Rams’ special-teams disaster spoils another Matthew Stafford comeback in OT loss to Bills

The Los Angeles Rams had already pulled one rabbit out of their helmet in Philadelphia last week. On Monday night, they nearly did it again.

Trailing 34-27 in the final moments of regulation, Matthew Stafford orchestrated another dramatic fourth-quarter touchdown drive, pulling the Rams even with the Buffalo Bills at 34-34 and sending a wild Monday Night Football showdown into overtime at SoFi Stadium.

After a James Cook III fumble deep in Rams’ territory was recovered by Aaron Donald, the Rams marched down the field for a game-winning field goal attempt.

But once again their special teams unit let them down as the Harrison Mevis’ 48-yard field goal was blocked by Greg Rousseau and the Hollywood ending belonged to Josh Allen and Buffalo instead.

After a heavyweight battle featuring eight lead changes and two ties in regulation, the Rams couldn’t finish the job in overtime, suffering another gut-wrenching defeat despite Stafford’s late heroics.

More penalties, awful special teams, running rampant, and more.

Here are four downs/takeaways from another frustrating night in Los Angeles.

First Down: Flag Day Comes Early for the Rams

The Rams already have yellow on their uniforms, but they’ve certainly become accustomed to seeing it all over the field as well.

After committing 10 penalties for 100 yards against Philadelphia last week, Los Angeles followed that embarrassing performance with another 11 penalties for 84 yards against Buffalo.

That’s 21 penalties for 184 yards in two games, enough free real estate to make a Southern California land developer jealous.

The frustrating part? The Rams offense moved the football effectively against Buffalo’s secondary, particularly through the air.

But holding calls, mental mistakes and undisciplined play repeatedly sabotaged promising possessions on both sides of the ball.

NFL officials have already thrown more flags this season than ever before in history, but Monday night was another level. Both teams combined for 24 penalties and 196 yards.

For two veteran teams with Super Bowl aspirations, this kind of sloppiness is unacceptable, regardless of the final score.

Second Down: Special Teams? More Like Special Nightmares

Somebody might want to check whether the Rams’ special teams unit understands that the game starts at kickoff.

Buffalo’s Ray Davis returned Ethan Evans’ opening kickoff 70 yards, immediately putting the Bills in scoring position. Although the Rams defense held Buffalo to a field goal, the damage was done.

Then Harrison Mevis missed a 50-yard field goal wide left on Los Angeles’ opening possession, his second miss in consecutive games, but that was just the tip of the iceberg.

The Rams were ready for a walk-off win in overtime and another stunning comeback, but Mevis’ 47-yard field goal attempt to win the game was blocked by linebacker Greg Rousseau, and the Bills marched down the field and won the game with a FG of their own.

New special teams coordinator Bubba Ventrone was hired to fix these problems, but five games into the season, the same mistakes continue haunting Los Angeles.

Bad coverage, missed kicks and poor field position have become recurring characters in this increasingly painful production.

At some point, Sean McVay needs more than explanations. He needs solutions.

Third Down: Third Time’s a Charm, Until Allen Takes Off Running

Here’s the strange part about the Rams defense: Despite surrendering 37 points in the loss, Los Angeles continued its remarkable success on third down.

After holding the Philadelphia Eagles to an astonishing 0-for-12 on third-down conversions last week, the Rams limited Buffalo to just 2-for-7 on third down on Monday night.

That’s a combined 2-for-19 over two games against two dangerous offenses.

Unfortunately, those numbers didn’t tell the entire story.

Allen repeatedly punished Los Angeles with his legs, rushing for a whopping 121 yards while Buffalo accumulated 234 rushing yards on the ground for the game.

That’s not going to get it done.

Donald returned, Watson was back in the secondary, and the Rams still struggled to keep Buffalo’s quarterback contained.

Winning third down is impressive. But it means considerably less when opponents are moving the chains before they even get there.

Fourth Down: Stafford Still Has That Hollywood Magic

Somebody should tell Matthew Stafford that sequels aren’t supposed to be this entertaining.

One week after engineering consecutive fourth-quarter touchdown drives to stun Philadelphia, the reigning NFL MVP delivered another dramatic comeback against Buffalo.

Trailing 34-27 in the closing moments of regulation, Stafford marched the Rams downfield and orchestrated the game-tying touchdown drive, giving Los Angeles new life when another defeat appeared inevitable.

After throwing an interception in each of his first four games, Stafford finally protected the football against Buffalo while tossing at least three touchdown passes.

More importantly, he continued answering every Buffalo scoring drive with one of his own.

Whatever happens in overtime, one thing remains abundantly clear: Stafford still has that championship DNA, and the Rams are never truly finished as long as No. 9 has the football in his hands.

Up Next

The Rams won’t have much time to recover from Monday night’s overtime marathon.

Los Angeles remains at SoFi Stadium for a short-week matchup against the Arizona Cardinals next Sunday at 1:05 p.m. PT.

The game features a reunion with former Rams offensive coordinator Mike LaFleur, who returns to face Sean McVay and his former team.

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