Buffalo Bills Beat Los Angeles Rams 37-34: Instant Reactions

The Buffalo Bills are still at the top of the AFC East after beating the Los Angeles Rams 37-34 on Monday Night in a sloppy, yet weirdly exciting, game in Los Angeles. 

There were nine lead changes and two ties, and a whole lot of laundry on the field. 

I’ll be honest, I had a completely different introduction to this story written, especially after the second James Cook fumble in overtime. But that’s why you play every snap.

The Bills are now 4-1 on the season, staying a game up on the New England Patriots in the division for at least another week. 

Greg Rousseau - The man they call Groot made the single biggest play of the game when he blocked what would’ve been the game-winning field goal in overtime. It gave the Bills new life and a massive reprieve to James Cook, who nearly fumbled the game away.

Ty Johnson - When people question why Ray Davis doesn’t get more time on the field with the offense, just point to Ty Johnson’s film. Johnson is solidifying himself as one of the best third-down running backs and safety blankets in the NFL. He finished with 4 catches for 72 yards, including a big 3rd down conversion to help set up a Bills touchdown.

Keon Coleman - For the first time in his career, the third-year receiver had a touchdown in back-to-back games. His stat line says just 1 catch for 7 yards and a score, but he was a lot better than the box score would indicate.

James Cook -  Cook had 23 carries for 108 yards and 2 touchdowns. But for all the good he does on the field, his fumbling problems continue to pop up. More on that later.

Josh Allen - When they needed their quarterback to lead them downfield at the end, that’s exactly what he did. Allen didn’t have a good game, and we’ll talk about that, but he got them downfield when it mattered most to take a lead with 1:39 left. There was even a vintage Allen play when he picked up 21 yards on the ground on a 2nd-and-17 to set up Buffalo with 1st-and-goal late in the 4th. 

He finished 12-of-19 for 210 yards, a touchdown, and an interception through the air. On the ground, Allen ran for 121 yards and a touchdown. And it was Allen's first career overtime win.

Points - Even when the offense didn’t look its best, the Bills still put up 37 points. When they needed to answer a Rams score, they did so all night long.   

Penalties - Multiple times, the Bills had penalties cost the team. Whether it was an unnecessary roughness call against C.J. Gardner-Johnson that gave the Rams a first down instead of a 3rd and 16, or the 3rd-and-4 offside call on Michael Hoecht that kept a Rams drive alive, Buffalo has a discipline problem. Even in overtime, a first-down run by Johnson was called back by a Skyler Bell holding, who likely heads back to the inactive list after this game.  They had 13 penalties for 112 yards.

The Rams were no better, either. It was just a bad game in terms of flags.

Bills defense - Sure, they played better in the first half, but many of the Rams' first-half shortcomings were self-inflicted. The Rams had players wide open all night long against the Buffalo defense. It didn’t matter what was called or who was on the field; the Bills let the Rams run open from start to finish. 

Even when they make a good play like DeWayne Carter’s sack, they come right back and commit a penalty to give the Rams a first down. 

I'll tell you one thing, there better not be a single comment this week about the defense "getting better" or "getting it" from any of the coaches.

Final regulation defensive possession - All they needed was one stop to win the game, and, once again, the Bills made it look too easy for the Rams offense. When you have players like Damar Hamlin covering Puka Nacua, you know you’re in for a long night. They let the Rams march the ball 63 yards in 1:34 to tie the game.

4th down defense - The Bills let the Rams go 2-for-2 on 4th down on Monday, including a 4th-and-6 conversion after the Rams committed a false start.

Red zone defense - The Rams went 4-for-4 in the red zone. Against the Rams offense, the Bills oftentimes looked like a Sun Belt team going against an SEC or Big Ten squad. 

Josh Allen’s first half - In the first half, Allen went 4/7 for 60 yards and an interception. The second half, though, was much better.

James Cook's fumbles - He’s one of the best running backs in football, but Cook’s fumbling problems are continuing to hurt the team. The Bills got lucky with his first fumble as, despite originally being ruled a recovery by the Rams, the officials reversed the decision and gave the ball back to the Bills.

His second one came in overtime and nearly cost Buffalo the game after Allen and Shakir connected on a 57-yard play to put the team deep in Rams territory. He was bailed out by the Rousseau block.

Cook now has 11 fumbles since the start of 2025. No other running back has more than six.

Keon Coleman’s luck - Before his touchdown catch, Coleman had two big receptions that would’ve been first downs called back due to—you guessed it—penalties.

Joe Brady’s Clock Management - Two minutes to go and three timeouts with the ball right before halftime should’ve been enough time to get at least a field goal attempt. Instead, the Bills watched the clock run, didn’t use timeouts, and then turned it over with 20 seconds left in the half. The Rams were fingertips away from adding a touchdown before halftime.

The first two-point attempt - A false start penalty killed the Bills’ chance to go for two and extend their lead to seven points. Instead, they had to try for the extra point, which Tyler Bass missed. 

Where’s Dalton Kincaid? - After looking poised to break all of the Bills' single-season records for a tight end this season, Kincaid was mostly absent for the Bills. He had the big two-point conversion catch in the 4th quarter, but didn’t do much else. He ended with 1 catch for 7 yards.