Report Card Grades for Bills' NFL Week 5 Game vs. Rams

The roller-coaster ride continues for the Buffalo Bills, who found a way to edge the Los Angeles Rams in a prime-time thriller to move to 4-1 on Monday night.

It wasn't pretty, but the team showed plenty of gusto in a 37-34 overtime victory.

Here are my grades for all of the key players from the dramatic win.

If not for the fact that Allen made a handful of superhero plays with his legs that ultimately won Buffalo this game, he'd have earned a poor grade.

With his receiving corps and offensive line short-handed, Allen truly struggled as a passer. He completed just 12 throws with extremely limited air yards. He also missed Skyler Bell on what should have been a touchdown pass in the third quarter and made some questionable decisions throughout the evening.

None of that matters, however, because the man again carried the team on his back with the game on the line.

Allen led the game in rushing with 121 yards in what might have been the best performance of his career on the ground, with 68 of those yards coming on four scrambles inside the last six minutes of the fourth quarter or in overtime.

It was a heroic effort for the prime MVP candidate.

On paper, it wasn't a bad performance from Cook, who gained 111 yards on 25 carries and scored twice. But the reigning rushing champion fumbled twice, and he's extremely lucky that his overtime turnover didn't cost Buffalo the game.

This is again becoming a major problem for Cook, who has put the ball on the ground four times in five games but has otherwise been excellent.

Johnson caught a team-high four passes for 72 yards, and he added another stellar catch-and-run in overtime that was mostly negated by a Bell holding penalty.

He is extremely dangerous on underneath plays, and it would make sense for Joe Brady to work him into the game plan more often moving forward.

He took the opening kickoff back 70 yards and later shined on a 31-yard catch-and-run to set up a fourth-quarter touchdown. The Bills were low on weapons at receiver, but Johnson and Davis stepped up.

Coleman technically made just a single seven-yard catch, but that went for a touchdown. He was also wide open on an Allen sack on the first drive, had two third-quarter receptions wiped out by penalties, and drew a DPI in the red zone.

Dude couldn't catch a break but made a positive impact overall.

Shakir came so close to scoring an earth-shattering touchdown in overtime, but it was still a huge 57-yard reception in the books. Cook fumbled on the next snap, but at least that big gain put the defense in a better spot.

That said, he was hardly a factor until the fourth quarter. With DJ Moore down, the Bills needed more.

With a better pass from Allen on a third-quarter shot into the end zone, Bell would have had his first career touchdown. He wasn't a factor beyond that and is still seeking his first NFL catch despite seeing 39 snaps on Monday night.

The rookie also took what could have been a killer holding penalty in overtime.

Again, where was he? Kincaid was held without a catch in the second half, although he did make a nice play on a critical two-point conversion. Officially, he's been held to just a single seven-yard reception in each of the last two games.

Knox dropped a potential touchdown pass early, but he had a key block on Cook's first touchdown and moved the chains with a great catch on a fourth-quarter scoring drive.

The pass blocking is usually good, but Hawes committed two penalties—one that wiped out a Coleman first down and another that left Buffalo in an obvious passing situation. Spencer Brown was injured on the ensuing play.

The veteran struggled mightily last week but bounced back in a major way here. I saw just a single pressure squarely on him, and Allen got away on that play. It was a pretty damn clean showing for Dawkins.

It was a strong performance outside of one brutal false start penalty on a two-point conversion that could have easily cost Buffalo the game. Anderson also got away with a pretty obvious hold on a first-quarter scoring drive.

I think he was most responsible for a third-down sack of Allen in the first quarter, but beyond that it was a stellar performance. The veteran had three notable monster blocks—two on key Cook rushes and another that sprang Johnson on a touchdown drive.

It was a clean pass-blocking performance and he was a big factor on several high-impact runs to the right. A first-quarter sack of Allen would have been on Torrence, but it was negated by an illegal-contact penalty on Trent McDuffie.

The vet left the game with a back injury in the second quarter and did not return.

The third-year backup didn't perform too badly under the circumstances. I loved his effort way downfield on a Johnson catch-and-run on his very first snap in place of Brown, and a few other blocking plays stood out. But he killed the momentum with a third-quarter holding penalty and was later flagged again for a false start.

It was a really quiet game for the two-time Pro Bowler, who only flashed when he affected a Stafford throw into the end zone in the final minute of the fourth quarter.

No sacks for the breakout star, but Rousseau did have two key fourth-quarter pressures on Matthew Stafford and blocked what could have been the game-winning field goal for Los Angeles in overtime. He's a playmaker.

The Bills need more from a situational pass-rusher who gets 30 snaps, but he was a sure tackler and contributed to a great effort in run defense against the Rams.

Two particular run stuffs stood out for Walker in the first half. He wasn't a major factor beyond that but led the way in what was another solid performance from the defensive front against the run.

Back from an appendectomy, the sophomore second-round pick had one of the best performances of his career. He generated a pair of crucial pressures on Stafford in game-changing moments, one of which thwarted a two-point conversion attempt. He was also solid as a tackler and run defender.

There were a couple of misplays in run defense, but Carter made a tremendous play to record Buffalo's only sack.

Nothing flashy, but Gaines was effective against the run and as a tackler—especially in the first half.

No player appeared more in my notes for the wrong reasons. Bernard is far too often out of place. Poor angles, poor coverage, ineffective blitzes. He's saved to a small degree here by a nice hurry on Stafford that nearly led to an interception late in the first half.

Williams is a decent run defender, but his limitations elsewhere were evident again on Monday. He struggled in coverage and offered little as a blitzer. Neither he nor Bernard provided much playmaking impact.

Often matched up with one of the best receivers in the league, Benford gave up underneath stuff all night but was not burned deep. He had great coverage on Davante Adams to force a punt in a key spot in the second half, and his tackling was stellar. It wasn't pristine, but it was his best performance thus far in 2026.

It's a work in progress for the rookie second-round pick, who faced a really tough task and was predictably inconsistent. His tackling was sharp, though, and he made two strong plays in overtime. Kudos for the versatility.

The second-year first-round pick is falling out of favor fast. He played just 17 snaps in this one, but he blew an assignment on a big Tyler Higbee catch and missed a tackle.

The veteran actually had a great first quarter or so, but Adams beat him easily on L.A.'s first touchdown and it was downhill from there. He later took an unnecessary roughness penalty and missed time with an injury, and he did more harm than good in the fourth quarter and overtime. It's hit-or-miss with this guy.

Missed tackles and poor angles once again plagued Bishop, who also struggled in coverage and reacted too slowly in zone defense. The regression continues.

This was actually a really strong tackling performance, and he limited the damage in coverage. Not bad for his most active game of the season.

That missed extra point could have been devastating, but Bass did nail a 49-yard field goal on the game's first drive and a 45-yarder on its last one. That game-winner was epic considering that it came on second down.

The rookie's only punt went 52 yards and was downed inside the 10.