Bills vs. Rams: Buffalo's comeback bid falls short in wild 44-42 game

Henry McKenna: Josh Allen made history by logging a rushing touchdown with a minute left in the game. That put him at three passing touchdowns and three rushing touchdowns, the first time anyone had ever done that in a single game.

But what did it cost Buffalo? The game, because it took two rushing attempts to get Allen into the end zone.

On the FOX Broadcast, Tom Brady pointed out that, by running the ball on the goal line and failing to score on Allen's first (and unsuccessful) tush-push attempt, the Bills had to use one of their three timeouts. That meant they had to attempt an onside kick, rather than kicking and trying to force a three-and-out. The Bills failed to recover the onside kick, and that was essentially the end of the game.

Henry McKenna: Once again, Puka Nacua finished off a drive with an explosive play. He went 19 yards for the touchdown on a receiver screen.

But that wasn't even the most interesting point of the drive. If the Rams win, then there was a three-play sequence that decided the game. The Bills elected to accept a 10-yard holding penalty in hopes they could keep the Rams out of field goal range.  But Los Angeles ended up with an even better situation on fourth down. Had the Bills declined the penalty, they would've had to defend a fourth-and-6. The Rams instead landed a fourth-and-5. And Los Angeles went for it and converted it. It was a gutsy call from coach Sean McDermott (to take the penalty) — followed by an even gutsier call from coach Sean McVay. And McVay won out on this particular drive.

Henry McKenna: Remember what I said about Matthew Stafford showing up Josh Allen? Yeah … not so fast.

The Rams have done everything they can to keep the ball away from Allen, but the Bills managed to get a three-and-out in the fourth quarter and Buffalo's QB managed to bookend it with a pair of touchdowns. This is how comebacks come together, with the defense and offense getting on the same page to play complementary football. A touchdown leads to a defensive stop leads to another touchdown. And because Allen is generating nonstop yards with both his legs and his arm — including finding space downfield after struggling there earlier in this game — the Bills are back in this game.

Allen's fifth total touchdown of the day was a 21-yard touchdown pass to Mack Hollins that cut the Rams' lead to 38-35 with 8:49 remaining, giving them plenty of time to complete the comeback. 

Aided by a questionable horse collar penalty, the Bills quickly responded to the Rams' fifth touchdown of the game with a score of their own in the opening minutes of the fourth quarter. They drove 70 yards in five plays with Josh Allen connecting with Khalil Shakir on a deep pass along the sideline for a 34-yard gain that put the Bills on the Rams 1-yard line. On the next play, Allen ran into the end zone for a touchdown that cut the Rams' lead to 38-28 with 14:27 remaining.

Buffalo forced Los Angeles to go three-and-out on the ensuing possession, giving it the ball back 12:52 remaining. 

Henry McKenna: Matthew Stafford is showing up the MVP front-runner. At the end of the third quarter, the Rams QB delivered an absolutely beautiful throw to Cooper Kupp, who inexplicably ripped down the ball with a … thigh catch?!

But the fine details made the throw even more impressive. The FOX broadcast showed an amazing angle of Stafford's eyes. Tom Brady explained Stafford held eye contact on the right side of the field for as long as he could before turning to Kupp on the left. "He knows what he's got. Look right, hold the safety and just rip a dot," Brady said. Stafford played games with the Bills defense and created a massive throwing window in the typically tight red zone.

Tom Brady is fired up by Rams WR Cooper Kupp's ridiculous TD catch – 'Unbelievable' | NFL Highlights

You can't expect the Bills offense to stay quiet for too long. Amari Cooper came up with a sensational 26-yard grab on third down, and then on second-and-25, Josh Allen scrambled his way — in a very Josh Allen way — for 17 yards. 

On third down, he targeted Khalil Shakir, who broke free for a 51-yard touchdown to get the Bills back within 10 points. 

