The Los Angeles Rams pulled off a big shock on Sunday night, recording a stunning 44-42 win over theBuffalo Bills to silence the thousands of travelling fans who had made the long trip from wintry western New York to California.
It was a really impressive display on the offensive side of the ball as Matthew Stafford threw for 320 yards, two touchdowns and no interceptions. As good and as comfortable as Stafford looked, he was very well supported on a memorable night at SoFi Stadium.
Puka Nacua caught 12 passes for 162 yards and a touchdown; adding another score on a four-yard run. Cooper Kupp reeled in five balls for 92 yards and a touchdown and the Rams ran the football 42 times for 137 yards and three touchdowns.
Head coach Sean McVay served up a great gameplan for his offensive stars, but he was also able to handle their emotions in what was a crazy and fast-scoring game.
The Rams opened up some breathing room on Hunter Long's return of a blocked punt and once the touchdown-for-touchdown trading really heated up, there was quite often a 10-point gap between the teams.
But Buffalo's Josh Allen is inevitable and you just knew his comeback was just around the corner. Allen connected on a beautiful 21-yard touchdown pass to Mack Hollins with 8:49 remaining and it was a three-point contest. Pressure was surely mounting on Stafford now?
That's when McVay had to work double duty. He needed to calm his troops and then call the plays for them to succeed on the field. He did both in excellent fashion. Stafford and the Rams didn't blink, marching 71 yards in 11 plays, taking almost seven minutes off the clock.
The drive ended with Stafford throwing a 19-yard touchdown pass to Nacua with 1:54 remaining. There was a late Allen-led scramble from the Bills and an onside kick that failed, but that was essentially the moment when this dramatic contest was decided.
While the Rams were offensively brilliant throughout, spare a thought for Buffalo's Allen; who may have strengthened his league MVP case in a losing cause. Allen threw for 342 yards and three touchdowns with no picks. He rushed for 82 yards and three touchdowns. That's a total of 424 offensive yards and six touchdowns… and he still lost!
This was a well-played game and the highest-scoring in NFL history (86 points) in which there were no turnovers. And it was a reminder that when Stafford, Nacua and Kupp are on top form, the Rams can beat any team in the league. They sit one game behind the Seattle Seahawks in the NFC West and are very much alive in the race for that division.
Who's Hot…
Sam Darnold… Sunday was supposed to be about Kirk Cousins' return to Minneapolis where he spent six seasons as the starting quarterback of the Minnesota Vikings. But it was his 'eventual' replacement who stole the show. Sam Darnold has played his way out of a mid-season slump and was sensational in his team's Week 14 win over the Atlanta Falcons. Darnold threw for 347 yards, five touchdowns and no interceptions in 42-21 victory that gave the Vikings 11 wins on the season. What was so impressive was the fact that Darnold threw just six incompletions on the day. That was notable given that Minnesota were in attack mode and the veteran quarterback was stretching the field for much of the evening. The Vikings have made a firm investment in rookie quarterback J.J. McCarthy and this is very likely to be his team in 2025. And that is correct and makes sense, but it also makes me feel a little sad that Darnold won't get to keep working with Kevin O'Connell, I would imagine.
Tua Tagovailoa… The Miami Dolphins are still alive in the AFC playoff race having won four of their last five. They had to dig deep for Sunday's 32-26 overtime win against the New York Jets and it was a victory led by quarterback Tua Tagovailoa, who threw for 331 yards, two touchdowns and no interceptions. Tua has his critics, but you saw his value to the Dolphins when he was out of the line-up with a concussion. He led a late drive to tie the game on Jason Sanders' 52-yard field goal and marched Miami downfield on the first possession of overtime, ending the contest on a beautifully-lofted 10-yard pass to tight end Jonnu Smith. The explosive passing plays of 2022 and 2023 might have disappeared from the Miami attack, but Tua adapted wonderfully on Sunday with precise and accurate throws built on timing and anticipation and now his 6-7 Dolphins have to keep winning as they visit Houston in Week 15.
The Detroit Lions… As Jake Bates kicked his game-winning 35-yard field goal as time expired – giving the Detroit Lions a thrilling 34-31 victory over the Green Bay Packers – you could almost hear a huge sigh of relief from 70,000 fans inside a rocking Ford Field. It was my first time in that stadium and while the atmosphere was incredible, I sensed a nervousness among the long-suffering Detroit fans. But head coach Dan Campbell and his players didn't blink! Green Bay tied the game on a field goal of their own with 3:38 remaining. But even if they had scored a touchdown to go up by four, I would have backed the Lions to find the end zone on their final march. They were not to be denied, especially when Campbell went for it on fourth and one at the Packers' 21-yard line, turning down a makeable 38 or 39-yard field goal with 43 seconds remaining. Failure would have handed the ball back to Jordan Love with time to win the game, but so would have kicking the field goal at that point in the game. For the fifth time in the thrilling contest, Campbell rolled the dice on fourth down and was rewarded with a seven-yard David Montgomery run that set up the winning kick that gave the Lions an 11th win in a row. These are special times in the Motor City.
