The Bills left Week 5 with a win, but James Cook III left Joe Brady with a headache that could turn into a real problem if it keeps going.
Buffalo beat the Los Angeles Rams 37-34 in overtime, yet the game nearly slipped away because Cook put the ball on the ground twice. The second fumble came at the worst possible time: the opening possession of overtime, with the Bills already in field goal range after Josh Allen hit Khalil Shakir for 57 yards. On the next snap, Cook took it up the middle, lost control when Rams linebacker Nate Landman punched the ball free, and Aaron Donald recovered it.
From there, the Rams needed only a field goal to finish the job, but a blocked 48-yarder kept Buffalo alive and set up the Bills’ own game-winning kick.
That turnover was part of a broader issue for the Bills, who also had an Allen interception. After the game, Brady made it clear that the ball security problem is starting to wear thin.
"Right now, we're putting the ball in harm's way," Brady said on Tuesday. "We know the way that we lose football games is we turn the ball over.
Our two best players turned the ball over last night. James put the ball on the ground.
Look, he's doing so many good things running the football. I don't want to lose sight of how great he's running the ball right now.
But we're putting the ball on the ground, and it's negating all the positive."
Cook’s production has been too good to ignore. He’s off to a blistering start in 2026, averaging 106.4 yards per game through the first five games. That comes on the heels of last season, when he led the NFL in rushing with 1,621 yards, and the year before, when he topped the league with 16 touchdowns.
Still, the fumbles keep piling up. Cook already has four this season, after losing the ball six times last year. Through five weeks, no non-quarterback has more fumbles in 2026, and only Cam Skattebo has matched that total among running backs.
Brady said the team is talking about it, and he didn’t hide the possibility that the workload could change if the issue doesn’t stop.
"I have all the confidence in him," Brady said. "That's why I put him right back out there.
But at some point there has to be consequences when we're putting negative stuff out there. The conversations that we're having are ongoing.
James knows. It's important to him.
But that can't happen. It's gonna cost us football games.
It almost cost us one. But we can't get confused because we won the game; that's OK.
It's gotta improve, or the carries are gonna decrease."
If Cook’s snaps do shrink, Ty Johnson and Ray Davis would be the next men up. The two have combined for five carries and 8 rushing yards this season, while making a bigger impact in the passing game with 12 catches for 166 yards.
In Other News...
Bills Win Took A Back Seat To Bradley Chubb Postgame Drama
Buffalos overtime win over the Rams should have been the full story, but the postgame scene quickly pulled attention away from the result. During a jersey exchange after the game, Rams offensive tackle Alaric Jackson punched Bills linebacker Bradley Chubb, turning a routine moment into the kind of after-the-whistle flashpoint that can linger long after the final horn. The NFL responded with a two-game suspension for Jackson, adding an official layer to an incident that left the Bills dealing with more than just a hard-fought victory.
Joe Brady said there is still plenty to sort through about what happened after the game, and Buffalo is waiting for the details to continue coming in. For now, the Bills are moving on to the Raiders, trying to keep their focus on the next opponent while the league reviews a scene that overshadowed the ending in Los Angeles. [Read more 🡒]
Ray Davis Took Heat For A Bills Return Fans Can't Ignore
Ray Davis gave the Bills a jolt on the opening kickoff, but the return ended in a way Buffalo fans could not quite shake. What should have been a routine special-teams play turned into one of the more unusual moments of the day, with Los Angeles Rams punter Ethan Evans in the chase and Davis being steered toward the sideline before the return could fully break loose.
Evans, who is not exactly built like a traditional coverage ace, drew plenty of attention for the way he ran Davis down and finished the play. For Buffalo, it was the kind of sequence that leaves a little frustration behind, because the return had enough early momentum to make fans think something bigger might be coming. [Read more 🡒]
Raiders Face A Bigger Test Than Their Record Has Answered
Josh Allen and the Bills head into Week 6 with the kind of momentum that makes every matchup feel like a measuring stick, and the Raiders are the next team asked to see how real the start can be. Buffalo has already shown it can win in different ways this season, with Allen again carrying the offense and covering for the rough patches that tend to show up over the course of a game. Las Vegas arrives with a winning record of its own, which at least gives this one the outline of a legitimate test instead of a routine AFC checkpoint.
The intrigue is whether the Raiders can keep Buffalo from turning the afternoon into a familiar Allen-led grind, because the Bills have been living with a few self-inflicted issues even while the results keep coming. Las Vegas has enough on paper to make the game interesting on both sides of the ball, but the bigger question for Buffalo is whether its offense can keep separating when the margins tighten and the game starts asking for answers rather than projections. [Read more 🡒]