Following a shootout loss to the Rams in LA, the Bills would get on the right side of a high-scoring game with a 48–42 victory over the Lions in Detroit. The offense was aided by the return of Keon Coleman and Dalton Kincaid, but the defense would be without Rasul Douglas, Taylor Rapp, and Damar Hamlin. With Kaiir Elam, Cole Bishop, and Cam Lewis all thrust into starting roles, the defense did just enough to stall Detroit’s explosive offense and secure the victory, which was largely thanks to another impressive MVP performance from Josh Allen.
Perfect Start for Buffalo
I believe that this game was won or lost by each team’s first two possessions of the game. The Lions received the opening kickoff, but went three-and-out after two Jared Goff incompletions. The Bills responded with a touchdown drive, which saw running back Ty Johnson record catches of 33 and 24 yards. Both throws from Allen were perfect, with the latter on a cross-body throw outside the pocket on third down. From the one yard line, Allen was tush-pushed into the endzone for an early 7–0 lead.
The Lions gained one first down on their next drive, thanks to a 10 yard completion to Tim Patrick. After the downs reset, Christian Benford got home on a DB blitz, sacking Goff for an eight yard loss. A short completion to Amon-Ra St. Brown brought up 3rd and 13, where it was Ed Oliver’s turn to sack the QB. The Lions recovered the football when Goff fumbled, but they would be forced to punt on 4th and 18.
Allen escaped the pocket and found a different running back, James Cook, for a 28 yard catch and run to reach midfield. Khalil Shakir and Dalton Kincaid picked up first downs through the air, with a 13 yard run by Cook moving them inside the 10 yard line. From the four, Allen kept the ball on a read option, where he ran untouched into the endzone thanks to the trickery and a stellar block from O’Cyrus Torrence. Now up 14–0 in the first quarter, Detroit would be forced to play catch-up for the rest of the game, and couldn’t afford to run the football as much as I presume they wanted to, proving that sometimes the best run defense is a two possession lead.
Swapping Scores
Detroit was able to get on the scoreboard with their third drive of the game, leaning into their playmakers Jahmyr Gibbs and St. Brown. A flea flicker back to Goff allowed him to connect with St. Brown for a 24 yard gain and moved them into Buffalo territory at the end of the first quarter. A 13 yard run by Gibbs reset the downs, but the Lions quickly faced a 3rd and 9. After Oliver nearly got to Goff, the QB was able to step up in the pocket and find Patrick open in the flat, who jumped over a diving Benford to reach for the pylon and score.
A holding penalty forced Buffalo back into 1st and 20, but it was almost immediately nullified thanks to a 19 yard completion to Dawson Knox. Buffalo opted to go for it on 4th and 2 from midfield, with Allen looking deep despite needing just six feet of yardage. He almost overthrew a wide open Johnson, but the running back made a great fingertip grab to secure the 31 yard completion. Cook would eventually find the endzone on a six yard run, where he was practically untouched thanks to the pre-snap motion.
Detroit’s offense had finally woken up, marching down the field for their second touchdown of the half. An 18 yard completion to the speedy Jameson Williams immediately got them to midfield, and St. Brown’s 21 yard catch on 4th and 4 moved the Lions into scoring range. The Lions scored on a Ben Johnson trick play, with Goff finding offensive lineman Dan Skipper in the flat for a nine yard score.
Don’t Overthink It!!
There’s games where it is easy to tell that Josh Allen is fully locked in, and Sunday’s game in Detroit was certainly one of them. On the first play of Buffalo’s next drive, Allen rolled to his right, evaded a sack as he left the pocket, directed traffic with his left hand, and launched a bomb about 53 air yards right into the arms of Coleman. The rookie was able to stay on his feet and fight his way down to the five yard line, with the play going down as a 64 yard completion. A roughing the passer penalty at the end of the play moved the Bills half the distance to the goal, bringing up 1st and Goal from the three yard line.
A run up the middle by Cook got just one yard, and a diving catch by Curtis Samuel gained one more. On 3rd and Goal from the one yard line, the Bills lined up with Allen in shotgun with an empty backfield. A pre-snap false start penalty backed the Bills up five yards, and Allen’s pass fell incomplete. Tyler Bass then missed a 24-yard field goal, giving the ball back to Detroit with a chance to tie the game. As soon as the Bills got to the two yard line, it should’ve just been tush pushes until Allen was in the endzone. Buffalo has been extremely successful with that play (including earlier in this game!) and I highly doubt Detroit was stopping it three times in a row (2nd, 3rd, and 4th down if necessary). This felt like a case of Joe Brady simply overthinking what to call and trying to mix it up rather than going with what everyone knows works. If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it.
A 22 yard completion to Sam LaPorta quickly moved Detroit down the field, with two catches for 24 yards from St. Brown moving the Lions into Buffalo territory. Three straight incompletions from Goff forced the Lions to kick a field goal, but it was Jake Bates’ turn to miss a kick, albeit this one from 52 yards out.
