INGLEWOOD, Calif. -- In a game that felt like a must-win for the Rams, Los Angeles' young stars Kyren Williams and Puka Nacua delivered on Sunday in a 44-42 win over the Buffalo Bills.
The last time the Bills and Rams faced each other in 2022, Los Angeles was celebrating hanging its Super Bowl LVI banner. Buffalo ultimately spoiled L.A.'s festivities, winning in convincing fashion 31-10.
In the 2022 defeat, Williams only played one snap on special teams while Nacua was at BYU playing college football. Both were pivotal in Los Angeles' win this time, however, combining for more than 250 total yards and four touchdowns.
"(Nacua) was such an ignitor today," Rams coach Sean McVay said. "I thought obviously Matthew (Stafford) was in total command. I thought Kyren and Blake (Corum) had some really tough, hard-earned runs. Puka, for him to come up the way that he did to ultimately cap that drive off that put us up nine points. I would have loved to get the extra point there. … He was awesome and he's so physically, mentally tough. I love him. He's such an ignitor and it's one of the biggest compliments I can give somebody."
The Rams offense was fueled by Nacua, who had a season-high 162 receiving yards on 12 catches and two scrimmage touchdowns (one receiving and one rushing). The Rams Pro Bowl wide receiver contributed five rushes for 16 yards and a score. It is the most carries Nacua has had in his NFL career. Nacua entered Sunday's game with only four rushing attempts this season.
"Shoot, thanks coach McVay," a laughing Nacua told reporters, learning about McVay's postgame praise. "I feel like I got to give all the credit to the guys around me. It continues to be an all-11 effort in everything that we do in this offense. I know there are still parts in this game that I can improve on, especially in the run game."
After falling behind by 17 in the second half, the Bills responded with consecutive scoring drives to cut L.A's lead to 38-35 with 8:53 left in the fourth quarter. Stafford and the Rams offense remained calm, executing an 11-play, 71-yard scoring drive that was capped off by Nacua finding a gap in Buffalo's defense for a 19-yard touchdown with two minutes left in the game.
That score stood as the game-winner when Buffalo failed to recover an onside kick after Bills quarterback Josh Allen cut the lead to two with a 1-yard TD run.
The Bills clinched another AFC East title with last week's win over the 49ers, but their loss to the Rams makes it tougher on Buffalo to pass the Kansas City Chiefs for the No. 1 seed in the conference's playoff bracket after they improved to 12-1 with a win over the Los Angeles Chargers on Sunday night.
Meanwhile, Los Angeles snapped Buffalo's seven-game winning streak and moved up two spots in the playoff picture after Sunday's win. According to Next Gen Stats, the win over the Bills raised L.A.'s playoff probability to 30 percent. The Rams trail the Seattle Seahawks by one game in the NFC West race and the Washington Commanders by one game for the final wild-card spot.
"It tells us a lot. It tells us our toughness and that's kind of who we are as a team," said Williams, who had a career-high 29 carries with 87 rushing yards and a touchdown. "It doesn't matter who we play. I just look at everybody like a faceless opponent. I feel like we just have to go out there each and every Sunday and put on the best brand of football that we know how to play. Beating a team like this is a huge confidence boost for us, but we knew we were going to come in here and beat them, so we got to continue to keep going like that."
Los Angeles will need to turn the page quickly as it travels up to the Bay Area to face the San Francisco 49ers on Thursday night.
"We got to be able to move on. Guys are getting recovered right now," McVay said of facing the 49ers in a couple of days. "We have a great opportunity against the Niners. We know what a great opponent they are and we have to be ready to roll on Thursday night."
