Bills and Rams were tied 10-10 after first half, but the defending Super Bowl-champions held scoreless after the break; watch the NFL live on Sky Sports on Sundays at 6pm - Week One triple-header kicks off with Patriots @ Dolphins, followed by Vikings @ Packers and Buccaneers @ Cowboys
Friday 16 September 2022 06:55, UK
Josh Allen threw three touchdown passes, and Matthew Stafford three interceptions, as the Buffalo Bills ran out convincing 31-10 winners over the defending Super Bowl-champion Los Angeles Rams on the opening night of the 2022 NFL season.
Allen actually accounted for all four of Buffalo's touchdowns on the night, running in one himself in the fourth quarter, while the star quarterback accumulated 297 yards through the air to go with his three passing TDs.
Allen did, however, also throw two first-half interceptions - to go with a fumble from rookie running back James Cook - to allow Los Angeles to stay in the contest after the Bills had burst into a 10-0 lead.
But, with the game tied up at 10-10 at half-time, Allen and the visitors swiftly found their stride in the second half, scoring a touchdown on each of their opening three possessions before Zack Moss coughed up another fumble late on.
On a night in which both explosive offenses showed signs of early-season rust, the Rams' simply fell apart in the second half as Buffalo in turn finally found some rhythm.
Stafford, who found 2021 Offensive Player of the Year Cooper Kupp for a four-yard touchdown in the second quarter - continuing their near telepathic connection - was picked off twice after half-time as the Rams offense was shut out, ending a streak of 89 consecutive halves with a point dating back to November 2019.
The Bills defense also sacked the Stafford a total of seven times on the night, the most allowed in head coach Sean McVay's five-year tenure with the team, with former Rams defender Von Miller getting two of them.
Bills receivers Stefon Diggs, Gabe Davis and Isaiah McKenzie shared out the touchdowns between them, with Diggs topping 100 yards on eight receptions in the contest.
Rams
Rams head coach, Sean McVay: "A very humbling night, but one where you look yourself in the mirror and say you have to be better.
"We weren't ready to go. That's on me. There were a lot of decisions I made that didn't put us in the best position to succeed."
Former Rams linebacker turned Bills defender, Von Miller: "We're going to make the plane and do backflips on the way home tonight.
"We're going to celebrate this win, because you have to, but then were going to go back to the lab. Were not going to let this success put our guard down."
NFL Sundays are back on Sky Sports. And the Miami Dolphins will host the New England Patriots to kick off the first NFL Sunday of the 2022 season.
Six-time Super Bowl-winning head coach Bill Belichick takes his Patriots to Miami to face Tua Tagovailoa and the Dolphins in a crunch AFC East clash - live on Sky Sports NFL from 6pm.
Following on from that, it's another divisional grudge match which follows the second-half of the first Sunday night double-header of the season, with Aaron Rodgers and the Green Bay Packers travelling to the Minnesota Vikings in the NFC North (Kick-Off, 9.25pm).
And rounding off the Sunday night action, we join our friends at NBC for Football Night in America and a mouth-watering Sunday Night Football matchup where Tom Brady's Tampa Bay Buccaneers head to Texas to face 'America's Team', the Dallas Cowboys (Kick-Off, 1.20am, Monday).
Sky Sports NFL is your dedicated channel for NFL coverage through the season - featuring a host of NFL Network programming. Don't forget to follow us on skysports.com/nfl, our Twitter account @SkySportsNFL & Sky Sports - on the go!
