NFL KICKOFF 2022; BILLS vs RAMS

Week 1 is finally here, and the Bills are on the biggest stage to kick off the 2022 NFL season. Plenty of storylines in this first game, including a chance to take down the defending Super Bowl champions.

Here are five things to know ahead of Thursday night's season opener.

1. Taking on the defending Super Bowl champs
Last year, the LA Rams took the approach of trading away draft capital in exchange for proven veterans in hopes of winning it all. It worked. But now, here's the big question – can the reigning champs run it back for a second-straight year?

Regardless of if the Rams can do it again with no first-round picks for the second-straight season, this is about the best matchup there is to open the NFL season. And it's not just fans who feel this way, the players are just as eager to go up against the guys who won it all last year.

"It's just fun to be able to go against the champs," left guard Rodger Saffold said. "You always get excited when you go against that, everybody knows that."


"I feel like everybody on the team understands the challenge it's going to be," defensive end Greg Rousseau said of the matchup. "The Rams are a really good team, so we're just ready to get out there and compete. We've been working hard all camp, so we're super excited."

The talent the Rams had last year led them to a Super Bowl, and a lot of that core group returned to the team for 2022. QB Matthew Stafford, DT Aaron Donald, CB Jalen Ramsey, WR Cooper Kupp are just some of the several stars that returned. The Bills believe this first game will be a good test before they face a gauntlet of tough teams in the first eight weeks of the season.

"There are so many great guys on the defense over there, and they're gonna have some huge challenges for us," Saffold said. "So, it's going to be really good to see where we stand in the league."

While their focus will be on the game, Bills players are also looking forward to playing in SoFi for the first time and taking in the sights, sounds and people that LA has to offer.

"I've never played in California, and I've never ever seen SoFi," Rousseau shared. "So, I feel like it's going to be pretty cool to see the stadium, obviously it's a new stadium so it should be fun."

"It's always cool to look over and be like, 'Oh, snap. There's that person,'" left tackle Dion Dawkins said of the celebrities that will be in attendance. "But you keep pushing when it's game time and none of that stuff matters to me. It's definitely cool to see guys around, and guys that want to be a part of winning. Like everybody just wants a piece of a winning something, so it will be cool."

2. Von Miller heading back to a familiar place
There are plenty of ties between the Bills and the Rams in this Week 1 opener. One of the biggest has to be the fact that Von Miller will play against his former team. When Miller signed with Buffalo in March, it was evident how tough it was to leave the team he just won a Super Bowl with.

"I loved being on the Los Angeles Rams," Miller said the day he made everything official with the Bills. "I loved being there with all the guys. I created so many friendships and created so many brotherhoods in that short period of time that it was really hard to let that go."

Miller will definitely be excited to see some former teammates on Thursday but understands the opportunity at hand to start the season off right with his new team. And now that he's been a part of the Bills for several months, Miller is starting to feel at home.

"I love these guys," Miller said of his teammates in Buffalo. "I knew about the team, I knew about the players here, but the collection of guys, the collection of personalities is nothing like I've ever been on."

When it comes to getting the Bills ready to play against LA, reps against Miller in practice are helping the offensive line prepare for a great test.


"Von has been giving me tips on how to be the best left tackle I could possibly be," left tackle Dion Dawkins said. "And I've lost countless reps and I'm thankful that I'm getting better. I'm in the uncomfortable zone where I'm using everything as growth and having Von here, it's been amazing. He gives me all of those little tips that I'm like, 'Oh, wow. I should have thought about that.'

"And after a rep, if I lose he pulls me to the side and tells me this is why that happened, 'You just gave up a little bit here, you felt a little lax here.' And it's amazing to honestly have."

3. Can the offense win against Aaron Donald and Company?
Buffalo's offense knows going up against players like DT Aaron Donald, CB Jalen Ramsey, LB Bobby Wagner and LB Leonard Floyd is no joke. The Rams ranked third in the NFL last season with 50 sacks and 19 interceptions. They also ranked right below the Bills at second when it came to passing touchdowns, allowing the second fewest in the NFL (17).

