Rams Clips
After a defensive battle in the first half, Josh Allen and Matthew Stafford have heated up.
The Rams just regained the lead on Stafford’s 2-yard throw to Puka Nacua with 14:16 remaining in the game. Los Angeles leads 20-19 after Stafford was sacked on the 2-point conversion.
Stafford threw completions of 28 yards to Tyler Higbee and 34 yards to Blake Corum on back-to-back plays to get the drive going.
He is 27-of-37 for 228 yards and two touchdowns.
Bills safety C.J. Gardner-Johnson was injured after making the tackle on Corum on his catch. He appeared to injure his knee.
The Bills have ruled out right tackle Spencer Brown.
The Bills regained the lead with a nine-play, 61-yard drive.
Josh Allen threw his first touchdown pass of the night, hitting Keon Coleman for a 7-yard score and a 19-14 lead. It was set up by a defensive holding penalty on Jaylen Watson after the Rams had Allen stopped on a 9-yard scramble on third-and-goal from the 13.
The Bills also got a 21-yard defensive pass interference penalty on Quentin Lake, who was covering Coleman, on first-and-20.
In addition, James Cook’s fumble was originally awarded to the Rams before officials changed the call. They gave the ball back to the Bills.
The Bills opted to go for 2 points, but Alec Anderson had a false start. They then decided to kick the extra point, but Tyler Bass missed the 38-yard try.
The Bills are 0-for-2 on 2-point conversions this season and 3-for-12 over the past three seasons.
The Rams had not scored on an opening possession of the first half or the second half this season until Monday night.
Blake Corum’s 1-yard touchdown run completed a nine-play, 60-yard drive that returner Alex Bachman set up with a 32-yard kickoff return to the Los Angeles 40.
The Rams lead 14-13.
The Rams went for it on fourth-and-1 from the Buffalo 35 when Tyler Higbee was called for a false start. Higbee made up for it with a 10-yard catch on fourth-and-6.
Higbee also drew a 17-yard pass interference penalty on Cole Bishop in the end zone that set up Corum’s touchdown run.
Matthew Stafford is 21-of-30 for 144 yards with a touchdown.
The Rams have Matthew Stafford. The Bills have Josh Allen.
The first half was all defense as the teams combined for 270 total yards, one play over 20 yards, 20 points, one punt, one turnover and one missed field goal.
The Bills lead 13-7 at halftime.
Buffalo scored on its first three possessions, failing to score a touchdown after a 70-yard opening kickoff return from Ray Davis and after a 10-play, 55-yard drive to the Los Angeles 5. Tyler Bass kicked field goals of 49 and 23 yards. James Cook finally got the Bills in the end zone on a 17-yard run.
Allen threw a deep interception on the Bills’ final possession of the half. He finished the first half 4-of-7 for 60 yards as the Bills gained 128 yards.
Cook rushed for 55 yards on nine carries and caught a pass for 7 yards. Allen rushed for 21 yards on three carries.
The Rams gained 143 yards as Stafford went 16-of-23 for 99 yards and a touchdown. Davante Adams caught Stafford’s 4-yard touchdown throw.
Puka Nacua has five catches for 32 yards and nearly caught up to a 49-yard throw by Stafford to the end zone on the final play of the half.
Aaron Donald’s first sack of the season was negated by an illegal contact penalty on cornerback Trent McDuffie.
The Bills have had the ball three times. They have three scores.
Buffalo scored its first touchdown on James Cook’s 17-yard touchdown run, giving the Bills a 13-7 lead with 5:09 remaining until halftime.
Cook has eight carries for 53 yards.
He has 474 rushing yards and four touchdowns this season. Cook’s 474 rushing yards are the fifth-most in team history through five games.
Josh Allen has thrown only five passes, completing three for 53 yards.
Tyler Bass kicked field goals of 49 and 23 yards on the Bills’ first two drives. Kickoff returner Ray Davis set up the first field goal with a 70-yard return on the opening kickoff.
The Bills list right tackle Spencer Brown (back) as questionable to return. Brown is in the training room. Tylan Grable has replaced him.
The last time the Rams played on Monday Night Football — in Week 2 against the Giants — Davante Adams caught eight passes for 195 yards and two touchdowns. He is off to a good start tonight against the Bills.
Adams’ 4-yard touchdown reception has given the Rams their first lead, 7-6, over the Bills.
Bills returner Ray Davis returned the opening kickoff 70 yards to the Los Angeles 26 before punter/kickoff specialist Ethan Evans pushed Davis out of bounds. The Bills, though, lost 5 yards and had to settle for Tyler Bass’ 49-yard field goal.
Rams kicker Harrison Mevis missed a 50-yard try after his team drove 53 yards in 14 plays.
The Bills increased their lead to 6-0 on Bass’ 23-yard field goal after the offense stalled at the 5.
That allowed the Rams to take the lead on their 14-play, 71-yard touchdown drive.
Matthew Stafford is 13-of-16 for 76 yards and a touchdown.
