A 3-1 Start With One Hard Lesson

Nobody in Western New York needs to be told that the Bills are 3-1. But the way they got there, and the way the one loss happened, is worth a slow walk through before Monday night, October 12, when Buffalo travels to Inglewood, California to face the Los Angeles Rams on ESPN and ABC. Kickoff is 8:15 p.m. Eastern, which is 5:15 on the West Coast.

Three weeks of the season looked like a team firing on every cylinder. Then came a Sunday afternoon in Orchard Park that went sideways in the final five minutes. Both things are true at once, and that's the story of where the Bills are right now.

Houston and Detroit: Two Shootouts to Open the Year

The Bills opened on the road on Sunday, September 13 and came out of Houston with a 36-31 win. It wasn't a quiet one. Buffalo needed every one of those points.

Four days later came the night everyone in the region had been waiting for. On Thursday, September 17, the Bills played the first regular-season game at the new Highmark Stadium, a primetime Thursday night kickoff against the Detroit Lions. Josh Allen punched in a 1-yard touchdown run early, then threw a 43-yard touchdown to Palmer, then found Knox from a yard out, and just like that it was 21-0 in the second quarter. Buffalo led 27-7 before Detroit started chipping away.

The Lions made it interesting late, with Jared Goff throwing four touchdown passes, but the Bills held on for a 41-31 win. The numbers tell the story of how. Buffalo ran for 203 yards, piled up 446 total yards, did not turn the ball over once, and sacked Goff four times. Not a bad way to christen a new building.

The Chargers and a Number That Jumped Off the Page

On Sunday, September 27, the Chargers came to Highmark and left with a 24-16 loss. It was the Bills' third straight win to open the season. Add it all up and through those first three weeks Buffalo led the entire NFL in scoring at 33.7 points per game.

That's the context for everything that came next. This is an offense that had been averaging more than 33 points a game and a team that looked like it could beat you in whatever way you let it.

Four Minutes in Orchard Park

Then came Sunday, October 4, and the New England Patriots. For most of the afternoon it was a back-and-forth game. The Patriots scored first. Buffalo answered with a James Cook touchdown run, then a Josh Allen 2-yard rushing score just before halftime, and Tyler Bass added a field goal to make it 17-14 at the break.

Late in the fourth quarter, Allen hit Keon Coleman deep down the middle for a 34-yard touchdown, and Buffalo led 26-21 with under five minutes to play. Buffalo's two-point try after that touchdown failed, so the lead stayed at five.

Drake Maye took the Patriots down the field and found Efton Chism III in the back of the end zone for a one-handed touchdown catch with 1:50 left. Maye then connected with Rhamondre Stevenson on the two-point conversion, flipping a five-point deficit into a 29-26 lead. Buffalo had no answer. New England finished with 405 total yards and 26 first downs, both season highs for the Patriots, while the Bills' ground game managed just 91 yards. It was Buffalo's first loss of the year and the first loss in the new stadium.

Allen finished 23 of 33 for 253 yards with one touchdown and one interception, plus that rushing score. Coleman led the receivers with six catches for 116 yards and a touchdown. Cook carried 12 times for 75 yards and a touchdown. And on defense, edge rusher TJ Parker had five tackles, half a sack, and a forced fumble, while cornerback Dee Alford picked off a pass.

The Health Report: Keep an Eye on D.J. Moore

The Bills made two big moves in March. They traded a second-round pick, No. 60 overall, to the Bears for receiver D.J. Moore, and they signed outside linebacker Bradley Chubb to a three-year deal the next day. Both were designed to give Allen more weapons and the defense more pressure.

Moore is the question mark heading to Los Angeles. He had a shoulder injury back in Week 2 and reportedly aggravated it against the Patriots. With Moore ailing, Coleman stepped up in a big way on Sunday, and he may be asked to do the same again on Monday night. Whether Moore plays will be one of the first things Bills fans look for when the inactives drop.

The Rams: 2-2 and Not Backing Down

Los Angeles is 2-2, and each of its four games tells a different story. The Rams lost 27-7 to San Francisco on Thursday, September 10. They bounced back with a 28-6 win over the Giants on Monday Night Football on September 21. They lost 30-26 at Denver on Sunday night, September 27. And then on Sunday, October 4, they went into Philadelphia and won 24-20.

Monday will be the Rams' fourth primetime game in five weeks. And the history between these teams is vivid. When the Bills last visited SoFi Stadium on December 8, 2024, the Rams held on for a wild 44-42 win. Allen scored six total touchdowns that night, in what turned out to be an MVP season, and it still wasn't enough. Wide receiver Puka Nacua had 12 catches and 162 yards in that game.

The Rams' own preview of Monday's game points to the ground game as the thing to watch. Los Angeles is averaging 4.8 yards per carry, tied for fifth in the league. Buffalo is averaging 5.1, which is third. Both teams have also leaned on heavy formations with extra tight ends, though the Rams have dealt with tight end injuries. Stopping the run, forcing the other team into long-yardage passing downs, and keeping Allen from escaping the pocket could decide who wins.

What Comes After Monday

Buffalo's schedule doesn't get easier after Los Angeles. The Bills head to Las Vegas to play the Raiders on Sunday, October 18. They return home to host Baltimore on Sunday, November 1. On Monday, November 9, it's another Monday Night Football road game, this time in Minnesota. Then comes the one a lot of people have circled. On Thursday, November 26, Buffalo hosts Kansas City on Thanksgiving night, the first time the franchise has ever hosted a game on Thanksgiving. And on Sunday, December 6, the Bills get their rematch with New England in Foxborough.

Where to Watch, and Where to Be

Monday Night Football, Bills at Rams, kicks off at 8:15 p.m. Eastern on Monday, October 12, on ESPN and ABC. For a lot of Western New York, that means a school night, a late finish, and a garage with the door cracked open and a heater going. Wherever you're watching, whether it's a bar, a basement, or a driveway on Grand Island, it's a game worth staying up for.

The Bills are 3-1. The loss hurt, but the offense still looks like one of the best in football, and they get a chance to respond on one of the biggest stages in the sport. Go Bills.