Who's Not…
Kirk Cousins… I'm worried about the form of Atlanta's veteran quarterback who tossed up two more interceptions in Sunday's loss to the Vikings. In four straight defeats, Kirk Cousins has now thrown no touchdown passes and eight picks. Part of the problem is not that his confidence has been damaged, it's that he remains too confident and tries to fit the ball into tight windows and busy coverages. He won't back down. Kirk saw decent returns from Ray-Ray McCloud and Darnell Mooney, but Kyle Pitts had just one catch that gave him two over his past three games. Meanwhile, Justin Jefferson and Jordan Addison were combining for 15 catches for 265 yards and five touchdowns for Cousins' old team.
The New York Giants… It's going to be a rough final month of the season for the New York Giants if Sunday's 14-11 home loss to the New Orleans Saints is any kind of indicator. The Big Blue struggled on offense for much of the game before rallying late to score on Tyrone Tracy's one-yard run with just over four minutes remaining. There was one more chance to tie the game and send the miserable contest into overtime but Graham Gano's 35-yard field goal was blocked. As the ball dribbled to a stop and Saints players celebrated, Giants fans held their heads in their hands and some buried their faces in their winter hats. Brian Daboll is running out of time in New York and it feels like another offseason of change beckons.
The Arizona Cardinals… Players across the NFL relish their bye week as it offers up a chance to heal bruises and to recover from the rigours of training camp and then the start of the season. But, for the Arizona Cardinals, their bye week proved to be more of a pain that any sprained ankle or pulled hamstring. The Cardinals entered their Week 11 bye with a 6-4 record that had them in first place in the NFC West. Since then, Kyler Murray has thrown five interceptions in a three-game losing slide. Two of those picks came in Sunday's 30-18 loss to a Seattle Seahawks team that has now won four straight to take over top spot in the division.
The Fast Five…
- With Atlanta losing their fourth in a row, the Tampa Bay Buccaneers took over the division lead in the NFC South with a 28-13 victory over the Las Vegas Raiders. Baker Mayfield threw three touchdown passes to power a third straight win for the Bucs, but the story of their past month has been the rushing game. That ground attack produced 152 yards and a touchdown on Sunday.
- We might as well not bother with the first 58 minutes of Kansas City Chiefs games. Let's just get to the final two minutes and see how they win this time! The Los Angeles Chargers played KC tough on Sunday Night Football and took a 17-16 lead with 4:35 remaining. Half that time would have been too much to leave Patrick Mahomes and he led KC to Matthew Wright's winning 31-yard field goal; clinching the AFC West for a ninth year in a row in the process. That's now 10 wins in one-score games for the Chiefs this season. The only concern? Mahomes took another beating behind a worrying line.
- The Pittsburgh Steelers moved to 10 wins on the season with a routine 27-14 victory over a Cleveland Browns team that had upset Mike Tomlin's men a couple of weeks earlier. It was Pittsburgh's 21st home regular season win over the Browns in a row. And it was impressive how the big plays were spread throughout the team. The Steelers sacked Jameis Winston three times and intercepted him twice. They rushed for 120 yards and Russell Wilson threw two touchdown passes in a complete team win.
- The Philadelphia Eagles can now join the Chiefs and Buccaneers on the list of teams who have been scared by the Carolina Panthers in recent weeks. The Eagles hung on for a 22-16 win that gave them a ninth straight victory, but Carolina almost stole the game as a diving Xavier Legette just failed to hold onto a Bryce Young pass that would have been a go-ahead touchdown with just 44 seconds remaining. The Panthers still have only three wins to their name, but they have been mightily impressive in their last five games.
- The San Francisco 49ers snapped their three-game losing streak in emphatic fashion on Sunday, romping to a 38-13 victory over a Chicago Bears team that allowed Caleb Williams to be sacked seven times. The season is now done for the Bears, but the Niners are still alive at 6-7. They are two games behind the Seahawks with four to play. Any late charge is going to require everyone on San Francisco's injury-hit roster to contribute. That was the case on Sunday as their five touchdowns came from Isaac Guerendo (2), Jauan Jennings (2) and Patrick Taylor – with all due respect, those are not front-line players for the Niners.
Fact of the Week
Buffalo's Josh Allen became the first player in NFL history with at least three touchdown passes and three rushing touchdowns in a regular season game. The feat had been achieved once before by Cleveland's Otto Graham, who had three passing touchdowns and three rushing scores in the 1954 NFL Championship Game.
Final Thought…
Week 14 was a great reminder that early narratives surrounding certain quarterbacks can be completely shattered and turned around if the passer in question can land in the right situation with a head coach who believes in him. Look at some of the quarterbacks who were victorious over the past weekend and think about their respective journeys for a second. Sam Darnold, Jared Goff, Baker Mayfield, Russell Wilson and Geno Smith – all cast aside by their original teams and, in some cases, by several teams. Heck, you could even add San Francisco's Brock Purdy to that list as every team in the league overlooked him time and again before he was the final selection in the 2022 NFL Draft. Quarterback redemption stories like those highlighted above have been some of the biggest stories of this and recent NFL seasons.
