Buffalo News

‘The Bills’ blitzes were ineffective against Rams quarterback Matthew Stafford. He completed 5 of 8 passes for 94 yards and one touchdown against the blitz. Another blitz play resulted in a defensive pass interference penalty on Ja’Marcus Ingram and a Rams first down in a third-and-9 situation.’

‘Cooper led the Bills with 14 targets, more than doubling his previous high of five targets in his five games with the team since coming over in a trade with the Cleveland Browns in October. Cooper finished with six catches against the Rams for 95 yards, both of which are his best in a game for the Bills. His six catches were the most by a Bills receiver, and his 95 yards trailed only Khalil Shakir’s 106 yards on five catches for most on the team against Los Angeles.’

‘The rookie third-round draft choice played 24 snaps during the team’s 44-42 loss to the Los Angeles Rams at SoFi Stadium. That was 31% of the defensive total. Carter made his return to the lineup after missing five games with a wrist injury suffered in Week 7 against Tennessee.’

‘Buffalo allowed the Rams to convert 11 of 15 third-down chances in Sunday’s 44-42 loss. The Bills ranked 19th on third downs last year, allowing 38.6% conversions, but they were in the top 10 in both 2022 and 2021.’

‘The Bills leaned on their three-receiver personnel group against the Los Angeles Rams. It was no surprise given the fact tight ends Dalton Kincaid and Quintin Morris both missed the game due to injury. And since the Bills were playing from behind most of the game, going with 11 personnel probably was going to be the major group, regardless of injuries. The rushing numbers out of 11 personnel were very good, but it was because of quarterback Josh Allen, who ran six times for 80 of the 100 yards from that set. The passing production was outstanding, too, despite the absence of Kincaid and injured wide receiver Keon Coleman.’

‘“I was blessed to be surrounded by medical professionals who knew how to perform CPR and had an AED,” Hamlin said to an audience that included about three dozen Cheektowaga fifth graders, Cheektowaga student athletes and nurses from Roswell Park Comprehensive Cancer Center dressed in scrubs and Bills T-shirts and jerseys. “And I’m here today because they saved my life.”’

‘Members are most focused on learning the number of contracts that have been awarded so far to companies that were less than $50,000 and $25,000. The committee is pushing the team and its contractors on the project attempt to right-size, or segment, bid packages to try to involve more small or disadvantaged businesses that may have smaller workforces.’

‘I’ll give Brady’s partner, play-by-play partner, Kevin Burkhardt, an A+ for his performance. He set up Brady throughout the game and wore out the superlatives for the game, calling it “great,” “a thriller,” “unbelievable” and settling on “sensational” near game’s end.’

‘Los Angeles Rams quarterback Matthew Stafford and Rams receivers Cooper Kupp and Puka Nacua were too good for the Bills’ zone schemes on Sunday. It all added up to one of the worst days for the Bills’ defense in the McDermott era. It was the most points allowed by the Bills since the 2018 season opener.’

‘Welcome to the worst nightmare for the Buffalo Bills’ defense, a performance that put a dent in the team’s hopes for winning the AFC’s top seed and created questions entering the final four games.’

‘Allen threw for 342 yards and picked up a team-leading 82 rushing yards on 10 carries.’

‘The Bills’ defensive tackles as a collective group aren’t playing disruptive enough, and the Bills didn’t get into enough advantageous third-down pass-rushing situations. Five of the Rams’ six third downs in the first half were third and 4 or less, and 11 of 15 overall were third and 6 or less.’

‘The Rams’ offense carried the day. They punted once, were terrific on third down (11 of 15), rolled up 457 yards, didn’t give up a sack and didn’t commit a turnover.’

‘The Bills were in a single-safety high zone coverage – it appeared to be a three-deep scheme – on a 17-yard touchdown pass from Stafford to Kupp late in the third quarter. It gave the Rams a 38-21 lead.’

‘Where do we even begin? McDermott said after the game he felt like his team lacked urgency. That’s inexcusable considering what’s at stake in the conference standings. A lot of fans were up in arms about McDermott accepting a holding penalty that made it third and 16 for the Rams in the fourth quarter instead of declining it and allowing Los Angeles to make a decision about what to do on fourth and 6 from the Buffalo 36-yard line. I didn’t have much of a problem with that, but the decision to call timeout with just over a minute to go in regulation was inexcusable. At that point, the team absolutely needed to preserve all three timeouts to give the defense a chance to get the ball back. We’ve seen the Bills’ defense be on its heels before at times this season, but usually it can make the necessary in-game adjustments to correct course. That did not happen against the Rams. “Overall, we really got to roll up our sleeves and look at it,” McDermott said. The sooner, the better in that regard.’