Puka Nacua Catches 17 Passes on Monday Night, but Josh Allen's Legs Win It for the Bills in Overtime

The Buffalo Bills beat the Los Angeles Rams 37-34 in overtime on Monday night, with Tyler Bass making a 45-yard field goal with 1:55 left in the extra period. The box score belonged to Puka Nacua, who caught 17 passes for 138 yards and a touchdown on 24 targets, one catch short of the Rams' franchise record of 18 set by Tom Fears in 1950. The win belonged to Josh Allen, who ran for 121 yards and a touchdown on a night his arm was quiet.

Buffalo moves to 4-1 and heads into its Week 7 bye. The Rams fall to 2-3. For fantasy managers, the game settled several questions and opened one new one about how the Bills generate offense when Allen throws only 19 passes.

How it ended

The finish was chaotic. Kyren Williams scored on a 1-yard run with five seconds left in regulation to tie the game at 34. In overtime, James Cook lost a fumble on Buffalo's first possession, which handed the Rams a chance to win with a field goal. Greg Rousseau blocked Harrison Mevis' 48-yard attempt, and Buffalo drove for Bass' winner.

Matthew Stafford threw 54 passes, completing 40, and finished with three touchdowns and roughly 380 yards (outlets differ by a few yards on the final total). The Rams effectively abandoned the run outside the goal line: Williams carried 16 times for 49 yards.

The fantasy box score

The key lines, as reported in the official box score and game recaps:

Puka Nacua is a weekly WR1 again

Nacua's season has not been clean; he spent part of the early schedule working back toward full strength. Monday answered any lingering question about his role. Twenty-four targets is a workload almost no receiver sees, and it came with Davante Adams on the field drawing attention, which is the important detail. When defenses tilt coverage toward Adams, Stafford goes to Nacua over and over on short and intermediate routes.

In PPR formats this is a top-five receiver profile whenever the Rams are forced to throw. The risk is game script: the Rams have lost three games and have needed to pass to stay in them. If Los Angeles gets a lead and leans on Williams, the volume will normalize. Even then, Nacua's target share inside this offense makes him a locked-in starter.

Kyren Williams is the opposite case. Sixteen carries for 49 yards is a poor rate, and his value right now is goal-line work. He remains a RB2 because the Rams give him nearly every short-yardage carry, but managers should not expect efficient rushing totals against good fronts.

Josh Allen's floor is his legs

Allen completed 12 passes. In most quarterbacks' weeks, that is a disaster. Allen still produced 331 total yards and two total touchdowns, because 10 carries for 121 yards plus a rushing score is a fantasy week on its own. This is why Allen keeps his place at the top of quarterback rankings even in weeks when Buffalo's passing game sputters: his rushing is not just goal-line sneaks but designed runs and scrambles that generate yardage.

The flip side is Buffalo's receivers. A 19-attempt passing night means nobody in the Bills' receiving corps is a reliable fantasy starter in a week like this one. That is a structural point worth carrying forward: when the Bills have a functioning run game, the pass volume is modest, and the targets are spread around.

James Cook's two touchdowns and one fumble

Cook ran 25 times for 111 yards and two touchdowns, which is an RB1 week by any measure. He also fumbled in overtime in a spot that nearly cost Buffalo the game. One fumble will not change his role; Cook is the clear lead back and the Bills gave him the ball 25 times because they trust him. His value is volume plus touchdowns, and Monday was a reminder that Buffalo will run him heavily when Allen is not throwing much.

Managers should be aware of the calendar. Buffalo is off in Week 7, so Cook and Allen will be unavailable next week. Plan bench depth accordingly if you are already juggling Week 6 absences.

Betting angle

Monday was a useful read for both teams' totals going forward. The Rams' defense allowed 37 points, and Buffalo scored most of them on the ground, which says something about the Rams' run defense. The Rams' offense, meanwhile, is now funneled heavily through one receiver, which makes Nacua's reception and yardage props the most predictable numbers on Los Angeles' board.

For Buffalo, the takeaway is that its offense can win without volume passing, and that tends to push game totals toward the ground game and the clock. For the model's view on upcoming Bills and Rams games, see NFL predictions; the weekly picks piece publishes at /blog/nfl-week-6-picks-2026.

What to do in your league

Start: Puka Nacua every week, in every format. Josh Allen remains an elite QB1 because of his rushing floor.

Hold: James Cook through the Week 7 bye. His usage is secure.

Temper: Kyren Williams as a yardage producer. He is a touchdown-dependent RB2.

Watch: Buffalo's receivers. On nights when the Bills run 35 times, the passing targets are too thin to trust any of them as more than a flex.