The shootout at SoFi Stadium.
That’s perhaps the best way to describe the last time the Rams played host to the Buffalo Bills.
It was Week 14 in 2024, and Bills quarterback Josh Allen was on his way to winning the NFL most valuable player award. Though it came in a losing effort, his performance against the Rams provided a resume highlight.
Allen passed for 342 yards and three touchdowns and rushed for 82 yards and three touchdowns in a 44-42 defeat.
Allen returns to SoFi Stadium on Monday night to face the .500-but-still-Super Bowl-favorite Rams.
“A very, very special and troublesome player to defend,” Rams coach Sean McVay said.
The game features a matchup between the last two NFL MVPs — Allen and Rams quarterback Matthew Stafford.
Stafford, 38, has passed for six touchdowns, with six interceptions. The Rams are 2-2 after Stafford directed two fourth-quarter touchdown drives for a 24-20 victory over the Philadelphia Eagles.
Allen, 30, has passed for six touchdowns, with three interceptions, and has rushed for seven touchdowns for a Bills team that is 3-1 and coming off a 29-26 defeat by the New England Patriots.
Allen, 6 feet 5 and 237 pounds, is a “one-of-a-kind player at the quarterback position,” Stafford said.
“Size, speed, ability to throw the ball, all the things you’d want,” Stafford said. “He’s a big-time player. It’s fun to watch.”
But difficult to stop.
In three games against the Rams, Allen has passed for 10 touchdowns and rushed for five.
As a member of the Kansas City Chiefs, Rams cornerback Trent McDuffie faced Allen three times during the regular season and twice in the playoffs.
“He has an answer for everything,” said McDuffie, an All-Pro acquired by the Rams in March. “Some quarterbacks stay in the pocket, and it comes down to timing. With him it can be five seconds, two seconds, 10 seconds, 12 seconds — you just never never know. That’s the hardest part going against him as a defensive back is you just never know when the ball is coming.”
Or whether it will be thrown at all.
“You can’t just run up the field and create vertical seams — he’ll take advantage of that,” Rams edge rusher Byron Young said. “You can’t be afraid to rush either. You can’t say, ‘Oh, I’m going to wait and see which way he goes.’ You’ve got to be smart about it.”
Rams defensive lineman Kobie Turner injured his elbow attempting to arm tackle Allen in 2024.
“That joker is a big boy, for sure,” Turner said, laughing.
Allen, Turner said, is one of the few NFL quarterbacks that will “put the game on their back” to try and help their team win.
“For better or worse, right, you’ve seen all the good games that he’s had, where he was able to successfully complete a comeback or successfully win his team a game,” Turner said. “And then you’ve seen, all right, he puts the ball in danger.
“It’s kind of like, you don’t know which one you’re going to get. But as a defensive line, it’s exciting too. Because when you have a quarterback who’s going to try and make the plays himself, they stay alive a little bit longer so you have a better opportunity for sacks. But then the hard part is you’ve got to get him down.”
In 2020, Rams defensive lineman Aaron Donald sacked Allen twice in a 35-32 loss to the Bills in Buffalo. In 2022, Donald sacked Allen once in a 31-10 season-opening blowout defeat that started the Rams’ historic Super Bowl hangover.
Donald was retired in 2024 and missed the shootout between the teams. But he rejoined the Rams before the season. A back injury sidelined him against the Eagles, but he will return to the lineup on Monday night.
Donald, a Pittsburgh native, referenced former strong-armed Steelers quarterback Ben Roethlisberger when discussing Allen.
“I call him a futuristic Big Ben,” Donald said. “More athletic, harder to tackle, a lot faster, able to move a lot differently. … You have to find ways to keep him in the box, make sure when you get your hands on him, make sure you get him down to the ground.
“Don’t let him stiff arm you and be able to look downfield and throw a touchdown.”
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