As one of the sharpest minds in football, Los Angeles Rams coach Sean McVay knows a lot.
As for how to stop Josh Allen? To be fair, nobody really knows how to do that.
“If I had the answer, it would be a lot easier,” McVay said. “Everybody tries to figure that out week-in and week-out.”
Allen will try to maintain his dominance when the Buffalo Bills (10-2) visit the Rams (6-6) on Sunday afternoon.
The Bills have won seven games in a row, including 35-10 at home against the San Francisco 49ers last weekend. Buffalo already has clinched the AFC East title and is one game behind the Kansas City Chiefs for the No. 1 seed in the conference.
Meanwhile, the Rams have alternated wins and losses in the past five weeks. They are coming off a 21-14 road win against the New Orleans Saints.
McVay and the rest of the Rams’ coaching staff will have their hands full as they look to slow Allen, who is making a case for his first NFL Most Valuable Player award.
Allen has passed for 20 touchdowns with only five interceptions this season while posting a 100.3 passer rating. He also has rushed for 334 yards and six scores.
Last week against the 49ers, Allen got credit for two passing touchdowns, one rushing touchdown and one receiving touchdown. He threw only four incomplete passes.
“We’re having fun doing what we do,” Allen said. “At the same time, we’re very intentional about what we’re doing. …
“We understand we’re going all the way across the country to a team that’s very hungry. They’ve been playing really good football as of late. Their defensive line is one of the better units you’ll see. They’ve got a lot of dogs up front. I know they’re young up there, but (they have) some really, really good players, some studs over there on the defensive side of the ball.
“And then you’ve got one of the best quarterbacks, in my opinion, to play the game of football in Matt (Stafford). So we’ve got to be ready to go and ready for whatever they can throw at us.”
Stafford has passed for 17 touchdowns and seven interceptions this season for the Rams. He has relied on teammates such as Kyren Williams, who has 926 yards and 10 touchdowns on the ground, and Cooper Kupp, who has 565 yards and five touchdowns through the air in eight games.
For the Bills, James Cook leads the way with 703 rushing yards and 11 touchdowns. Allen’s top target in the passing game is Khalil Shakir, who has 60 catches for 629 yards and two touchdowns.
The Rams added to their defense this week when they claimed defensive back Emmanuel Forbes Jr. off waivers from the Washington Commanders. Forbes was the No. 16 overall pick in 2023 by Washington and started seven games overall but has started only one in 2024.
Forbes said he was excited to join his new teammates in Los Angeles.
“Be yourself and play with confidence — that’s one thing they said,” Forbes said. “They saw I wasn’t playing with confidence, and that’s one thing I’m looking forward to, just going out and playing ball.”
The Bills and Rams last met on Sept. 8, 2022, when Buffalo cruised to a 31-10 win. Allen completed 26 of 31 passes for 297 yards and three touchdowns, with two interceptions, and Stafford went 29-for-41 for 240 yards with one TD and three picks.
–Field Level Media