The Rams are officially getting two key offensive linemen back on the practice field.
Los Angeles has designated Steve Avila and Jonah Jackson to return, opening their respective 21-day practice windows.
Avila has been sidelined by a knee injury and Jackson by a shoulder injury. Avila was injured in the Week 1 loss to the Lions and Jackson in the Week 2 loss to the Cardinals.
Head coach Sean McVay said earlier this week that Jackson appears closer to returning to play, though both linemen have a chance to be active in Week 10.
Right tackle Rob Havenstein, however, is unlikely to play this weekend after suffering an ankle injury in Sunday’s overtime win over the Seahawks.
The Rams will face the Dolphins on Monday night.
Parity shamarity.
Pete Rozelle’s vision of the NFL included no consistently dominant franchises and every team having a chance to win, as long as possible into every season. This year, that’s not the case.
Nine of 32 teams have two wins or fewer, through nine weeks. Seven of those teams have played nine games.
The nine two-win teams are Miami, New England, Cleveland, Jacksonville, Tennessee, Las Vegas, the Giants, Carolina, and New Orleans.
While none are eliminated yet, most will have to run the table or come close to it, since 9-8 has been the minimum to earn a wild-card berth, since the playoff field expanded to 14.
It’s bad for the league. Fan bases will check out by Thanksgiving. Seats will be empty. Overpriced (except in Atlanta) food and beer won’t be sold. Kids won’t have jerseys of their favorite player from their favorite NFL team on their Christmas list, right behind Fraggle Stick Car.
The Rams will likely be missing one key piece of their offensive line in Week 10 but reinforcements are on the way for the unit.
Via multiple reporters, head coach Sean McVay said in his Monday news conference that right tackle Rob Havenstein is likely to miss the upcoming Monday night contest against the Dolphins.
Havenstein suffered a sprained ankle during Sunday’s victory over the Seahawks. But Havenstein could potentially return for Week 11, so placing him on injured reserve is not under consideration.
The Rams will also open the 21-day practice windows for interior linemen Steve Avila and Jonah Jackson this week. Both Avila and Jackson have a chance to play on Monday night, though Jackson appears to be closer to playing.
While Warren McClendon replaced Havenstein on Sunday, the Rams could also start Joe Noteboom in Havenstein’s place at right tackle.
The final score was closer than some of the Dolphins’ past games with the Bills, but the result was still the same.
Bills kicker Tyler Bass’s 61-yard field goal at the buzzer gave Buffalo a 30-27 home win that moved them to 6-1 against their divisional foes since Mike McDaniel was hired as the head coach in Miami. The Dolphins had battled back to tie the game twice in the second half before Bass hit the game-winning kick and McDaniel tried to focus on the positives that can come out of the effort.
“There’s no moral victories,” McDaniel said, via a transcript from the team. “We lost as a team, and you want all three phases to look at it like they could have been the reason that we won. But there is growth and you do make sure you emphasize that, because you want that to continue. You don’t want it to take a step back. . . . This will hurt, but that doesn’t necessarily mean it’s a bad thing in the big picture. It just depends on what you do with it. I think the guys are motivated.”
Quarterback Tua Tagovailoa said, via Barry Jackson of the Miami Herald, that he thought the game showed “we are taking a step in the right direction,” but slow progress isn’t going to get it done at this point. The Dolphins are 2-6, which leaves them with a lot of ground to make up and no margin for error as they embark on the back half of their schedule.
In Buffalo on Sunday, redemption is spelled B-A-S-S.
Bills kicker Tyler Bass has struggled in 2024, missing another extra point in Sunday’s game and doinking an extra point off the left upright that still ended up going through.
But none of that mattered at the end of the game, as Bass nailed a career-long 61-yard field goal with just five seconds left in regulation to give the Bills a 30-27 victory over the Dolphins.
Entering Sunday’s game, Bass had missed two extra points and was just 3-of-6 on field goals of at least 40 yards this season. But the Bills still elected to give him the opportunity to win the game from that distance instead of going for a Hail Mary.
That decision by head coach Sean McDermott paid off.
The Bills and Dolphins had gone back and forth throughout the contest, with the teams trading blows throughout the second half.
Miami tied the game at 20-20 early in the fourth quarter with running back De’Von Achane’s 8-yard touchdown run. But Josh Allen put Buffalo back ahead with an impressive 2-yard touchdown pass to Quintin Morris. Allen had to evade the rush before flipping the ball to Morris just as he was getting hit.
In response, the Dolphins went down the field and got a 7-yard touchdown from quarterback Tua Tagovailoa to Jaylen Waddle. The receiver had just had an injury scare when he took a cleat to the back of his leg, but shook it off to get back in the game in time to score.
On Buffalo’s ensuing drive, former Bills safety Jordan Poyer was flagged for an unnecessary roughness penalty on third down to keep the drive alive on third-and-9. But once the Bills reached Miami’s 43-yard line, they couldn’t get any more yards.
That was no matter for Bass, whose previous long on a field goal was 58 yards.
Allen finished the game 25-of-39 for 235 yards with three touchdowns and one interception. Jalen Ramsey picked off Allen for his first INT of the season. Allen has thrown only two so far this year. Mack Hollins also had a touchdown reception in the game, as did running back Ray Davis — who took a swing pass 63 yards in the third quarter.
Tagovailoa was 25-of-28 for 231 yards with two touchdowns. Tyreek Hill caught four passes for 80 yards. Achane rushed for 63 yards and caught eight passes for 58 yards. Waddle finished with the bizarre stat line of two catches for -4 yards with one TD. Odell Beckham Jr. caught three passes for 15 yards.
With the win, the Bills keep firm control of the AFC East at 7-2. They will be on the road in Week 10 to face the Colts.
The Dolphins have now fallen to 2-6. They will be on the road to face the Rams next Monday night.