Tom Brady on Bills WR Khalil Shakir's 51-yard TD – 'You can't lose track of him' | NFL Highlights

Henry McKenna: The Rams' ground game isn't putting together the most efficient performance, but L.A. is getting the yardage it needs to move the chains or get into the end zone. Kyren Williams might only have 3.2 yards per carry at the midpoint of the third quarter, but he has a pair of touchdowns and a success rate on 40% of his carries. Blake Corum has it on 50% of his runs. And Puka Nacua has 100% on his three runs.

Those successful runs might not be putting up huge yardage for the Rams, but they have helped the team possess the football and eat away clock. L.A. knows that it needs to keep the ball out of the hands of Josh Allen, who has yet to eclipse 200 yards passing.

After the Bills went three-and-out for the first time of the afternoon, the Rams offense picked up where it left off. On third-and-10, Matthew Stafford found who else but Puka Nacua for the first down. 

"You can't guard a perfect throw and an A+ catch," Tom Brady said on the broadcast. 

After that, controversial offsetting penalties negated Demarcus Robinson's long catch:

Robinson landed hard on his shoulder and was declared questionable to return. 

Stafford would not be deterred, though. He went back to Nacua on another third down and then to Cooper Kupp on second down for a 37-yard gain.

"I love just watching him as a pure passer," Brady said. "He has no fears as a passer."

Three Kyren Williams runs later and the Rams were back in the end zone — and had their biggest lead of the game.

Henry McKenna: Credit to the Rams secondary at halftime. It's not easy to defend this Bills offense because of how long Josh Allen can keep the ball — and make throws that attack the parts of the field most QBs won't or can't. But Allen has tested the L.A. secondary in and out of structure and the Bills QB is struggling to find his wideouts. 

The stats show that Allen is thriving: 10-of-16 for 151 yards and a touchdown. But the MVP front-runner doesn't quite look like himself against this Rams defense. He is 0-of-3 on deep passes (20+ yards from the line of scrimmage) and 3-of-6 on intermediate balls (10-19 yards from the LOS). Allen has had to check the ball down and play it safe.

And even so, the Rams are winning the time-of-possession battle — big time. They've had the ball 19:55 over the first 30 minutes.

Henry McKenna: Should we revisit the conversation about the best WR tandem in the NFL? There's still a good one in Miami. The Bengals WRs are intimidating. And Minnesota just saw its top WRs put up five touchdowns today. 

But when Puka Nacua and Cooper Kupp are clicking, I think they're up there with the rest of them. L.A.'s wideouts have dealt with injuries this year, and perhaps that's why they've lost some of the love.

Nacua is their WR1. As the Rams scored their third touchdown of the game, Nacua was the offensive enzyme. He was dangerous after the catch, which he showed on his touchdown carry. 

He has some of the NFL's stickiest fingers, as he showed on the obscene toe-tap catch. And he has unique separation abilities, as he showed on a 16-yard pickup where the nearest defender was 5.6 yards away from him, per Next Gen Stats.

The Rams found themselves at midfield again, and they kept right on moving the ball, thanks in part to a toe-tapping catch from Puka Nacua that Tom Brady could hardly believe. 

"You've got to be kidding me," he said in the booth, before calling it an "unbelievable" catch.
 

Henry McKenna: It felt like momentum might tip in the direction of the Rams after they blocked a punt from the Bills. But Buffalo's offense ensured the team didn't fall too far behind in this game. After the block-punt touchdown, it took only four plays for Allen and running back Ty Johnson to connect for a 41-yard touchdown. 

If there's one thing that Allen brings, it's electricity, folks. The dude is a big play waiting to happen, even if it's merely the way he handles the ball in selling the misdirection for a screen play.

LA's defense stepped up in a big way to force the Bills to punt, and then the special teams unit came up with their biggest play of the season. 

Jacob Hummel blocked the punt attempt, and then Hunter Long recovered the ball and ran it back for a touchdown — the Rams' first blocked punt return TD since 2018. 

