The Buffalo Bills will travel across the country to take on the Los Angeles Rams at SoFi Stadium in Week 14.
The Bills (10-2) and Rams (6-6) are both playing good football as of late. The Bills are riding a seven-game win streak while the Rams have won five of their last seven.
Even though Buffalo is favored to win the game, there are always a few things that make winning difficult each week. The Bills will need to be wary of them.
Here are three causes for concern for the Bills against the Rams in Week 14:
Matt Stafford is on a heater
The Rams have recovered from their 1-4 start to the season in large part because quarterback Matt Stafford has been playing better as of late. The offense has bounced back in a big way.
Over the last six games, Stafford has thrown for 14 touchdowns while throwing just three interceptions. He’s averaging over 265 pass yards per game over that stretch.
Now, the Rams are back in the mix for the NFC West title and they are playing at home with a ton to prove. This is a team better than its 6-6 record.
Elite skill players to keep tabs on
Another major reason for the Los Angeles offense’s turnaround this year is that Cooper Kupp and Puka Nacua are now both healthy after missing a large portion of time at the beginning of the year.
Stafford now has one of the league’s best wide receiver tandems ready to roll and they have provided a big boost. Since Week 8, Stafford has the third-most completions of 10+ yards in the NFL.
It’s not just the elite weapons in the passing game that the Bills have to watch out for. Kyren Williams can get cooking in the running game as well. They don’t run it a whole lot, but he is more than capable of impacting a game. Over the past four outings, he has averaged over 5.3 yards per carry.
Sean McVay and Matt Stafford have a trio of high-level skill players that can hurt the Bills in a blink if they’re not careful.
Rams have their backs against the wall
The Rams are remarkably still in the mix to win the NFC West after starting the year 1-4. Still, they have an uphill climb to make the playoffs. They currently have a 23% chance of making the postseason.
They still have three divisional games remaining, including a trip to San Francisco next week. If they want to make a run this year, stacking a win before their end-of-the-season NFC West gauntlet would be huge to have in their back pocket.
This is one of just three remaining home games for the Rams, and coach McVay will be trying to pull all the levers to give his team a chance at the postseason. The Bills are in a race of their own trying to reach the one-seed in the AFC, but they are nowhere near as desperate as the Rams to get a win at this point.
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