Sean McDermott tries to explain how Bills lost despite scoring 42 points

The Buffalo Bills left their head coach looking for answers in a Week 14 road loss.to the Rams.

Ralph Ventre | Dec 10, 2024

Dec 8, 2024; Inglewood, California, USA; Buffalo Bills coach Sean McDerrmott reacts in the second half / Kirby Lee-Imagn Images

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The Buffalo Bills scored 42 points on the road, but it wasn't enough to defeat the Los Angeles Rams on December 8 at SoFi Stadium.

The Bills did not commit a turnover in the two-point loss, making the end result even more difficult to comprehend. According to Opta Stats, Buffalo was the first team in NFL history to score six touchdowns with no giveaways and lose the game.

So, how did it happen?

There were a couple of missed assignments, errant throws and underwhelming run plays, but it's hard to heap blame on an offense that averaged 8.2 yards per play and recorded 25 first downs.

"Thought offensively, certainly scored a lot of points, moved the ball, in particular, through the passing game. Still, would like to have seen us be able to run the ball a little bit more with our running backs," said head coach Sean McDermott after the Bills' first loss since Week 5.

James Cook carried only six times for 20 yards, but Buffalo found other ways to move the ball successfully. It was the defense and special teams that were operating sub-optimally at multiple key junctures, leading to the end of the Bills' seven-game win streak.

"As you could tell, defensively, special teams, neither were good enough to help us win this game," said McDermott.

The defense had difficulty getting off the field, allowing the Rams to covert 11 of 15 third-down situations along with a 1-for-1 clip on fourth down. The Bills did not sack Rams' QB Matthew Stafford while permitting 10.2 yards per pass.

Los Angeles receivers Puka Nacua and Cooper Kupp combined for 254 yards and two touchdowns.

As for the special teams phase, Buffalo made two critical mistakes that drastically dropped the road team's win probability.

First, the Bills allowed a punt block followed by a scoop-and-score that extended the home team's lead to 17-7 early in the second quarter. Jacob Hummel blew up long snapper Reid Ferguson and bullied his way into the backfield for a clean stuff of Sam Martin's kick.

THE RAMS BLOCK THE PUNT AND SCORE 🤯

📺 FOX pic.twitter.com/hh508zdYXr
— FOX Sports: NFL (@NFLonFOX) December 8, 2024

The other inexcusable mistake occurred on the final play of the game with the Bills' trailing by two points in desperation mode. The Rams needed to kill seven seconds and opted to punt on fourth down. Buffalo should have gone for an all-out block, but lined up with only 9 players on the field.

In addition to being undermanned, the Bills did not even attempt to return the kick, letting the ball roll into the end zone as time expired.

"Punt block, we should have been in that. We didn't have, honestly, we didn't have enough guys on the field to do that," said McDermott.

It was a final miscommunication on a day where the Bills missed an opportunity to stay within one game of Kansas City in the race for the AFC's top seed.

"But overall, things we can take out of this game and learn from," said McDermott.