The Bills were unable to capitalize on the opportunity to score before halftime, despite having the ball at their own 42 with 36 seconds left. Sean McDermott chose not to use one of his two remaining timeouts to cancel a ten-second runoff after Allen was flagged for intentional grounding, and the Bills threw a seven yard screen pass to Shakir with two seconds left instead of attempting a 48 yard ‘hail mary’.
Let James Cook
Ty Johnson made another big play to start the second half, with Allen finding him while improvising for a 19 yard completion. Two plays later, it was Cook’s turn for a big play, taking a handoff 41 yards to the house, despite nearly being pulled down by his hair on a tackle attempt from Detroit. Dion Dawkins and a pulling Spencer Brown gave Cook a huge gap to run through at the line of scrimmage, but Cook showcased his speed, elusiveness, and balance as he weaved through the second level of Detroit’s defense.
Defense Steps Up
The Bills forced another three-and-out thanks to a sack from Greg Rousseau on 3rd and 7. The Bills punted on 4th and 5 from their own 45 after Shakir gained seven on 3rd and 12. Goff threw a strike over the middle to St. Brown, who took three steps and had the ball jarred loose by Christian Benford. Initially ruled an incomplete pass, the referees changed the call on the field to a fumble, with Matt Milano recovering the fumble just before the play was blown dead.
Buffalo was able to capitalize on the turnover with a touchdown to extend their lead. Consecutive eight yard runs by Cook and a ‘low block’ penalty on Detroit moved the Bills to the three yard line, where Allen was credited with a touchdown on a shovel pass to Shakir behind the line of scrimmage that saw the receiver find the endzone. Brown, Dawkins, and Connor McGovern all helped pave the way for Shakir’s fourth touchdown of the season. Now up 35–14 with just 3:31 remaining in the third quarter, the Lions would need a miracle to come back. Still, Detroit made it closer than it needed to be for the sake of comfort.
Detroit Scores Quickly…Twice
The Lions were facing a 3rd and 17 after a holding penalty backed them up 10 yards, as Goff’s pass zipped over the middle and through the outstretched hands of Terrel Bernard. St. Brown caught the pass and turned upfield for a 66 yard touchdown.
The Bills responded with a clutch 50-yard field goal from Bass, keeping a three possession lead. To get into range, Allen threw a beautiful pass down the sideline to Kincaid for 29 yards on 3rd and 4, which kept the drive alive and allowed the Bills to continue putting points on the board.
Goff completed a 15 yard pass to Gibbs and 31 yard pass to LaPorta to move into the redzone. At this point, Milano and Bishop had both left the game due to injuries, so Baylon Spector and practice squad call up Kareem Jackson were both in the game. Gibbs took a checkdown and turned it into a 12 yard touchdown, after making Bernard miss and breaking the tackle attempt from Jackson. The Lions weren’t going out without a fight.
Despite trailing by 10 with 12 minutes left in the game, Dan Campbell opted to attempt an onside kick. At this point, this was the sort of miracle Detroit needed to stop Josh Allen. Not only did Mack Hollins recover the onside kick, but he ran it 38 yards into Detroit territory as Bills fans got flashbacks of Micah Hyde against Miami. On the next play, Allen threw a five yard touchdown pass to Ray Davis, reclaiming their three possession lead.
Too Little Too Late
The Lions marched down the field once again, picking apart Buffalo’s defense that was simply trying to prevent a quick score. In a drive that took nearly four minutes off the clock, the Lions found the endzone again thanks to Gibbs, this time with a one yard run up the middle. LaPorta had three catches for 35 yards on the drive, but Goff found Gibbs, St. Brown, and Williams as well.
Buffalo was able to kill six of the remaining eight minutes with their next drive, which resulted in a 41-yard field goal from Bass. Allen almost overthrew a wide open Knox off a play-action fake, but the tight end made a beautiful one-handed grab to haul in the pass for a 23 yard gain. Allen kept the ball on a read-option, and took it up the middle for 21 yards, sliding just as two defenders were about to converge on him. If he needed to, I think Allen would’ve stayed on his feet and potentially scored, but the slide ensured he didn’t get hit and gave the Bills the opportunity to chew more clock. A ridiculous chest-pass from Allen to Kincaid was nullified by a weak holding penalty, which forced the Bills to kick the field goal.
Detroit scored AGAIN, this time from Williams on a three yard catch. Earlier, Detroit had converted on 4th and 10 thanks to a hook-and-lateral, with St. Brown pitching the ball back to Gibbs who turned upfield for a 21 yard gain.
The Lions attempted another onside kick, this time kicking the ball right up the middle at the unsuspecting Taron Johnson. Initially, the ball bounced off of Johnson’s facemask, but a sliding Lions player actually knocked the ball back into the arms of Johnson. There was a large pile as players from both teams were fighting for the ball and signaling that they had recovered the kick. Eventually, Johnson came out of the pile with the football, and the game was over. