Rams offense comes roaring to life with statement win over Buffalo.

L.A. thwarts a furious Bills comeback and sets the tone for the final stretch

In a statement win, the Los Angeles Rams offense kept firing off shots until the very end and won a shootout over the AFC East Champion Buffalo Bills 44-42 at a raucous SoFi Stadium. It took the Rams biggest offensive output of the season and blocked punt touchdown return to seal the deal.

This win told the rest of the NFL that the Rams can play with anybody.

Although the Rams never trailed and had a 10 point halftime lead, they had to withstand a furious second half onslaught that saw Buffalo score touchdowns on four of five drives. The L.A. offense never wavered, countering with touchdowns on three of four drives, before running out the clock on its final possession.

The offense shook awake from its slumber and roared to a season best’s in total yards (457) and points scored (44). Matthew Stafford zeroed in on wide-open targets and put the ball in perfect placement on tight coverages. The run game pounded away for 42 carries, leading to a 17 minute advantage in time of possession. Controlling the flow of the game was tantamount to stopping the Bills high-scoring offense and winning the game.

This game was never about the Rams defense, the Bills came in as one of the NFL’s best in both scoring and overall offense. As expected, Buffalo traversed the field and scored on six of nine possessions, but of those three forced punts, L.A. blocked one and returned it for a touchdown. The difference maker in a tight win.

Bring on the ‘Niners! But first take a last look at the Buffalo win’s weekly snap count review.

Quarterback

For the Rams to be successful, they need Matthew Stafford (77, 100%) to control the game and he did just that Sunday. Whether standing tall in the pocket or getting outside on the edge, he had time to scan the field and find the open man. When faced with pressure, he nimbly navigated around it. The Bills did hit him a couple of times, one was clearly late, but the pocket, whether inside or out, was his. Staying with the run game, would have likely created opportunities for play action, but Staff was seeing the field so well from “empty” sets, it was not needed.

Running back

I’m not going to go on-and-on about the run game, but the fact the Rams stuck with it in the face of Buffalo outwardly trying to stop it, deserves kudos. 42 carries for 137 yards. Crude, but effective.

Although It wasn’t Kyren Williams (64, 83%) best lane vision day, he overcame it with flat out toughness. He took some vicious hits, but gave out as good as he got. He was also nails in pass protection. Blake Corum (13, 17%) again showed he can move the ball even though his load was down a bit from last week.

Wide receiver

There are better receivers than Cooper Kupp (64, 83%) in individual facets, but as an overall package, he’s still towards the very top. How many teams would put a wide out blocking on the opponents defensive end 1on1, in this case Von Miller, and run the play that way? Puka Nacua (59, 77%) has taken over the WR#1 role. I like the way the Rams are using him, playing 75% of reps rather than 90%. His physical play calls for getting him recovery time.

Hopefully, Demarcus Robinson (47, 61%) is not dogged by that shoulder, but if he is, Tutu Atwell (35, 45%) has earned more reps. when you watch him on ALL22, you can see his improvement in route running and willingness to block. Tyler Johnson (16, 21%) had his most snaps in a month, but didn’t get a target. Albeit not many, Jordan Whittington (10, 13%) had his biggest offensive workload (primarily as a blocker) since Week 5 and chipped in a couple of kick returns.

Tight end

Colby Parkinson (37, 48%) logged his most reps since Week 8. I thought he had a little pep in his step and blocked incrementally better. Although he was the starter, after rewatching the film, I’m hard-pressed to have even noticed Davis Allen (22, 29%), what happened to this guy? The Rams ran a just few two-tight end set early and Hunter Long (18, 23%) was in on those. He did some dirty work blocking and had good day on special teams. Maybe he’ll earn a few more reps.

Offensive line

The whole group played very well, particularly in pass protection. The Bills were so loaded up to stop the run with their front seven and a safety, that they left too much space in the mid-depth areas. A vet like Stafford is going to eat that up if given time, and he was. The run game was mostly trench warfare, an effort of brute strength, but the difference was the Rams were also able to attack outside the tackles.

Alaric Jackson (77, 100%)

Steve Avila (77, 100%)

Beaux Limmer (77, 100%)

Kevin Dotson (77, 100%)

Rob Havenstein (77, 100%)

Special teams

Obviously, the punt block by Jake Hummel was huge as was Hunter Long’s returning it into the end zone. To go along with his tight end work, Long had a nice tackle on a kickoff and led the Rams in special teams snaps. The Rams used a little different pattern on kickoffs, normally Ethans Evans (17) boots them through the end zone. On Sunday, kicked two short and L.A. covered them well. No returns on his two punts, either. Alex Ward (9) had his first bad snap of the season that led to a late missed extra point. Josh Karty (7) nailed the game’s previous six kicks before the botched snap/set.

