Rams Winners and Losers: Special Teams, Sean McVay Come Up Short in Overtime Loss to Bills

The Los Angeles Rams lost to the Buffalo Bills on Monday Night Football in overtime, 37-34. Matthew Stafford is now the only quarterback to lose after throwing for at least 370 yards and three touchdowns with zero interceptions over the last two years, and it’s happened four times. The Rams had enough good individual performances to win the game, but they were once again doomed by special teams. Here are the winners and losers from Monday’s game.

Loser: K Harrison Mevis

At some point, the Rams are going to have to make a change at kicker, and it wouldn’t be surprising to see that happen this week. Mevis has missed two field goals, one of which was blocked, in the last two games. On Monday night, Mevis missed one wide left from 50 yards and then had the game-winning kick blocked in overtime. He’s now 4-for-8 in his career from 45 yards or longer. It’s simply not a world that the Rams can live in. Mevis is good from inside 45 yards, but that’s not good enough in the modern NFL in which kickers are regularly making kicks from that distance.

Loser: Sean McVay

For the most part, Sean McVay was coaching a great game. After the offense scored just seven points in the first half, his adjustments seemed to pay off. The Rams’ offense scored a touchdown on all but one drive in the second half. Where McVay falls into the loser category is with his late-game management. Given how well the offense was playing, an argument can be made that they should have gone for two at the end of the game. In overtime, McVay got conservative and seemed to be content with a 48-yard field goal.

there is no reason to get conservative with Mevis as your kicker and the way the Rams offense is dominating
— Gregg Rosenthal (@greggrosenthal) October 13, 2026

Winner: Matthew Stafford

After some inconsistency in the first four games of the season, the Rams could not have asked for a better performance from Matthew Stafford. Stafford completed 40 passes for 383 yards and threw three touchdowns. He led the offense down the field to tie the game at the end of regulation to force overtime. This was a winning effort from Stafford, and it’s a shame that the Rams couldn’t reward that performance with a win.

Loser: Rams Defense

It’s true that the Bills’ offense and Josh Allen are very good. At the same time, the Bills punted once the entire game. The secondary took away any downfield passing game, but Josh Allen and James Cook combined for 232 yards rushing. The Bills had a touchdown drive that went for 80 yards in five plays. On that drive, the only pass that Allen threw beyond the line of scrimmage was on the two-point conversion. For most of the night, the defense didn’t tackle well in space and didn’t stop the run. When they got pressure on Allen, they didn’t finish. If the defense plays better, the Rams win comfortably.

Loser: Complementary Wide Receivers

Puka Nacua was the entire Rams’ offense on Monday night against the Bills. He had a career-high 17 receptions on 24 targets. Davante Adams had some moments, but it’s surprising he wasn’t more involved. Additionally, Konata Mumpfield played just one offensive snap the entire game and has fallen behind Tutu Atwell. Atwell also had just one catch. Nacua is a great player, but that type of workload isn’t sustainable.

Winner: WR Puka Nacua

Speaking of Nacua, he’s a clear winner from this game. Coming into Monday night, Nacua was 86th in the NFL in receptions. He’s now seventh. Nacua’s 17 receptions are a career-high. In both games since his return, he’s had over 100 yards receiving and been a major part of the offense. Nacua looks to be healthy and playing like himself, which is a good thing. At the same time, the Rams can’t continue using him at this pace without risking injury.

Add us as a preferred source on Google