The Los Angeles Rams had already pulled one rabbit out of their helmet in Philadelphia last week.
asserted
Rams → pull → Philadelphia
On Monday night, they nearly did it again.
asserted
they → do → it
Trailing 34-27 in the final moments of regulation, Matthew Stafford orchestrated another dramatic fourth-quarter touchdown drive, pulling the Rams even with the Buffalo Bills at 34-34 and sending a wild Monday Night Football showdown into overtime at SoFi Stadium.
asserted
Stafford → trail → Stadium
After a James Cook III fumble deep in Rams’ territory was recovered by Aaron Donald, the Rams marched down the field for a game-winning field goal attempt.
asserted
Rams → recover → attempt
But once again their special teams unit let them down as the Harrison Mevis’ 48-yard field goal was blocked by Greg Rousseau and the Hollywood ending belonged to Josh Allen and Buffalo instead.
asserted
ending → let → Allen
After a heavyweight battle featuring eight lead changes and two ties in regulation, the Rams couldn’t finish the job in overtime, suffering another gut-wrenching defeat despite Stafford’s late heroics.
asserted
Rams → feature → heroics
First Down: Flag Day Comes Early for the Rams
The Rams already have yellow on their uniforms, but they’ve certainly become accustomed to seeing it all over the field as well.
After committing 10 penalties for 100 yards against Philadelphia last week, Los Angeles followed that embarrassing performance with another 11 penalties for 84 yards against Buffalo.
asserted
Angeles → come → Buffalo
That’s 21 penalties for 184 yards in two games, enough free real estate to make a Southern California land developer jealous.
asserted
developer → ’ → games
The Rams offense moved the football effectively against Buffalo’s secondary, particularly through the air.
asserted
offense → move → air
But holding calls, mental mistakes and undisciplined play repeatedly sabotaged promising possessions on both sides of the ball.
asserted
calls → sabotage → ball
NFL officials have already thrown more flags this season than ever before in history, but Monday night was another level.
asserted
night → throw → history
Both teams combined for 24 penalties and 196 yards.
asserted
teams → combine → penalties
Second Down: Special Teams? More Like Special Nightmares
Somebody might want to check whether the Rams’ special teams unit understands that the game starts at kickoff.
uncertain
game → want → kickoff
Buffalo’s Ray Davis returned Ethan Evans’ opening kickoff 70 yards, immediately putting the Bills in scoring position.
asserted
Davis → return → position
Although the Rams defense held Buffalo to a field goal, the damage was done.
asserted
damage → hold → goal
Then Harrison Mevis missed a 50-yard field goal wide left on Los Angeles’ opening possession, his second miss in consecutive games, but that was just the tip of the iceberg.
asserted
that → miss → iceberg
The Rams were ready for a walk-off win in overtime and another stunning comeback, but Mevis’ 47-yard field goal attempt to win the game was blocked by linebacker Greg Rousseau, and the Bills marched down the field and won the game with a FG of their own.
asserted
Bills → walk → own
New special teams coordinator Bubba Ventrone was hired to fix these problems, but five games into the season, the same mistakes continue haunting Los Angeles.
asserted
mistakes → hire → Angeles
Bad coverage, missed kicks and poor field position have become recurring characters in this increasingly painful production.
asserted
coverage → miss → production
At some point, Sean McVay needs more than explanations.
asserted
McVay → need → explanations
He needs solutions.
asserted
He → need → solutions
Third Down: Third Time’s a Charm, Until Allen Takes Off Running
Here’s the strange part about the Rams defense: Despite surrendering 37 points in the loss, Los Angeles continued its remarkable success on third down.
asserted
Angeles → ’ → down
After holding the Philadelphia Eagles to an astonishing 0-for-12 on third-down conversions last week, the Rams limited Buffalo to just 2-for-7 on third down on Monday night.
asserted
Rams → hold → night
That’s a combined 2-for-19 over two games against two dangerous offenses.
asserted
That → ’ → offenses
Unfortunately, those numbers didn’t tell the entire story.
asserted
numbers → tell → story
Allen repeatedly punished Los Angeles with his legs, rushing for a whopping 121 yards while Buffalo accumulated 234 rushing yards on the ground for the game.
asserted
Buffalo → punish → game
That’s not going to get it done.
asserted
it → go → ?
Donald returned, Watson was back in the secondary, and the Rams still struggled to keep Buffalo’s quarterback contained.
asserted
Rams → return → quarterback
Winning third down is impressive.
asserted
Winning → win → down
But it means considerably less when opponents are moving the chains before they even get there.
asserted
they → mean → chains
Fourth Down: Stafford Still Has That Hollywood Magic
Somebody should tell Matthew Stafford that sequels aren’t supposed to be this entertaining.
asserted
sequels → tell → Stafford
One week after engineering consecutive fourth-quarter touchdown drives to stun Philadelphia, the reigning NFL MVP delivered another dramatic comeback against Buffalo.
asserted
MVP → engineer → Buffalo
Trailing 34-27 in the closing moments of regulation, Stafford marched the Rams downfield and orchestrated the game-tying touchdown drive, giving Los Angeles new life when another defeat appeared inevitable.
asserted
defeat → trail → life
After throwing an interception in each of his first four games, Stafford finally protected the football against Buffalo while tossing at least three touchdown passes.
asserted
Stafford → throw → passes
More importantly, he continued answering every Buffalo scoring drive with one of his own.
asserted
he → continue → own
Whatever happens in overtime, one thing remains abundantly clear: Stafford still has that championship DNA, and the Rams are never truly finished as long as No. 9 has the football in his hands.
asserted
. → happen → hands
The Rams won’t have much time to recover from Monday night’s overtime marathon.
asserted
Rams → have → marathon
Los Angeles remains at SoFi Stadium for a short-week matchup against the Arizona Cardinals next Sunday at 1:05 p.m. PT.
asserted
Angeles → remain → PT
The game features a reunion with former Rams offensive coordinator Mike LaFleur, who returns to face Sean McVay and his former team.
asserted
who → feature → McVay
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asserted
News → download → newsletters
The Aporia
