Buffalo Bills insider Chris Brown breaks down the top four storylines to know going into this week's Bills vs. Rams matchup on Monday Night Football.
1 – Offense aiming to stay on schedule
Buffalo's offense has looked a bit out of sync the last two weeks as stringing multiple positive plays together proved more difficult against the Chargers and Patriots. The Bills offense still averages almost three points per drive (2.95), which ranks third in the league behind only Dallas and San Francisco.
But their points per drive efficiency dropped from 3.67 points per possession through the first two games to just 2.27 over the last two weeks, a drop of almost a point and a half.
Part of the problem last week was putting themselves in a lot of long down and distance situations. They were in 2nd-and-10 or more six times vs. the Patriots, and 3rd-and-5 or more on eight occasions. It proved to make sustaining drives difficult for Buffalo's offense as they had 17 fewer plays from scrimmage (59) than the Patriots (76).
"There's a standard by which we play and we're either playing to that standard or we're not," said head coach Joe Brady. "And look, we may not ever, ever reach what that is, but it's my job to consistently set the tone and understand that if we ride a roller coaster of when we win, it's okay. And when we lose, we've got to clean things up, then we're going to ride a roller coaster all year. It obviously wasn't good enough and we didn't find a way to go 1-0, but it's not just about the result. It's about all the other stuff that kind of showed up within the game."
Offensive coordinator Pete Carmichael believed they had a good week of preparation leading up to last week's game, but now the task begins again to prepare for the number two defense in the league, which also happens to rank second against the pass. And Carmichael wants his players on offense to be detail oriented.
"When we go out there to practice this week it's focus, it's attention to detail, taking care of the little things," Carmichael said. "We clearly get a lot of work throughout the week, but again, it's addressing those issues as the week progresses and making sure that we're putting our players in the right position to be successful."
2 – Marrying the rush and the coverage
There are a number of things on the to-do list for Buffalo's defense, and defensive coordinator Jim Leonhard is prioritizing all of them in proper order. One of the top items is linking the pass rush with the coverage. The front and back end of the defense have to work hand-in-hand to maximize a defense's effectiveness against the pass, and that will be critical this week against a Rams offense that's second in the league in passing.
The problem hasn't been an inability to get pressure on opposing quarterbacks or even getting good coverage on the back end. They're just not happening at the same time with enough frequency.
"We're creating a ton of pressure," said Leonhard. "For the most part, we're doing a good enough job in the run game to get teams behind the sticks. You've got to win (in long down and distance). And there are situations where I can help them out from a coverage standpoint. And then there's an aspect of you got to win some one-on-ones. That's the way this works."
Unfortunately for Buffalo's defense, there are too many times where they get one of those components without the other.
"We're getting quick wins in the rush and the coverage isn't there," said Leonhard. "We're getting some wins in coverage and Drake Maye breaks the pocket a few times and scrambles for some big gains. So, there's plenty of reasons why it happens. But the biggest thing that's come up in the first month of the year is as drives start to move on, you've got to get off the field. We've got to finish. We've got to capitalize and force field goals."
Forcing field goals seems to be a realistic goal even against a high-powered offense like Los Angeles. Through the first four games the Rams rank just 21st in red zone touchdown efficiency reaching the end zone just over 53% of the time.
Leonhard also wants to reduce the team's penalty count, particularly on third downs. Through four games the Bills defense has been called for the most defensive holding penalties in the league (9), and they've surrendered the second most first downs to opponents due to penalty (9).
"I will continue to adjust," said Leonhard. "At times it worked and at times it hurt us. So, I will continue to learn this group as we go on, and we've got to find ways to win in some critical situations."
3 – Heavy personnel proponents
In the 2026 season there is a heavy leaning toward heavy personnel formations. Two and three tight end sets have been a popular trend in the league and Buffalo and Los Angeles are leading the way.
Through the first four games of the season the Rams (85) and Bills (66) are first and second in the league in total plays in 13 personnel this season according to TruMedia statistics. Both teams have been very productive in those personnel groupings, but the Rams have been slightly more efficient.
Los Angeles has managed a 69% completion rate in their three tight end sets and four touchdowns while averaging a gaudy 10 yards per pass attempt. Their efficiency is just as good when they run the football in a three tight end alignment averaging almost five yards per carry (4.9). And they've taken care of the ball and their quarterback with just one turnover and one sack in a three tight end look.
The Bills are dead even with the Rams from a scoring perspective in three tight end sets having scored four touchdowns themselves thus far this season in that alignment. But they haven't been quite as efficient with a completion rate just over 55%, but still a strong 8.7 yards per pass attempt.
However, they haven't been as careful with the football in that personnel grouping with two turnovers while allowing four sacks. We should note that a three tight end set while successful for the Rams is not their most utilized personnel grouping. Their single tight end set (11 personnel) is still their go-to formation. They have more than double the snaps in 11 personnel (177) than 13 this season.
4 – Hidden yards to be found?
Under new special teams coordinator Jeff Rodgers, Buffalo's special teams unit has been solid throughout the first month of the season. They currently rank 13th in the league in average drive start at just beyond their own 30-yard line (30.9), and that's with opponents making a point of kicking away from All-Pro returner Ray Davis.
Covering kicks, they've been even better ranking 10th in the league in opponent average drive start (29.3).
The Rams, however, have had a tough go of it thus far this season as their average drive start just shy of the 26-yard line ranks 31st (25.9). Their kick coverage unit hasn't been much better, ranking 30th and allowing opponents to start at just beyond their own 33.
Rams' punter Ethan Evans ranks 31st in net punting average (37.9), due in part to L.A.'s ranking of 30th in punt coverage giving up almost 15 yards a return (14.4). And head coach Sean McVay recently made a change at punt returner, waiving Xavier Smith due to inconsistency and promoted WR Alex Bachman from the practice squad.
Even second-year kicker Harrison Mevis, who earned the job last year with a 92.3% accuracy rate over nine games last season for the Rams, has already missed two of his seven attempts this season. His misses came from 43 yards in Week 1 and 48 yards last week.
McVay values special teams play and has his team working to improve that phase of their game quickly.
"We need better," he said of his special teams units. "There are 11 moving parts on every single snap. As it relates to the return game, you have to do a good job of holding up and doing better on some of the perimeter play. I thought we fielded the ball clean. The conditions were unique, but we have to be able to get some more production out of that.
"Obviously, I would have loved for us to have made that field goal kick, and then the long punt return (against us) is not good. We have to do a better job of casting a net, being able to tackle. It's not good enough. We need to be able to produce better and that's where we're at with that."
A big play on special teams in Buffalo's last meeting with the Rams in 2024 proved critical to the outcome. Los Angeles blocked a punt in the second quarter and returned it 22 yards for a touchdown in what wound up being a two-point defeat for the Bills (44-42).
Can the Bills find an edge in the kicking game this time around?
