Buffalo lost for the first time this season on October 4, 29-26 at home to New England, and the next stop is a cross-country trip to Southern California. The Bills play the Rams in Inglewood on Monday night, the only NFL game of the day. Los Angeles are 2-2 and have gone loss, win, loss, win since September. Bills vs Rams also has some recent history: the last two meetings were both played in this same stadium, and they finished 31-10 and 44-42.
At a glance
- When: Monday, October 12, 8:15 p.m. Eastern (00:15 UTC Tuesday)
- Where: SoFi Stadium, Inglewood, California
- On TV: ESPN and ABC
- Records: Buffalo 3-1, Los Angeles 2-2
- Last meeting: Rams 44-42, December 8, 2024
- Series: one win each since 2022, both at SoFi Stadium
What happened the last two times Bills vs Rams was played?
The first of the two was on a Thursday night, September 8, 2022. Buffalo won 31-10 at SoFi Stadium, a 21-point margin.
The second, on December 8, 2024, was the opposite kind of game. The Rams won 44-42 in a 4:25 p.m. Eastern kickoff, and the two teams scored 86 points between them. Over the two games Buffalo has still scored more, 73 points to 54, but the series since 2022 stands at one win apiece.
Monday will be the third straight meeting at SoFi Stadium. For the Rams it is a return home after two weeks on the road, at Denver and at Philadelphia.
How have the Bills got to 3-1?
Mostly by scoring. Buffalo opened with a 36-31 win at Houston on Sunday, September 13, then beat Detroit 41-31 at home four days later on a Thursday night. A 24-16 win over the Chargers on September 27 followed. After four games they have 127 points, or 31.8 a game.
The defense has had a harder time. Two of the first four opponents scored 31, and the Bills have allowed 107 points in all, 26.8 a game. Their point differential was +23 after three weeks, and the New England loss took it to +20.
Buffalo lost the New England game by three. Both teams come into Monday off a Sunday game on October 4, so each has had eight days between games.
Josh Allen has completed 79 of 119 passes (66.4%) for 1,039 yards, with 6 touchdowns and 3 interceptions. James Cook has done a lot of the work on the ground: 421 yards on 70 carries, 6.0 a carry, with 3 touchdowns. As a team Buffalo runs for 139.0 yards a game and has converted 53.3% of its third downs.
What has gone right and wrong for the Rams?
Their season started on the other side of the world. The opener against San Francisco on Thursday, September 10 was played at the Melbourne Cricket Ground in Australia, and the 49ers won 27-7.
Since then the pattern has held. The Rams beat the New York Giants 28-6 on Monday, September 21, lost 30-26 at Denver, and won 24-20 at Philadelphia on October 4. They have scored 85 points and allowed 83, so after a month the point differential is +2.
Matthew Stafford has 1,189 passing yards, the most of either quarterback in this game, on 99 of 162 attempts (61.1%). He has thrown 6 touchdowns and 6 interceptions. Davante Adams is his main target with 22 catches for 390 yards, 17.7 a catch, and 2 touchdowns. Kyren Williams has 294 rushing yards on 54 carries (5.4 a carry) and 3 touchdowns.
The two wins came by a combined 26 points and the two losses by a combined 24, which is how a 2-2 team ends up so close to even.
Turnovers are the weak spot. The Rams have given the ball away 8 times and taken it away 3 times, a margin of -5. Buffalo is at -2.
How do the numbers compare after four games?
| Season so far | Buffalo | Los Angeles |
|---|---|---|
| Points per game | 31.8 | 21.3 |
| Points allowed per game | 26.8 | 20.8 |
| Total yards per game | 398.8 | 427.3 |
| Passing yards per game | 259.8 | 300.5 |
| Rushing yards per game | 139.0 | 126.8 |
| Third-down conversions | 53.3% | 43.1% |
| Sacks by the defense | 10 | 7 |
| Sacks allowed | 9 | 6 |
| Turnover margin | -2 | -5 |
The odd line is the first one against the third. Los Angeles gains 28.5 more yards a game than Buffalo yet scores 10.5 fewer points. The passing game accounts for the yardage edge: 300.5 yards a game for the Rams against 259.8 for the Bills, while Buffalo runs for 12.2 more a game. The third-down rate and the turnovers explain a good part of that gap. On the other side of the ball the Rams have been the stingier team, allowing 6.0 fewer points a game.
All of these numbers come from four games, and one Rams game was played in Australia, so treat them as a snapshot.
Who leads each team so far?
On defense, Greg Rousseau has 6 of Buffalo's 10 sacks. Byron Young leads the Rams with 3.5. The top tacklers are close: Dorian Williams has 32 for the Bills and Quentin Lake 31 for the Rams.
In the passing game, Dalton Kincaid leads Buffalo with 15 catches for 270 yards and a touchdown. Allen has thrown 43 fewer passes than Stafford, which says something about how much the Bills have leaned on Cook and the run.
Monday's kickoff is 5:15 p.m. at the stadium in California, which is the same moment as 8:15 p.m. Eastern. The Bills play on the road for only the second time this season after the Houston opener, and the Rams are home for the first time since September 21.
Buffstreams lists the game on its NFL page with the kickoff shown on your own clock, and the Bills at Rams game page opens from there.
