this kick," Brady said of his thinking (AP via ESPN).

"That's the beautiful thing about football: You get another drive," Allen said. "Greg Rousseau made a play" (AP via ESPN).

Sean McVay, the Rams coach, was angry about his team's kicking. "The kicking game, with our PAT, field goal (unit) — not even close to good enough," he said. "It cost us the game tonight" (AP via ESPN). He also regretted calling a run on third down before the attempt: "I wish I would have had a better play call and gone for it" (AP via ESPN).

Buffalo were penalised 13 times for 112 yards and turned the ball over twice (Buffalo Bills). They finished with 234 rushing yards; Cook ran for 111 (AP via ESPN).

The Bills lost right tackle Spencer Brown to a back injury in the second half and played without the receiver DJ Moore, who has a shoulder injury (AP via ESPN).

Buffalo play the Raiders in Las Vegas on Sunday. The Rams host the Arizona Cardinals (AP via ESPN).