Defensive line

Keeping such a big, mobile quarterback (QB) hemmed in is a tough draw. While the Rams front line kept the running backs and the whole rush attack generally in check, the Buff’s QB Josh Allen gouged them, particularly in the second half. A little better tackling and those breakaways would not have been so painful.

In a wide-open game, Bobby Brown (15, 25%) and Neville Gallimore (15, 25%) don’t add much value getting after the passer. Hence, they both saw a decrease in action, for Brown it was his lowest of the season.

Most of the action took place downfield, the Bills running backs only totaled seven carries and there were five QB sneaks. That left Kobie Turner (45, 75%) and Braden Fiske (38, 63%) mostly chasing. You have to watch the ALL22 to appreciate what Turner for the L.A. defensive front. Desjuan Johnson (13, 22%) was active for the second straight game and Tyler Davis (11, 18%) was quiet in his usual amount of reps.

Off-ball linebacker

Against a QB like Josh Allen, the mediocre play of the Rams linebackers really shows. Quite simply, Allen was bigger, stronger, or faster in space.

With the Rams again opting for more big nickel and dime formations, snaps were down for Christian Rozeboom (48, 80%), his lowest in five weeks. It was also Omar Speights (36, 60%) lowest number since taking over the role full-time in Week 10. Nick Hummel (2, 3%) got a little work, his only defensive work in three weeks.

Edge

Just like with the interior, the L.A. edges were trying to create a pocket and close/seal it in from there. I do think their reputation pushed Buffalo into the quick, one-read pass scheme. The unit didn’t play bad, just somewhat neutralized by both team’s schemes.

Byron Young (52, 87%) had four tackles and just missed on a handful of others. Jared Verse (45, 75%) was limited all week with an a tweaked ankle and had his fewest snaps in weeks, while Michael Hoecht (36, 60%) didn’t have much influence. Nick Hampton (3, 5%) had the same amount of play as last week.

Safety

What I said about the Bills QB Josh Allen and the linebacker unit could be said about the safeties. Bigger, stronger, or faster. The Rams again went with to a “safety heavy” secondary and while there were a few strong individual plays, opposing playmakers generally ran free in their midst.

Kam Kinchens (47, 78%) was the biggest recipient of the safeties extra work and saw his largest share of action for the season. He keeps showing improvement as the season courses, but still is struggling with pursuit angles. Kam Curl’s (56, 93%) best attributes are wasted when playing deep safety. On the long Bills completion to open the final quarter, he was a step short of breaking it up. Quentin Lake (60, 100%) had a tough day in coverage, the pass interference on fourth-and-15 and getting beat for a touchdown was excruciating. Jaylen McCollough (24, 40%) played about his usual amount, he is the biggest snap recipient of L.A.’s frequent usage of big nickel and dime packages.

Cornerback

Hard to blame all the passing yardage on the cornerbacks when there isn’t much pass rush, but the poor downfield tackling is certainly their’s to wear. Darious Williams (58, 97%) gave up some plays, but in his defense on the play down the sideline was a great catch in sticky coverage and the pass interference was questionable. While not a CB#1, Cobie Durant (50, 83%) just continues to play solid outside corner. Ahkello Witherspoon (6, 10%) subbed in at the end when Durant was hurt.

Active, but did not play

QB Jimmy Garappolo, T Joseph Noteboom, G Joshua Jackson

Inactive

QB Stetson Bennett, RB Cody Schrader, C Dylan McMahon, T Warren McClendon, CB Emmanuel Forbes, E Brennan Jackson

Going forward

How many descriptor’s can fan’s give this win. Huge certainly, but crazy, exciting, and gutty also made it a must-watch. They stood toe-to-toe until the final gun. Just amazing.

Now, the race turns onto the back straight. The race to 10 wins.

The Rams have three intra-divisional games in the last four weeks and aren’t alone. This week’s enemy, the hated San Francisco 49ers have two and while the first-place Seattle Seahawks only have one, they must run a three-game NFC North gauntlet (Packers, Vikings, Bears) before coming to L.A. for the season finale. The Arizona Cardinals also have two, with the Rams and 49ers to close out the season.

“Oh, boy, is this great”— Flounder