Josh Allen did everything in his power to help the Bills come away with a win from Los Angeles. Becoming the first player ever in the league’s history to score 3 passing TDs and 3 rushing TDs, what more could you have asked from the Bills QB? Putting up more than 400 yards out of the total 445 yards the Bills got from their offense. They still couldn’t manage to win the game, courtesy of their lack of defensive prowess.
Falling short by 2 points, the Bills never really had control of the game. Within the first half, they didn’t even force the Rams to punt. But when it was their turn to punt, the Rams blocked it and instead returned it for a TD. Hunter Long’s 22-yard punt return helped the Rams race into a 10-point lead with 12:29 minutes remaining of the second quarter. Josh Allen did some damage control moments later by finding Ty Johnson for a 41-yard TD. But the Rams kept the score moving.
Going into the second half, LA had a lead of 24-14 that helped them control the rest of the game. Rams star receiver Puka Nacua was a menace to the Bills’ defense the whole afternoon. The 23-year-old finished with a staggering 12 catches for 162 yards, including a TD. To make things worse, the Rams, at one time, led by 31-14. So it was befitting that the Bills’ head coach, Sean McDermott, came out during the post-pressers and called out his defense for this embarrassing loss.
Opening up to the reporters, McDermott threw his defense under the bus, “defensively, special teams, neither were good enough.” Surely, when the offense has put up 42 points, and your QB played like an MVP of the league. You can’t really blame them, can you? The Bills’ defense gave up a whopping 457 total yards that eventually ended up hurting their chances of coming back.
But it isn’t like the Bills didn’t have a chance to stage a miraculous comeback. They could have done it if not for clock mismanagement, as pointed out by the GOAT himself.
Tom Brady questions Sean McDermott’s final play
The seven-time Super Bowl Champion was all too familiar when it came to fourth-quarter comebacks. During his playing days, Tom Brady led 46 of them, which still remains a record in itself. So when the rookie Fox analyst saw the Bills on the 1-yard line of scrimmage with little more than 1 minute left on the clock, he didn’t really fancy their chances. Well, the Bills were already trailing by 9 points, and they needed to score twice to pull off a sensational comeback. At that moment, Josh Allen tried a QB sneak play. But it didn’t really work out the way he would have hoped for.
And when things didn’t go their way, the Bills coach called for a timeout. This decision to call the timeout didn’t go down well in the eyes of Brady, who said, “To me, take three shots throwing it—don’t use a timeout. Then you can kick it deep, use your three timeouts to still get the football with good time. That changes the entire complexity of the last 1:02 of the game. I did not like that one bit. That could’ve just cost them the game right there.” Well, the fans rallied behind the thoughts of the seven-time Super Bowl Champion.
As one of them added, “Tom Brady is absolutely correct. The failed QB sneak was an awful call because you lost a timeout and now have to convert on the onside kick. Very stupid by the Bills.” Another user on X echoed Brady’s take on the Bills’ clock mismanagement, “Tom Brady correctly noted the Bills should have never run the football at the 1.” Although that decision may have cost the Bills a win for the ages in Los Angeles, they need to fill the gaps in their defense. Otherwise, it will be difficult for them to win in the postseason. Because we all know what they say: defense wins you titles.