The Bills will not have wide receiver DJ Moore for Monday Night Football.
Moore is among the team’s inactives, sitting out after aggravating an AC sprain in his left shoulder.
He has 12 catches for 178 yards and a touchdown this season.
Cornerback Dee Alford (ankle) also will not play.
Rookie wide receiver Skyler Bell and rookie cornerback Jalon Kilgore are active for the first time. Kilgore could join Damar Hamlin in helping replace Alford in the nickel.
The Bills’ other inactives are wide receiver Joshua Palmer (shoulder), offensive lineman Jude Bowry, offensive lineman Ar’maj Reed-Adams, defensive lineman Ed Oliver (knee) and defensive lineman Landon Jackson (knee).
The Rams will have safety Quentin Lake, who was questionable with a hip injury.
Their inactives are wide receiver C.J. Daniels, quarterback Ty Simpson, defensive end Larrell Murchison, offensive lineman Bill Murray and tight end Max Klare.
The Bills announced a handful of roster moves ahead of Monday night’s game against the Rams.
They have elevated wide receiver Trent Sherfield and defensive lineman Phidarian Mathis from the practice squad on a temporary basis. They also signed cornerback Anthony Kendall to the active roster from the practice squad and released linebacker Mike Danna.
Sherfield’s addition comes with Joshua Palmer ruled out and DJ Moore listed as questionable. Sherfield signed with the Bills in March and returned to the practice squad after final cuts this summer. He has 89 catches for 1,034 yards and six touchdowns in 124 career games.
Mathis gives the Bills additional depth with Ed Oliver sidelined by a knee injury. He had 13 tackles in six games for the Bills last season.
The Cardinals lost their franchise-record ninth straight home game on Sunday, in blowout fashion to the Lions. After landing on the wrong side of a 45-21 final score, first-year coach Mike LaFleur was asked whether he’s considering a quarterback change.
“I’ve got way too many other things, you know, that I need to correct right now,” LaFleur told reporters. “Jacoby [Brissett] was not the problem. We were a problem as a team today. And, again, that starts with me.”
The Cardinals, after winning in Week 1 at the Chargers, have now lost four in a row. The Cardinals last won at home on September 14, 2025.
Next week, the face the Rams in L.A. Then, the Broncos comes to town. After that, the Cardinals visit the Cowboys. Then, the Cardinals go to Seattle. After that, the Rams visit. After that, the Cardinals play the Chiefs in Kansas City.
That 1-4 record could end up being 1-10 before the Commanders arrive in Week 12. With Arizona’s bye not coming until Week 14, the time could be coming for a flip from Brissett to rookie Carson Beck, if only to let the Cardinals evaluate whether they should ride with Beck in 2027 or target a quarterback with what could be a top-five pick in the 2027 draft.
The update that Rams coach Sean McVay promised on Monday to deliver on Thursday regarding defensive end Myles Garrett arrived on Saturday.
Garrett, who landed on injured reserve after Week 1 due to knee surgery, can return to practice after Week 5, the fourth game he’ll miss. The Rams currently don’t plan to open his practice window.
“He’s making good progress, but what I will say is he’s not ready to say whether we’ll open that window or not,” McVay told reporters on Saturday. "[T]he surgery went really well. He’s making good progress as far as what that timeline looks like. It’s week to week in terms of how he feels, but I would say it’s more likely that we do not start his clock next week. When I talk to Neal ElAttrache, and I think it’s a great way to articulate it, there’s a difference between return to play and return to performance. When you do something like this, let’s put him in a good position to return to performance. Part of that will be once he gets to those benchmarks where he’s hitting all the benchmarks that we want, then let’s physically put him in a position to do things that are in alignment with playing football, see how the knee responds, which we expect it to respond well and then that’s when you can really start talking about, ‘Okay, he’s going to play for us,’ and things of that nature.”
McVay also was asked whether the lack of practice time in training camp will be a factor in the decision.
“I think a lot of that was because we were trying to manage a situation that we’re hoping to be able to work through,” McVay said. “A lot of that really stemmed from the irritation in the knee so hopefully that’s gone and it’s really, how quickly can the alien get up to speed for us? But, no, I think because we got that fixed and because he’s feeling so good, I think that’ll be an accelerated process. Him actually doing football-related activities and drills will be very important for us to put him in a position to join the group and be the guy that we’re accustomed to seeing and that he wants to be for this team as well.”
Garrett apparently ignored the knee issue until he got into the game against the 49ers in Australia and realized it wasn’t something he could play through. That resulted in the fairly quick decision to have the knee surgically repaired, with the goal of getting the 2025 NFL Defensive Player of the Year up to speed and ready to do what the Rams hope he’ll be able to do.
With Garrett unlikely to return to practice this week, that means he’ll miss the Week 6 game against the Cardinals. After that, the Rams play the Raders, Chargers, Chargers, Commanders, and Cardinals again before their Week 11 bye.
