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ExpandINGLEWOOD — Their 17-point lead whittled down to three, the Rams faced 3rd-and-5 from the Buffalo Bills 19 coming out of the two-minute warning on Sunday. The stakes were clear: Convert and continue to work down the clock, or kick a field goal on fourth down and give the ball back to Buffalo QB Josh Allen, who had three consecutive touchdown drives, with plenty of time and three timeouts.
Rams quarterback Matthew Stafford found a third option.
Spotting that Buffalo was preparing to blitz with zero high safeties, Stafford checked out of the play at the line of scrimmage into a bubble screen to the right side. Puka Nacua caught the ball just as Cooper Kupp crashed into the former’s man, sealing the outside. Right tackle Rob Havenstein pulled out and made a chip block. And that was all the space that Nacua needed to scamper to the end zone.
Allen would have another touchdown drive in him, but the score was enough to help the Rams (7-6) close out a 44-42 win over Buffalo (10-3) behind the team’s most complete offensive performance of the year.
“Players did the damn thing today,” head coach Sean McVay said.
All season, the Rams have bemoaned execution mistakes that led to slow starts and low conversion rates on third down and in the red zone. But the Rams that showed up to SoFi Stadium on Sunday provided the consistency from play to play and quarter to quarter that the group has been searching for.
It started in the run game. Kyren Williams was again a bruiser, absorbing hits as he got to the second level behind a coalescing offensive line. The 29 carries for 87 carries don’t jump off the page. But the result was the Rams faced an average of 5.9 yards distance to gain on third downs, which they converted at an 11-for-15 clip.
“I think our guys did an amazing job up front when you look at it in the run game and the pass game,” Stafford said. “Did a really good job of keeping me clean against a really good rush and then we had some creases in the run game, too. So it starts with those guys, they did a helluva job.”
With the line not allowing a sack – the first team to do so against Buffalo this season – Stafford threw for a season-high 320 yards while completing 23 of 30 attempts. Twelve of those completions went to Nacua.
The second-year receiver, who missed five games with a knee sprain, had his best game of the season on Sunday. A season-best 162 yards through the air. Sixteen rushing yards and the first rushing touchdown of his career. Toe-tappers on the sideline. Jump ball on third down. Finding the soft spot in the zone on third down.
“He was such an igniter today,” McVay said. “He’s so physically and mentally tough. Love him. ‘Igniter’ is one of the biggest compliments I can give somebody. You elevate everybody around you, you bring an energy to this football team and he certainly did that today.”
Nacua had his share of candidates for play of the game. Kupp did, too, including a touchdown catch against his knee. But the special teams weren’t to be outdone in the second quarter.
As they lined up for a Bills punt, linebacker Jacob Hummel bull-rushed through a guard and blocked the kick with his elbow. Tight end Hunter Long picked up the ball and returned it 22 yards for a touchdown, the first of his career.
The Rams needed all that firepower, as Allen was not about to go quietly. The MVP candidate put together a six-touchdown performance. After a three-and-out on the first drive of the third quarter, the Bills scored touchdowns on four straight possessions. On the third, Allen threaded a perfect pass to Mack Hollins on a corner route to get the Bills within three with 8:49 to play.
“I think it was the mentality coming into this week knowing the team we were going to play and the offense we were competing against,” Williams said. “So we just knew on our side of the ball, we just had to continue to keep working, continue to get those hard-earned downs.”
The Bills almost got the ball back to Allen. But a fourth-down conversion to Tutu Atwell kept the Rams alive in Bills territory. And then Stafford made the critical audible into Nacua’s touchdown catch.
With the win, the Rams moved above .500 for the first time this season, keeping pace with NFC West-leading Seattle (8-5) with four games left to play.
But most of all, they proved what this offense can be, now that it is fully healthy and beginning to play as a cohesive unit.
“It means a lot,” left guard Steve Avila said. “A win like this really shows us how bad do you want. How bad does this team want it? Because we have the tools to get it done, so we just gotta continue to push forward to get to the playoffs.”
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