Left guard Rodger Saffold, who played for the Rams from 2010 to 2018, thinks going up against the Rams' defense will be a great measuring stick for the offense as a whole.

"Their overall defense continues to improve, especially with Bobby Wagner over there," Saffold said. "And then, their defensive line is always coached really well. So, you plug any of those guys in and there's some sort of threat. Of course, Aaron Donald is the first of his kind but with that whole D-line, they got speed, they got power.


"It's just fun to be able to go up against those guys and really see where you're at. We're starting off right off the bat with just a huge challenge and I'm just preparing to see a focused team go against these guys."

Saffold believes one of the most important aspects of the game for Buffalo will be its ability to adjust in-game to what the Rams are doing on defense.

"The big thing for us is being able to have those on-field adjustments with any type of things we haven't seen," Saffold said. "Of course, with them adding Bobby Wagner, they can throw a couple of different wrinkles at us. The D-line has continued to be that hungry, quality coached team. And then we already know that they got Jalen Ramsey and all those guys, it's just gonna be a good challenge all the way around for our offense."

General manager Brandon Beane believes in the roster he's helped build but knows they'll have to play to their full potential to walk away with a win.

"I think we got guys that have been going through some battles the last two seasons, they've played some really good football," Beane said. "They've played in some big games. Obviously, this will be another game on a national stage. It won't be new from that standpoint. And this is a really good team, we'll have to play our very best."

4. Stopping LA's firepower on offense

The Rams had a top-10 offense last season and averaged 27 points per game (7th in the NFL), 390 total yards per game (4th in the NFL) and 273 passing yards per game (5th in the NFL). Their quarterback in Matthew Stafford threw 41 touchdowns (2nd) and averaged over eight yards a pass (3rd) in 2021. They also had the best wide receiver in the NFL—Cooper Kupp led the NFL in receptions (145), receiving yards (1,947) and touchdown receptions (16).

There's no doubt this offense will try to repeat what they did in 2021 with many returners and new weapons like WR Allen Robinson III. To stop a team full of firepower, Bills defensive players are focused on executing their assignments.

"I'd say it's all about executing, and the Rams are a really good team, they're a complete team," defensive end Greg Rousseau said. "They've got Matthew Stafford, Cooper Kupp, a good o-line, all that stuff. So, it's gonna be a challenge for us play in and play out. We're up for it though, and we're excited for it as well."

The Bills secondary knows it'll be tough to stop players like Kupp and Robinson. The group is thankful to practice against some of the best wide receivers every day, which helps make it not as tough when they get to games. Players like cornerback Dane Jackson think the reps they get in practice against Stefon Diggs, Gabe Davis and Isaiah McKenzie will help them prepare for the talented receivers on the Rams.

Jackson thinks Kupp is one of a kind because of his versatility.

"He's just so savvy," Jackson said about Kupp. "I mean, he can go inside or outside. He can run short routes, run long routes. He'll get you thinking he's going this way and go the other way, so there's a lot of things."

5. Josh Allen's first game in his home state
It took quarterback Josh Allen till his fifth season before he played in his home state of California. Like many on the roster, it'll also be Allen's first time playing in SoFi stadium. The California kid can't believe it'll be his first game at "home".

"It is kind of crazy," Allen said. "I know we had a game that was supposed to be in San Francisco two years ago and it ended up being in Phoenix. But it is kind of weird, it'll be surreal playing in my home state. It's still four hours from where I grew up.

"But my family, my friends, they'll travel well, and they'll represent my hometown pretty good too."

Allen is from Firebaugh, California, which is a city in Fresno County. The town had a population of under 10,000 people in 2019 and is four and a half hours away from SoFi Stadium.

The QB said he'll have about 100 friends and family in the stands cheering him on.

Maddy Glab; Bills Reporter

 

I’m predicting a hard fought Rams victory. The defending champions usually win these kickoff games. Hopefully Donald won’t be swinging dual helmets.

 

Hard to bet against the Rams, but I like Buffalo in this one.

