Meet the unique player providing unique advantage for Bills

Did you hear about the Buffalo Bills player who got engaged during the team’s bye two weeks ago? No, not Josh Allen. It was reserve offensive lineman Alec Anderson. Asked Wednesday whether he was aware Allen would also propose to his fiancé, Anderson had a quick answer.

“Actually, he came to me and asked for all the same ideas,” Anderson joked on the One Bills Live podcast. “No, I had no idea. On Monday, we came back and I was getting a lift in and Coach McDermott said, ‘Hey, congrats; you and Josh, huh?’ I didn’t know Josh got engaged, but alright. Good for him.”

What’s good for Anderson, who returns to his Los Angeles hometown this week, is playing time. That’s also proven good for the Bills, who’ve utilized Anderson in their six-lineman formation during several games this year. Originally signed as a non-drafted free agent out of UCLA in 2022, he toiled two full seasons on the Bills’ practice squad before seeing his first NFL snaps this year. And last week, he got a lot of snaps. The Bills deployed him as a sixth offensive lineman in the snowy conditions and produced to pile up 220 rushing yards. If Anderson’s name doesn’t ring a bell, maybe his Instagram account will help.

“I was feeling it,” said Anderson, who showed his mid-section to the crowd after a Bills touchdown. “The snow was speaking to me and I was like, ‘There it is.’ I was standing there and I was like, ‘I don’t know what to do so I’m just going to flash my gut.’”

Anderson fits right into a Bills culture with unique personalities. Whether he continues to fit into the Bills’ offense is simply another available option for Sean McDermott and Joe Brady as they pursue the team’s first Super Bowl appearance since 1993.

The Bills have deployed six offensive linemen on 108 snaps this year, by far the most in the league (Denver is second with 61). Buffalo averages 5.3 yards per carry and 10.1 yards per pass attempt when using six offensive linemen.

And if they reach the Super Bowl in New Orleans this year, they won’t have to worry about snow. The Bills (10-2) won’t have to worry about snow this week, either, when they play the Rams (6-6) on Sunday (4:25 p.m. ET, FOX). But whether they use Anderson in good conditions or bad, they might as well perfect that formation, since they’ve put it on tape for opponents.

This week’s opponent is familiar. In the opening game of the NFL’s 2022 season, Allen passed for two touchdowns and ran for another in a 31-10 win over the defending Super Bowl champion. However, a lot has changed since Buffalo last visited the Rams.

Nearly 27 months later, each of the Bills who caught those Allen touchdown passes, Gabe Davis and Stefon Diggs, are gone. So are 2023 Buffalo captains Mitch Morse, Tyler Matakevich and Micah Hyde. On the Los Angeles side, Puka Nacua, Jared Verse and Braden Fiske have since exploded onto the NFL scene. Aaron Donald, Jalen Ramsey, Cam Akers and Ernest Jones are gone.

So are Allen’s turnovers. Among NFL quarterbacks, Allen over his first six seasons (2018-23) led the league with 102 of them. But this season, he has just seven. It’s a huge reason the Bills lead the league with a plus-17 turnover margin in 2024. Bobby Babich’s defense is tied for second with 24 takeaways.

Buffalo, which clinched the AFC East last week, needs a win to keep pace with Kansas City in the fight for homefield advantage in the AFC. The game is crucial for the Rams, though, because they figure to lose control of their own destiny if they lose on Sunday. After the Bills, three of the Rams’ final four games are against the NFC West. Los Angeles is one game behind Seattle (7-5), tied with Arizona (6-6) and one game ahead of San Francisco (5-7).

For more information on the Bills and Rams, visit the Buffalo and L.A. Rams team pages at ProFootballPost.com.