Even though most strong NFL teams lose key players every year, the Buffalo Bills have been better than the Los Angeles Rams at maintaining a high level of roster strength while both teams have had successful coaches, Sean McDermott and Sean McVay, leading them.
This is partly because the Bills (10-2) were able to add important players that the Rams (6-6) couldn’t keep. Von Miller, along with Los Angeles draft picks Taylor Rapp and David Edwards, should be playing for the Bills when they visit SoFi Stadium on Sunday.
These three players won Super Bowl rings with the Rams three years ago, but now they’re with the Bills, contributing to another strong team.
Both teams have been division winners and serious title contenders since McDermott and McVay started as head coaches on the same day in January 2017, alongside San Francisco’s Kyle Shanahan.
McVay has the only Super Bowl ring among them, but McDermott has more wins (88), more division titles, and more playoff appearances than McVay (83 wins) or Shanahan (77 wins).
The Rams’ push to win the Super Bowl in 2022 came with a price — they lost depth on their roster. However, they are working to rebuild that depth with two promising draft classes. On the other hand, the Bills have maintained six straight winning seasons by adding steady veteran players, like safety Rapp and left guard Edwards, to replace some of the players they lost over time.
“It’s a tremendous credit to their organization… the job that they’ve done of identifying their kinds of guys and then being able to develop within and onboard some of the right kinds of guys,” McVay said. “You look at two guys from our ecosystem.
It’s really fun to be able to see how well David Edwards is doing. Taylor Rapp is really shining. I think they’ve got those foundational pieces that elevate people around them.
You’re really seeing guys continue to get better. I think that’s a tremendous reflection of their coaching, of the conscientiousness of their guys.”
These different approaches have left the teams in different places as they prepare for their first matchup since Buffalo easily beat the defending Super Bowl champions in the 2022 season opener at SoFi.
The Bills, coached by McDermott, have already won the AFC East title and secured a playoff spot with five weeks remaining. Buffalo is on a seven-game winning streak and is right behind Kansas City for the best record in the AFC.
The Rams are struggling to stay in the playoff hunt, despite winning five of their past seven games. They’ve had issues on both offense and defense, and they’ve lost two straight home games after getting overwhelmed by Philadelphia’s Saquon Barkley two weeks ago.
Los Angeles’ young players are starting to show their talent, but Buffalo remains a tough challenge. Rams quarterback Matthew Stafford will try to exploit Buffalo’s inconsistent pass defense, aiming to connect with wide receivers Puka Nacua and Cooper Kupp.
“They’ve done a great job of keeping some players and then adding some other players, some new players to the roster, Puka being one of them,” McDermott said. “(Braden) Fiske is another, (and Jared) Verse another on the defensive side. … When I look at their roster, I see the elites, and then you also see players that are really good football players.
They’re tough, they’re smart, they play different positions so they have that position flex, and I really respect the way that they’re building that roster.”