 

The 2022 NFL season kicks off with a doozy: the Super Bowl-champion Rams hosting -- in the stadium they won the big game back in February -- the Bills, a rare road favorite against a reigning champ in a season opener. These are two championship-caliber squads going head to head in one of the more highly anticipated NFL Kickoff games in recent memory.


Matthew Stafford looks to repeat the magic he was able to dial up with Sean McVay from their first season together, leading to the first Super Bowl victory for each.


And that’s the formula the Bills are trying to summon this season, with one of the MVP favorites in Josh Allen fully amid his prime.


The Rams are 5-0 in season openers (outscoring their opponents by a combined 83 points) in the McVay era, as he attempts to become the first coach to win his first six Week 1 games since Mike Shanahan back in 1998. The Bills are 3-2 in openers under Sean McDermott, blowing a 10-point halftime lead a year ago in a loss to the Steelers at home.


The Bills led the NFL in both scoring and total defense in 2021. The Rams led the NFL in scoring and total defense in 2020. This is the first Week 1 matchup in the Super Bowl era between the teams that led the NFL in scoring and total defense in each of the last two seasons.


There are storylines everywhere in this game, and the talent level suggests we should buckle up for a potentially great one.



Here are four things to watch when the Rams play host to the Bills:

1. Welcome back, Von. Von Miller wasn’t a Ram for very long -- 12 games, counting the playoffs -- but his impact was undeniable after coming over via trade from Denver, leading the Rams to a Super Bowl title and turning in a dominant performance at SoFi Stadium (two sacks) vs. the Bengals. Now Miller is in Buffalo, hoping to take a defense that led the NFL in fewest points allowed in 2021 to the next level. Miller was one of the few big-name free agents the Rams were unable to re-sign, despite trying hard to do so. Miller's mission, of course, will be to disrupt Stafford and the timing of the Rams’ passing game, facing off often against right tackle Rob Havenstein, now the Rams’ elder OL statesman after the retirement of Andrew Whitworth, and Whitworth’s replacement, left tackle Joe Noteboom. Miller has zero sacks of Stafford in two career games against him previously.
2. Matthew Stafford’s elbow. There were a few uneasy moments in Rams camp when Stafford was limited with what McVay described as a “tricky” and “abnormal” injury, with right elbow tendonitis. Stafford said he has “no limitations" ahead of Thursday's game, comments backed up by McVay. But we won’t truly know how Stafford's feeling until we see a few balls fly in live action. Top target Cooper Kupp has needed some rest leading up until the opener, new acquisition Allen Robinson sat out the preseason and the Rams traded security blanket Robert Woods in the offseason, so it’s possible the passing game won’t come flying out of the gate. On the flip side, the Bills will be without their top corner, Tre'Davious White, who will miss the first four games as he’s returning slowly from ACL surgery.
3. Play-calling change. The assumption is that the Bills, loaded with offensive talent, will simply pick up where they left off late last season. But remember: The Bills had some hiccups offensively in the first half of 2021, and that was with noted offensive coordinator Brian Daboll, now the Giants’ head coach. The play-calling duties now are in the hands of Ken Dorsey, a first-time offensive coordinator after spending the past three years as Allen's QB coach. We saw Dorsey in his bag during the Bills' preseason walloping of the Broncos, but this clearly is his first big test. Can Dorsey add some life to the Bills’ run game while keeping Allen and his receiving weapons happy? That task begins Thursday.
4. Wild game on tap? The last time these teams met, two years ago up in Buffalo, it was a back-and-forth thriller -- all in front of zero fans. The Bills took a 28-3 lead late in the third quarter, then somehow fell behind 32-28 in the final five minutes before winning, 35-28. Allen led the game-winning drive and threw the go-ahead TD pass with 15 seconds left. If we can get half as wacky a game in this one as we had two years ago, we should be in for a treat. These are two explosive offenses and two big-play defenses going head to head. Stafford is coming off his best campaign, and Allen is an MVP favorite. Kupp, who won Super Bowl LVI MVP honors , and the Bills’ Stefon Diggs are the league’s back-to-back receptions leaders. It certainly feels like we could witness a barnburner on Thursday to help kick off the season.

