Winners, losers of Bills’ season-opening defeat of Rams: Big night for Von Miller, Josh Allen
Buffalo’s 31-10 trampling of LA is only the first of 284 games that will ultimately determine who’s playing for rings early next year in Glendale, Arizona, the matchup felt a bit weightier as does its significance as the season’s inaugural matchup.
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With that stated, on to the next-level winners and losers:
WINNERS
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Von Miller: Appears he picked the right horse, the two-time Super Bowl winner – traded from the Denver Broncos to the Rams midway through the 2021 season and proving quite the difference maker for LA – looks like he might just be the final piece to Buffalo’s Lombardi puzzle after opting to sign with the Bills for six years and $120 million during the offseason. Miller recorded two of Buffalo’s seven sacks and certainly looks like the guy who might’ve made all the difference in the final 13 seconds of regulation in the Bills’ heartbreaking overtime loss to the Kansas City Chiefs in last season’s divisional playoff round.
a favorite to win league MVP honors. Allen connected on his first 10 passes on the way to 297 yards and three TDs and ran for another score while leading the team with 56 rushing yards. If he’s that good on opening night against the team just fitted for rings, scary to think how he might be cruising in a few months.
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SUPER BOWL PREDICTIONS:Also, playoff outlooks, MVP choices and other awards
Which teams look like Super Bowl 57 contenders entering Week 1 of 2022 season?
Buffalo’s title aspirations: The Bills won a pair of AFL titles in 1964 and ’65, but the franchise is better known for its 0-for-4 Super Bowl run from 1990-93. But they staked their claim as the team to beat Thursday, thumping the champs on the road, and might just be the outfit their beloved Mafia has been waiting for all these years.
Super Bowl 56.
Odell Beckham: Neither gone nor forgotten, the free-agent wideout recovering from the ACL tear he suffered while with the Rams in Super Bowl 56 was part of the celebratory atmosphere before kickoff. Though he’s unsigned, the Rams have maintained OBJ’s locker at their practice facility … suggesting he might be back eventually.
Mike Tirico has replaced Al Michaels as play-by-play man for “Sunday Night Football” and was as crisp as ever working with analyst Cris Collinsworth. Not the first time the duo has worked together, but the comfort level and smooth broadcast bode well. Collinsworth even invoked the term “hoosegow,” a Michaels favorite, during a fourth-quarter stoppage as a slick tribute to his former partner.
Sean McVay and Les Snead: The Rams’ coach/GM tandem, who have shepherded 62 wins since McVay’s hiring in 2017 (second most in NFL over that span), officially had their contracts extended through 2026 on Thursday morning. McVay, 36, is the youngest head coach to win a Super Bowl.
LOSERS
McVay: He had been 5-0 in Week 1 with an average margin of victory of almost 17 points. No more. The Rams’ 21-point loss was the second-worst suffered by a defending Super Bowl champion in the first game of the subsequent season.
Super Bowl 56 MVP Kupp will especially need more help going forward – particularly from new WR2 Allen Robinson, who caught just one ball Thursday.
Nick Scott: Any time a defender gets trucked by a quarterback – even one as imposing as Allen – he’s going to hear about it in the film room in the coming days. Bummer for the Rams safety.
they never should’ve compromised their culture – especially for a guy they didn’t even need.
Joe Noteboom: The Rams’ new left tackle … has work to do if he’s to make people forget about retired team leader Andrew Whitworth.
James Cook: The Georgia product and brother of Minnesota Vikings star Dalvin Cook, the Bills rookie fumbled on his first (and only so far) NFL carry. Cook is expected to be an X-factor for Buffalo’s offense this season … but not this kind of X-factor.
Rams run game: Just 52 yards on 18 carries, with Cam Akers failing to gain an inch. Unsatisfactory.
Miller’s haircut: Nah, Von. At least show some imagination and go for a heptagon next time.
‘Super Bowl preview’: Back to where we started. If this was indeed the precursor to Super Bowl 57, let’s hope the Rams are better prepared as we certainly don’t need to revert to the championship blowouts that plagued the 1980s and ’90s.
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Follow USA TODAY Sports’ Nate Davis on Twitter @ByNateDavis.