There’s a lot of concern and second-guessing about how the Bills fell apart on defense, special teams, and clock management in their loss to the Los Angeles Rams, leading some to wonder if it was too soon to call Buffalo Super Bowl contenders just a week ago.
But first, the good news. There’s not much wrong with Buffalo’s offense, led by Josh Allen, after the quarterback improved his NFL MVP case.
A week after a four-touchdown performance, which included an unusual play where he scored two touchdowns on the same play in a 35-10 win over San Francisco, Allen became the first player in the NFL to throw and rush for three touchdowns each in a 44-42 loss to Los Angeles on Sunday.
What’s troubling is that Allen’s amazing performance still ended in a loss, which raises concerns for the five-time AFC East champions (10-3) as they try to prove they can avoid falling short in the playoffs, as they have in the past five years.
Buffalo’s defense struggled to stop the Rams’ high-powered offense, allowing a season-high 457 yards. Even worse, the Bills let Los Angeles convert 11 of 15 third downs, with a 73.3% success rate — the third worst percentage allowed by Buffalo and the worst since giving up a 75% conversion rate to Miami in 1986.
If that wasn’t bad enough, the Bills lost for the first time in 39 games where they scored at least 42 points, and they became the second NFL team to lose when scoring 42 or more points and not turning the ball over.
Matthew Stafford and Josh Allen before the game
Special teams didn’t help either. On top of allowing a blocked punt to be returned for a touchdown, the Bills failed to block the Rams’ final punt from midfield with 7 seconds left because they only had nine players on the field.
As coach Sean McDermott said after finally speaking to reporters more than an hour after the game ended: “I thought we lost two of the three phases today.” He didn’t mention another mistake with clock management.
Instead of having Allen spike the ball to stop the clock after a failed quarterback keeper from the Rams’ 1-yard line with 62 seconds left, McDermott called a timeout. That left Buffalo with two timeouts and depending on a very slim chance of recovering an onside kick after Allen scored on his next attempt.
McDermott defended his decision by saying he was worried too much time would pass before the Bills could snap the ball again. However, it wouldn’t have been as much time as the 45 seconds the Rams ran off on their final possession after Buffalo used its final two timeouts.
These kinds of mistakes have hurt the Bills in their recent playoff losses. The good news is the loss to the Rams didn’t end the Bills’ season, even though they are now two games behind Kansas City (12-1) in the race for the AFC’s top seed.
Maybe the loss can be explained by a team that was a bit too confident after clinching a playoff spot and then had to travel across the country to play a Rams team still fighting for its division.
If that’s the case, the Bills have a chance to fix their mistakes and prove their doubters wrong by how they respond in their big game against the NFC-leading Detroit Lions (12-1) on Sunday.
“They’re the top dog in football right now,” Allen said, looking ahead to Detroit. “We have to have a good week, learn from this one, and put it behind us.”