The Bills and Rams are heading into Monday Night Football with plenty of familiarity baked into the matchup, and Buffalo’s roster includes four players who have spent time in Los Angeles. With the game coming in Week 5, it adds another layer to a meeting that already figures to be a shootout.
These teams last played in a wild one that produced 86 total points, with the Rams coming out on top 44-42. Buffalo is trying to snap back into the win column, while Los Angeles is aiming to keep rolling. Both sides bring real strengths to the table, and both have vulnerabilities the other can attack.
The Rams also have a pair of former Bills on their side in DT Poona Ford and OL David Quessenberry, each of whom had short stays in Buffalo. But the more notable reunion may be on the Bills’ side, where four players will line up against their old team in primetime.
Austin Corbett is one of them. Buffalo added the veteran offensive lineman this offseason to push for work at left guard, but Alec Anderson won that job.
The Bills kept Corbett anyway because of his versatility at guard and center. Before arriving in Buffalo, he spent three seasons with the Rams from 2019 through 2021 after beginning his career with the Cleveland Browns.
Barring an injury along the interior of the line, Corbett is unlikely to see the field against Los Angeles.
Michael Hoecht brings a much bigger on-field role into the matchup. He began his career with the Rams and played there from 2021 to 2024, piling up 180 total tackles, 13.5 sacks, and 2 forced fumbles.
Buffalo signed him in the 2025 offseason, but his first months with the team were delayed by a suspension, and after only two games he suffered an Achilles tear. He enters Monday with 12 total tackles and 0.5 sacks, and the Bills will need him to help generate pressure and make life difficult for Matthew Stafford.
Greg Gaines is another former Ram now wearing Buffalo colors. Like Hoecht, he launched his NFL career in Los Angeles after the Rams drafted him in the fourth round in 2019.
Across four seasons there, he posted 122 total tackles and 10.5 sacks. He later spent time with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers from 2023 to 2025 before landing with the Bills this past summer.
The final Buffalo player with Rams ties is Greg Dortch. His time in Los Angeles never got beyond the practice squad in 2019, and the only game action he has seen in his career came with the Arizona Cardinals and now with the Bills.
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James Cook Could Be Central To Buffalos Bounce-Back Against The Rams
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Bills Passing Game Suddenly Rests On Keon Coleman In Week 5
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Joe Brady Has Bills Fans Hopeful And Uneasy For One Reason
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But the reason this feels unfinished is the same reason it feels promising: the Bills havent yet looked fully settled under their new leader, and the recent inconsistency has left room for questions about how sustainable this start really is. Allen remains the center of everything Buffalo wants to do, and Bradys ability to clean up the mistakes without stifling the quarterbacks aggressiveness will go a long way toward determining whether this early surge turns into something sturdier over the long haul. [Read more 🡒]