NFL.com

 

I'm a bit surprised the Rams aren't favored as it seems the champion playing at home in that first game always is. It speaks volumes about how high people are on the Bill's this year, including me.

 

Agreed. Watch, the Bills will go there and lay an egg, lol.

A lot of people think the Bills are the team to beat, but hey, lets play the games and find out.

 

Matthew Stafford’s elbow is still an issue; how big of a problem will it be in 2022?



The Rams have made it clear that quarterback Matthew Stafford has “no limitations” for Week One, due to a chronic elbow problem. The real question is whether limitations will arise in Week Two or thereafter.

There’s an issue with the elbow. That’s undisputed. When talking about it with reporters recently, Stafford deliberately stopped short when he said, “ still think there’s. . . . I don’t know.”


Here’s what he know. He had a procedure in the offseason on the elbow. He wore a brace after getting the injection to reduce inflammation in his elbow.

For some reason, that old news has been repackaged and presented as new news on Thursday morning.

“Rams QB Matthew Stafford underwent an off-season elbow procedure to deal with the pain he experienced last season and to help prepare for this season, per sources,” tweeted Schefty. “Despite the questions about his elbow, Stafford is now said to feel better today than he did at this time last year.”

It’s unclear whether this is a not-so-uncommon quota-filling misfire by Schefter or part of a quid-pro-quo effort to affirmatively spread the team’s Serenity Now message about Stafford as the season arrives.

All is well. All is fine. This is fine.

There’s still reason for concern. The Rams held Stafford out of team drills in multiple practices last month, as they tried to come up with a way to figure out what they determined to be a baseball injury. Eventually, he was able to fully participate in practices. He’s now ready to play in a game. What happens tomorrow, when he rolls out of bed and his elbow is or isn’t throbbing from making 20 or 30 or 40 or more throws that put the kind of pressure on the elbow that he hasn’t since February?

Consider the last part of Schefter’s tweet. “Stafford is now said to feel better today than he did at this time last year.” That does not mean he’s 100 percent. It just means he’s better now than he was a year ago, after going through training camp without extensive time away from team drills to protect the elbow.

Even though the Rams insist there are no limitations, it’s fair to wonder whether they are strategically concealing the truth (i.e., lying) so that the Bills aren’t ready tonight for, say, a run-heavy attack that protects Stafford’s elbow and keeps Buffalo’s high-powered offense on the sidelines.

Whatever the explanation, the fact remains that it’s been known for months that there’s an issue with the elbow. And it seems that the issue is still there. One of the biggest questions hovering over the Rams for the 2022 season is whether Stafford will be able to play effectively through whatever discomfort he may experience from Week One through Week 18, and beyond.

PFT

 

Every report on Stafford makes me think of 2019 Ben Rothlisberger's elbow. Might get through for awhile, but it sounds like thats a ticking time bomb that will blow eventually

 

Allen had 10 straight completions to start the game and had 11 until his receiver dropped it and it got picked off.

 

First incompletion for either QB

 

When your QB throws two INT's and you hold the opponent to 10 points... That defense is good.

 

NFL kickoff: Josh Allen’s four touchdowns power Bills to 31-10 victory over Rams



The Bills hype train has been rolling all offseason.

With a win to open the season, they showed signs of why that’s been the case.


On a night where the Rams raised their championship banner from winning Super Bowl LVI, the Bills came to SoFi Stadium and defeated Los Angeles 31-10 — and it easily could have been more lopsided.

At times, the play was sloppy from both sides. The Bills had three turnovers in the first half, though they led to just three Rams points. L.A. quarterback Matthew Stafford threw three interceptions and was sacked seven times, as his team’s offense struggled to find consistency. The score was tied at 10 after two quarters.

But in the second half, the Bills controlled the ball and the clock and pulled away to start the season 1-0.

Though receiver Isaiah McKenzie dropped a pass that ended up as an interception in the first half, he scored the go-ahead touchdown in the third quarter. Josh Allen fired a 7-yard pass to him on the right side that put Buffalo up 17-10.

