Five Key Things to Know About Bills at Rams in Week 5

On Monday night, the Los Angeles Rams will be hosting the Buffalo Bills for the third time in five years.

Joe Brady’s team is coming off its first loss of the season, falling to the visiting New England Patriots, 29-26. Meanwhile, Sean McVay’s Rams rallied late in the fourth quarter at Philadelphia to stun the Eagles, 24-20.

Obviously, it’s a very big game for both teams for a lot of reasons. The Bills look to avoid a second straight loss after a 3-0 start, while the Rams are already two games behind the 4-0 San Francisco 49ers and lost to Kyle Shanahan’s club in Australia, 27-7, in Week 1.

It’s especially important since on Sunday at Foxborough, Mike Vrabel’s surging club rolled to a resounding 45-17victory over the visiting Las Vegas Raiders. Simply put, a second consecutive setback by Brady’s bunch and the Bills and Pats would own identical 3-2 marks.

Bills vs. Rams history

This will actually be the fourth meeting in seven seasons between these interconference foes, and the third straight at SoFi Stadium. Two years ago, Josh Allen threw three touchdown passes and ran for three scores and it wasn’t enough to knock off McVay’s team as the Rams survived, 44-42.

The series dates back to 1970, with the Bills owning a 9-6 lead.

Ball security once again an issue for Bills

In 2024, Buffalo tied the NFL record for fewest turnovers in a season by a team (8). A year ago, after not giving up the football in their first three games, the club gave up the ball 25 times in their final 16 overall contests—including playoffs. They’ve committed seven turnovers in their last two games—compared to zero in the first two weeks.

Entering Week 5, only the defending champion Seattle Seahawks had allowed fewer total yards and fewer passing yards per game than Sean McVay’s club. The latter figure is somewhat surprising considering Chris Shula’s defensive unit has allowed a total of seven TD passes in four outing—two or more aerial scores in three of those contests.

Rams’ RB Kyren Williams bears watching

What’s in a number? Buffalo’s Greg Rousseau entered Week 5 with an NFL-high six sacks, and tied for the league lead with three forced fumbles. He’s also Pro Football Focus’ No. 6 edge rusher. Meanwhile, the Rams have done a pretty good job of keeping quarterback Matthew Stafford out of harm’s way. Yes, he’s only been sacked six times.

After four weeks of play, only six players in the league had amassed more total yards from scrimmage (467) than Rams’ running back Kyren Williams. He’s second on the team with 21 receptions, good for 173 yards and one touchdown. He also leads McVay’s club with 54 carries, 294 yards on the ground, and three rushing touchdowns.

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