Tom Brady breaks down Rams' TD after blocked punt – 'Need to win in all three phases' | NFL Highlights

"Just an awesome play for the Rams," Tom Brady said. 

"You can't understand how important game-changing plays like that are when you're the underdog," he added.

The Rams continued to run on the ball on their second drive, but this time they gave rookie Blake Corum the bulk of the carries. He toted the ball six times for 28 yards and helped LA reach the red zone. 

This time, however, the Rams stalled out and settled for the field goal to take a 10-7 lead early in the second quarter.

Henry McKenna: Just before this game started during the FOX pregame show, Tom Brady was saying that receiver Julian Edelman was Bill Belichick's favorite. Edelman was gritty, reliable and willing to do whatever it took for the team. I wonder if receiver Khalil Shakir isn't a favorite for coach Sean McDermott for all of the same reasons. 

And that's not where the comparisons stop between Shakir and Edelman. As a route-runner, Shakir has a similar je ne sais quoi. On the Bills' opening drive — which finished with a touchdown — Shakir picked up a pair of catches for 21 yards. On one of the catches, he dove headfirst toward a linebacker — securing the catch and somehow eluding contact. Pretty Edelman-ian, right?

The Bills were not fazed at all by the Rams' opening-drive touchdown. Josh Allen engineered his own long drive (nine plays, 70 yards) and QB-sneaked the ball across the goal line for Buffalo's first score of the game — and his seventh rushing touchdown of the year. 

Tom Brady reacts to Bills QB Josh Allen's TD to tie game vs. Rams | NFL Highlights

"When he knows the team needs a play, he wants the ball in his hands," Tom Brady said of Allen. 

Henry McKenna: The Rams opened this game by defying what we thought we knew about them. L.A. is the third-worst offense in the NFL on third down, with a 32.6% conversion rate. And yet in this hugely important matchup — where Buffalo's defense is no slouch — Mathew Stafford and company went 3-of-3 on third down. 

Stafford connected with receiver Puka Nacua on two of the third downs, with running back Kyren Williams converting the other.

Williams had seven carries for 27 yards on the drive and ran in, practically untouched, the 3-yard touchdown.

"That's exactly what they need to do. Make the Bills play run defense," Tom Brady said after Williams' touchdown. 

Henry McKenna: The Los Angeles Rams and Buffalo Bills are both eyeing the playoff seeding — but from different vantage points.

The Bills have already clinched their playoff spot, and they're hoping to land the No. 1 seed in the AFC if someone can help them out by beating the Kansas City Chiefs. Meanwhile, the Rams are rooting for a few teams to lose just so they can make the playoffs. At 10th in the NFC, L.A. has a 21% chance of making the postseason, per Next Gen Stats. That jumps to 31% with a win but drops to 14% with a loss.

Josh Allen is at the center of everything that Buffalo does. He and coach Sean McDermott are one of the most symbiotic tandems in the NFL. It's Allen's show on offense, supported by offensive coordinator Joe Brady. And it's McDermott's show on defense, supported by defensive coordinator Bobby Babich. Both guys have taken fairly unknown entities and made them into something special, whether it's cornerback Christian Benford, who deserves a Pro Bowl nod, or receiver Khalil Shakir, one of the most reliable slot players in the NFL. Everyone will say it's a team effort in Buffalo. But the truth of the matter is that the Bills would be nowhere without Allen. He has been nothing short of remarkable.

The Rams are a pesky team because of Sean McVay and Matthew Stafford — another tremendous tandem of coach and QB. There's no shortage of talent at key positions on offense: Stafford, Cooper Kupp, Puka Nacua, Kyren Williams. But this year, they fell into such a sizable hole with their 1-4 start that it simply made a playoff run unlikely. The defense has allowed the 11th-most points and eighth-most points this season. When the offense struggles, the defense occasionally lets the game get away from Stafford and McVay.

Tom Brady previews Bills vs. Rams in Week 14 | FOX NFL Sunday