Receiver Gabriel Davis also picked up where he left off in last season’s divisional round, catching a 26-yard touchdown to open the scoring in the first quarter. He then caught a 47-yard pass to start the fourth quarter that set up Allen’s 4-yard touchdown run.

Allen’s score capped a physical 13-play, 89-yard drive that took 6:44 off the clock and put Buffalo firmly in control of the game with 13:27 remaining in the fourth quarter.

On the ensuing drive, Stafford attempted a no-look pass down the field to Kupp. But it went off the top of his hands and into the waiting arms of safety Jordan Poyer for Stafford’s second interception of the night.

Allen and Diggs removed doubt when they connected on a 53-yard touchdown on third-and-4 with 9:25 left in the contest.

Allen finished the contest 26-of-31 passing for 297 yards with three touchdowns and two picks. He also led the Bills with 10 carries for 56 yards with a TD.

For good measure, defensive end Boogie Basham tipped a Stafford pass to himself to give the Bills their third interception of the night. But the Bills didn’t score when running back Zack Moss fumbled in the red zone.

While Los Angeles’ defense came up with a few takeaways, the team generally had trouble stopping Buffalo’s offense. The Bills started the game 9-of-10 on third down and were averaging 7.3 yards per play after Diggs scored his touchdown.

Per Bills PR, Buffalo set a franchise record with seven sacks in a season opener. The previous record was six against Minnesota in 1994.

Thursday’s game was the first Rams’ season-opening loss of the Sean McVay era. The Rams will be back at SoFi Stadium to host the Falcons next week.

The 1-0 Bills will get to enjoy a long weekend and an extra day of rest before hosting the Titans next Monday night.

PFT

 

Stefon Diggs: Josh Allen “told me to just run” on 53-yard touchdown



Armed with a 24-10 lead over the Rams in the fourth quarter, the Bills looked like they had Thursday’s season opener in hand.

But then the dagger came on third-and-4 with 9:33 left in the contest, as quarterback Josh Allen rolled to his right and fired a 53-yard touchdown to receiver Stefon Diggs.


For much of the night, Allen didn’t even attempt a deep pass, saying after the game the Rams were taking many of the downfield options away. But at that point in the contest, Allen noticed something and improvised with Diggs to get into the end zone.

“Josh told me to just run,” Diggs said postgame, noting that route wasn’t even in the original play.

Diggs also complimented Allen’s vision as a quarterback, saying he sees what plenty of individuals don’t on the field.

“One thing I’ve learned,” Diggs said, “do what the quarterback tells you.”

Allen said the Bills “felt like their corners were really looking at the quarterback.

“Diggs just ran a heck of a route, the offensive line protected and gave us a chance. He went up there and made a play for us.”

The chemistry between Diggs and Allen has always been strong since the Bills acquired the receiver in 2020. That connection should continue to give defenses fits through the rest of 2022.

PFT

 

I wish the NFL would do more 'mic'd up' stuff during the game, especially in the huddles. I think that would be very interesting and enhance the viewing of a game a bunch.

Maybe they read this post and 'get r done'.

 

Sean McVay on loss to Bills: We’re going to respond the right way to this setback



The Rams didn’t look like a Super Bowl team in Thursday night’s 31-10 loss to the Bills, but Rams head coach Sean McVay was not discouraged afterward.

McVay said repeatedly that he blames himself for not having his team better prepared, and that he is confident that Rams will play much better against the Falcons in Week Two.


“This isn’t the first setback we’ve experienced,” McVay said. “We’re going to respond the right way. I do trust that. All I know how to do is look at this film, correct it, put together a good week of preparation and be ready to go against the Falcons next week. There’s no way to put it other than, didn’t do a good enough job. It starts with me, and overall we can execute better in a lot of areas.”

McVay also said that the Bills provided a tough challenge for anyone.

“That’s gonna be a really, really good football team,” McVay said. “Tonight was a humbling night. . . . But my favorite part about sports is the opportunity to respond.”

PFT