Bills fall short in epic shootout vs. Rams, wasting MVP-level performance from Josh Allen

A historic performance by the soon to be MVP of the NFL was only let down by a historically bad performance by a defense that hasn't looked this bad in years.

Dec 8, 2024; Inglewood, California, USA; Buffalo Bills head coach Sean McDermott watches game action against the Los Angeles Rams during the first half at SoFi Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Gary A. Vasquez-Imagn Images / Gary A. Vasquez-Imagn Images

The Buffalo Bills lost a heartbreaker in a wild game as the Los Angeles Rams win, 44-42. An intense comeback for the Bills fell short as they couldn’t find a way to stop the Rams defensively. An early special teams mistake didn’t help matters either.

Below we will explore the most obviously inspired performance of this week, if not for this entire NFL season, a part of the team that left us inquiring, and double dip on the irk, as we talk about the Bills defense, which has probably given up another 3rd down conversion.

Inspire-Josh Allen

Dec 8, 2024; Inglewood, California, USA; Buffalo Bills quarterback Josh Allen (17) throws against the Los Angeles Rams during the first half at SoFi Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Gary A. Vasquez-Imagn Images / Gary A. Vasquez-Imagn Images

There’s literally nothing else anyone should put here. And that’s how MVP voters should look at their ballot. Every single one of those 1st place votes for MVP should go to Josh Allen. You can make a claim for Saquon Barkley, you could make a good case for Joe Burrow if voters didn’t obviously take team record into consideration.

But they do, and the fact is that the Bills have one of the best records in football, have already won their division, and are still one of the best teams in the NFL. Allen himself scored six (!) touchdowns becoming the first player in the history of the NFL to score three rushing TDs and three passing TDs in the same game. He threw for 342 yards, running for an additional 82 yards on the ground. It is one of the greatest single player performances in NFL history, and if it’s ignored or overlooked in favor of someone else for this award, then the award simply should not exist, and its voters should be considered corrupt, negligent, and incapable of properly analyzing the game they purport to be experts on. A vote for Saquon Barkley, at this point, diminishes the value of the QB in today’s NFL. A vote for Lamar Jackson doesn’t put into proper, real, legitimate context, how important Josh Allen is to this team. There is no one, legitimately, that should be receiving first place MVP awards. 

Inquire-Special Teams:

Dec 8, 2024; Inglewood, California, USA; Los Angeles Rams tight end Hunter Long (84) celebrates with wide receiver Xavier Smith (19) and tight end Colby Parkinson (86) after scoring a touchdown on a blocked punt against the Buffalo Bills in the first half at SoFi Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Kirby Lee-Imagn Images / Kirby Lee-Imagn Images

It’s not the first special teams disaster of the season, and it may not be the last. At what point does Matthew Smiley become someone the Bills look to move on from? Sean McDermott has shown faith in his coordinators, and also shown a willingness to move on from coaches that aren’t measuring up. By all accounts on tape and with what little data exists for special teams, the Bills aren’t good enough in that area. Today’s blunder was courtesy of a blocked punt in which Long Snapper, Reid Ferguson, was rushed through and taken out, leading to an easy scoop and score for the Rams special teams. Outside of being fairly good on returns, a result largely put together by a Brandon Beane trade for Brandon Codrington, and Tyler Bass recovering his form, what does Matthew Smiley bring to this team for his unit? It’s hard to pinpoint what’s working for this unit week in and week out, but the blunders seem to happen at the worst possible times.

Double Irk-Defense

Dec 8, 2024; Inglewood, California, USA; Los Angeles Rams wide receiver Puka Nacua (17) scores on a 4-yard touchdown run in the second quarter against the Buffalo Bills at SoFi Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Kirby Lee-Imagn Images / Kirby Lee-Imagn Images

We’re doubling down today folks, because the “Require” would have just been more of what’s being said here, which is that the defense today, flat out sucked. Whether it was a 4-man rush, a simulated pressure, a stunt, a blitz, it didn’t matter. Throughout the entire day the Bills could not get any pressure against the Rams and Matthew Stafford. In the first half the Bills went with zone coverage, as they tend to do, it’s what their defense is built on. They were carved up by an offense that was more than willing to methodically march down the field on them. In the second half, the Bills went with a bit more man coverage. It didn’t change much of anything, as Stafford dealt extremely impressive passes to Cooper Kupp and Puka Nakua who made extremely impressive catches throughout the entire game. On top of all that, the Rams rushing attack with Kyren Williams and Blake Corum just ate away at the clock, keeping the ball away from Josh Allen. The issues were magnified even further on third downs where, coming into this game, the Rams were one of the worst teams in the league. Today, the Rams converted on 11/15 attempts, a 73% conversion rate. It was as poor a defensive performance as has ever been put up in the Sean McDermott era, truly only being matched by games in 2021 against the Chiefs and Colts, and a handful of games pre-2019. The only thing that can be said in a positive sense is that it would be almost impossible for the defense to put up a performance that pitiful again. 

Then again, the Bills have the best team in football coming up next week.

What’s next for the Buffalo Bills?

The Buffalo Bills will be taking on the Detroit Lions in Detroit at 4:25 PM, as they look to bounce back (at least defensively). It will be no easy task as the Lions offense is one of the most complete units in the NFL, with an ability to attack through the ground and air, and they need to have a far better performance than what they put out today in Los Angeles.