Buffalo Bills Waste Stellar Josh Allen Game And Danger Lurks Ahead

What does it say about a team that has a quarterback who in one game throws for 342 yards and three touchdowns and runs for 82 yards and another three touchdowns … and losses?

That's the Buffalo Bills right now.

Josh Allen Has Career TD Game

Allen on Sunday became the first NFL player to deliver six TDs in a game and split the number between passes and runs. And that makes him a bonafide MVP candidate because he was in the conversation before this game and probably leads the debate now.

And yet it was an unhappy, almost apologetic Allen that met with reporters afterward.

"Hate losing," Allen said. "Got to make one more play than they do, however it may be. So, again, it was a total team loss, three phases. We feel like we didn't play up to our standard. It starts with me."

This game was a weirdo. It showcased Allen as perhaps the NFL's most dynamic quarterback. And the Bills as something of an enigma unable to translate great success to a victory.

The Bills come out of this game as a team that didn't play complementary football. And couldn't stop the Rams.

Dec 8, 2024; Inglewood, California, USA;  Buffalo Bills quarterback Josh Allen (17) runs the ball against the against the Los Angeles Rams during the first half at SoFi Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Gary A. Vasquez-Imagn Images

Bad News For The Bills Continues

They also came out looking kind of not totally together because they had nine players on the last play of the game – a punt that Los Angeles kicked to run out the clock. 

"We didn't have enough guys on the field," coach Sean McDermott admitted.

All of that is bad news considering the Bills visit the Detroit Lions next week in a road game they're likely going to be the underdogs. The Lions have won 11 consecutive games and present the Bills with the very definite possibility of losing consecutive games for the second time this season.

Not good.

"Yeah, I mean, they're the top dog in football right now," Allen said of the Lions. "They're playing extremely well, so we have to have a good week and put this one behind us. That was a good team we just played with a good quarterback, and they played with urgency."

This loss has the potential of costing the Bills home-field advantage in the postseason. They've been chasing the Kansas City Chiefs for the top seed and now fall two games behind the Chiefs.

That's important for the Bills because they suddenly look beatable on the road.

The Bills have a 6-0 record at Highmark Stadium in Orchard Park. They are 4-3 on the road. So, yes, this loss comes with narratives – none of them great for the team.

And, yes, that's a lot of stuff to pile on one team based on one game. But it all applies.

The Bills were just upset by a Rams team that entered the game with a .500 record. And against that otherwise middling ball club, the Bills had no idea how to keep Los Angeles out of the end zone.

Dec 8, 2024; Inglewood, California, USA; Los Angeles Rams running back Kyren Williams (23) scores a touchdown ahead of Buffalo Bills cornerback Christian Benford (47) during the second half at SoFi Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Gary A. Vasquez-Imagn Images

Allen Sounds Almost Apologetic

That's the reason this game featured an NFL season-high 86 points and 902 total yards.

Yes, Allen and the Buffalo offense accounted for 445 of those yards. But the defense yielded a whopping 457 yards to Matthew Stafford, Puka Nacua, Cooper Kupp and company.

The difference is the Rams came into this game as a bottom-third defense, yielding 359.5 yards per game. The Bills came into the game as a top-third defense, allowing only 321.6 yards per game.

This was not supposed to happen to Buffalo.

The stunning thing about this game is it turned Allen on himself. To hear him talk after the game, he blamed himself for the loss. 

"I got to find more completions," he said. "Got to be better for our guys."

And then …

"We got to come out with some urgency," Allen said of the offense's inability to score at the start of the second half. "I don't think at any phase of the game did we do that today."

Allen led an offense that had nine possessions and scored touchdowns on six of those. 

It all keeps Allen on an MVP arc. 

And leaves the Bills in a curious position.