Football fans lauded the ‘best game of all time’ after an overtime thriller between the two Super Bowl favorites ended in the Buffalo Bills squeezing past the LA Rams.
A blocked field goal attempt from Harrison Mevis gave Buffalo the ball back deep into OT, and Bills kicker Tyler Bass did what his rival couldn’t to seal a 37-34 win for the road team.
While recency bias may have played a part in the superlatives being thrown around on social media, fans certainly were treated to a match-up for the ages at SoFi.
On X, one fan wrote: ‘WE’RE WATCHING THE BEST NFL GAME OF ALL TIME!!!!’, with another quickly replying: ‘Correct. This is the best NFL game ever. Ever!’
Others lavished praise on the game without going quite that far, as one wrote: ‘This is the best of the season so far!’
Both teams traded blows all night in Los Angeles, with the game finishing close to midnight eastern time, and neither able to break away from the other throughout each of the four quarters and overtime.
Tyler Bass celebrates after his game-winning 45-yard field goal against the Rams on Monday
Josh Allen sealed his first ever overtime win at the eighth time of asking at SoFi Stadium
Matthew Stafford was also impressive but he and the Rams fell short in an overtime thriller
The game had already been billed as a potential Super Bowl dress rehearsal, and the action on the field did nothing to dampen expectations over what could be a blockbuster showdown in the same stadium come February.
At the end of the night, Bills superstar Josh Allen accounted for 331 total yards and two touchdowns, sealing his first ever overtime win at the eighth attempt.
Allen passed for 210 yards and rushed for 121 more for the Bills (4-1), in a game that saw the NFL’s last two MVPs up against each other at QB.
In fact, after the game, Allen hailed his rival signal-caller and said on ESPN: ‘If he’s not the greatest thrower of the football of all time, I don’t know who is.’
Stafford, with his wife Kelly watching on in the stands, passed for 383 yards and three touchdowns.
Harrison Mevis missed two field goal attempts, the second of which would have won the game
Greg Rousseau blocks Mevis’ field goal attempt to give Buffalo the ball back deep in OT
James Cook fumbled twice but the Bills still managed to seal a huge win on the west coast
Kyren Williams scored on a 1-yard surge with four seconds left in regulation for Los Angeles. The Bills began overtime by driving deep into Rams territory before Aaron Donald recovered James Cook’s second fumble of the night.
Stafford drove the Rams to the Buffalo 30, but Mevis missed his second field goal attempt of the night when Greg Rousseau got a piece of it.
Allen then had scrambles of 19 and 13 yards to set up the 45-yard winning kick by Bass, who ran away to celebrate before the officials signaled it good.
Puka Nacua had a career-high 17 receptions for 138 yards and a score for the Rams (2-3), who are under .500 after five games for the fourth time in five seasons.
