ORCHARD PARK, N.Y. — The Buffalo Bills christened their new Highmark Stadium Thursday night with a 41-31 victory over the Detroit Lions, an opener packed with pageantry — from an appearance by Hall of Famer Bruce Smith to bands and fireworks — and a dominant showing by Josh Allen.
Allen was the driving force from the start, responsible for five touchdowns and helping Buffalo build a 21-0 lead early in the second quarter. It marked his fourth career game with at least three passing TDs and two rushing TDs; Kordell Stewart is the only other player to have multiple games with that combination. Allen also exposed a depleted Lions secondary all night — a blown coverage early left Joshua Palmer wide open for a 43-yard score — and his ability to punish blitzes stood out. When Detroit sent extra rushers in the first half (11 blitzes on 23 dropbacks), Allen went 7-of-10 for 98 yards, two TDs and was only sacked once on those plays.
Running back James Cook III gashed Detroit’s front, finishing with 135 yards on the ground — 101 of those coming in the first half — and a touchdown. Buffalo’s offense was in gear early, collecting 11 first downs in the first quarter (their most in a quarter since Week 9 of 2020) and continuing the vertical passing approach they showed in Week 1; in the first half Allen was 3-of-5 for 84 yards and two scores on throws traveling 15 or more air yards. The only notable offensive setback was losing wideout DJ Moore to a shoulder injury in the second quarter.
Buffalo also got an unexpected boost up front after defensive tackle Ed Oliver was scratched late with a hip issue. Second-year tackle Deone Walker stepped into a larger role and delivered pressure, recording five of the Bills’ eight quarterback pressures in the first half and finishing with seven total pressures plus three deflected passes. Walker had only six pressures across 200 pass-rush snaps last season. Another telling number: Cook racked up 83 rushing yards before first contact in the first half — already more than the Lions’ total rushing yards through two quarters (57) — and ended the night with 104 such yards, his third career game of 100+ rushing yards before contact.
Next up for Buffalo: a home game vs. the Los Angeles Chargers (1 p.m. ET, Sept. 27).
For Detroit, Thursday was a rough lesson. The Lions trailed 27-10 at halftime after struggling to stop Allen and the Bills early, then showed some second-half life behind Amon-Ra St. Brown, who finished with nine catches for 142 yards and two touchdowns, including a 2-yard score on the opening drive of the third quarter. Jared Goff steadied the offense after a miserable first quarter (two sacks and just 2 passing yards early), eventually completing 26 of 38 passes for 327 yards and four TDs. With that game, Goff reached 40,000 career passing yards in 153 games, one of the quicker paces in NFL history.
Detroit has been hampered by injuries up front — starting linemen Christian Mahogany (hip) and Blake Miller (knee) were ruled out — and coach Dan Campbell vented frustration at halftime, lamenting that the small mistakes were proving costly. One curious development was the quiet start for wideout Jameson Williams, who entered the season with expectations after a strong camp but was targeted only four times and finished with two catches for 33 yards. Defensively, the Lions have now given up at least 30 points in consecutive games — their first time doing so in the opening two games of a season since 2021 — and have allowed 30+ points in five of their last eight regular-season contests.
Next up for Detroit: a home matchup with the New York Jets (1 p.m. ET, Sept. 27).
Fan take: This game matters because it reinforced that Josh Allen remains one of the league’s most dangerous dual-threat quarterbacks and that Buffalo’s revamped home field is already a tough place for opponents. For the NFL, the matchup highlights how injuries and blitz vulnerability can quickly undo even talented teams, underscoring the growing premium on depth and adaptive defensive scheming.
Source: www.espn.com
