INGLEWOOD, Calif. - The expectations could not be higher for the Buffalo Bills in 2022, but here’s the thing about expectations: Ultimately, they don’t mean a thing.

All of us can expect the Bills to be hoisting the Lombardi Trophy in February, and many in the local and national media - not to mention the fans - do indeed expect that. But all that matters is performance, and Thursday night, the Bills put on quite a performance.

Overcoming a sluggish first half when they committed three turnovers, the Bills spanked the Rams silly in the second half and cruised to a 31-10 victory.

“We needed to win one game and just put our best foot forward,” quarterback Josh Allen said, minimizing the whole statement win discussion. “Try to execute the way we know we can, execute and just try to win a game. That's what coach McDermott preaches.”

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He may not think so, but it was a statement win. When you ragdoll the defending champs like that on opening night, on their hoisting-of-the-banner celebration night, of course it’s a statement win. Not to mention how important it was given the tough early-season schedule the Bills have.

Everyone knows it’ll be a grind pretty much all the way to Halloween, and outside of perhaps being asked to play at Kansas City in the opener, this was the most difficult Week 1 matchup the Bills could have had.

The Bills shrugged their shoulders and with thousands of their fans in attendance at SoFi Stadium just owned Sean McVay’s team. Allen toyed with a very good Los Angeles defense, and the Buffalo defense beat Rams quarterback Matthew Stafford into the ground.

It was a supremely impressive game, and the Rams must be shuddering to think how lopsided it might have been had the Bills not been so sloppy in the first half. This could have been an epic blowout.

Here’s my recap of what happened:

Could the Bills have gotten off to a better start?

Typically, the Bills want to lose every coin toss because Sean McDermott loves to defer to get the ball in the second half. The Bills lost this one, the Rams deferred, and Allen said thank you very much and marched the offense 75 yards in nine efficient plays.

He capped it with a gorgeous third-and-1 play-fake which the Rams bit on, and Gabe Davis was all alone for a 26-yard touchdown.

But after that, the rest of the first half was kind of a mess. The Bills committed three turnovers on their next four possessions, and while the first two didn’t result in Rams points, the last one did.

The first turnover came when an Allen pass intended for Isaiah McKenzie went through his arms and right into the waiting mitts of linebacker Terrell Lewis. The second came on rookie James Cook’s first NFL carry as he swept right, got hit by Ernest Jones and lost the ball with Jones recovering at the Bills 36.

The last came when Allen threw a bad pass behind Jamison Crowder that was picked off by Troy Hill at the Bills 45, and the Rams turned it into a tying field goal as the half ended.

“I actually was happy,” Allen said of his mood at halftime, because he knew the Bills were probably fortunate to not be trailing. “Three turnovers and going in 10-10, that gave us all the confidence in the world with our defense backing us up.”

Allen started the game hitting his first 10 passes until the McKenzie play, and finished the half 17 of 20 for 153 yards. But the only other points he put up came on a possession that ended with a 41-yard Tyler Bass field goal as what looked like a promising drive died after two short passes to Zack Moss and then a misfire under pressure to Davis.

“They hadn't really stopped us offensively, and that was some of the talk that was going on in the locker room,” McDermott said. “We had stopped ourselves. So we just needed to get that cleaned up.”

The Rams weren’t much more efficient in the first half

Cooper Kupp is pretty much unstoppable, and he owned the BIlls throughout the first half. He had eight catches for 56 yards and a touchdown and was the only player on the Los Angeles’ offense who did anything. The Rams had only 105 yards at the break.

They went three and out after the Lewis interception, then Stafford was picked off by Dane Jackson two plays after the Cook fumble. They finally accepted the Bills’ generosity after the Hill interception, but that ended up being a 57-yard field goal by Matt Guy after Stafford was sacked by Jordan Phillips and A.J. Epenesa.

It was strange that McVay kept trying to establish the ground game early, and it really wasn’t working. Darrell Henderson broke one 18-yard run that helped set up their touchdown, but other than that, the Bills did a nice job shutting things down.

“I thought they did a great job in the run game,” McDermott said of his defense.

Von Miller and the defensive line was dominant

Jerry Hughes was a terrific Bill for a long time, but you saw what a true game-changing edge rusher looks like in this game. Hughes made two sacks last season; Miller had two within the first 35 minutes of the game, part of a big night for the line.

“It felt good, man, it felt right,” Miller said of playing against his former team. “I was playing against my brothers over there, you know. You want everybody to you have a good game, but you want the guys over here to score a little bit more. You want to win the game. So we got that done and everybody balled out today. It was a great game.”

And what made it even more impressive is the Bills didn’t have defensive tackle Ed Oliver for very long. He hurt his ankle in the second quarter and sat out the rest of the first half, then tried to give it a go early in the third quarter and couldn’t do it. He hobbled off the field and never returned, so that’s not good.

The Bills killed the Rams up front as they sacked him six times with Jordan Phillips also chipping in 1.5. Things were going so well, Boogie Basham made an interception late in the game.

“Yeah, I felt the D-line, you could feel it make an impact, factor into the game,” McDermott said. “When you can do that it helps you in the back end as well. So I thought again, within the defense, the rush was helping the coverage and the coverage was helping the rush and it timed up well.”

Josh Allen and the offense really got hot in the second half

Los Angeles received the second-half kickoff, went three and out, and we didn’t quite know it then, but the game was about to flip for good as Allen directed three straight scoring drives to open the 31-10 lead making play after play, both with his arm and his legs.

“I was just trying to be smart with the football, allowing our guys to catch and run,” Allen said. “Early in the game they were taking away the deep stuff and forcing me to throw down.”

There was a 58-yard drive that ended with Allen hitting McKenzie on a quick slant for a six-yard TD. Next was a massive 13-play, 89-yard march that was really the final blow. Allen hit Davis for a 47-yard gain and then capped it with a four-yard touchdown run where he bulled over a defender at the goal line to get in.

And finally, Allen burned Rams mouthy cornerback Jalen Ramsey by throwing a 53-yard TD pass over his head to Stefon Diggs, and that one started sending the fans wearing Rams gear to the exits. Allen finished 26 of 31 for 297 yards.

“We felt like their corners were really looking at the cornerback,” Allen said. “Diggs just ran a heckuva route, the offensive line protected and just gave us a chance.

Sal Maiorana can be reached at maiorana@gannett.com. Follow him on Twitter @salmaiorana.To subscribe to Sal's new twice-a-week newsletter, Bills Blast, please follow this link: https://profile.democratandchronicle.com/newsletters/bills-blast

This article originally appeared on Rochester Democrat and Chronicle: Buffalo Bills crush Los Angeles Rams 31-10 in NFL season opener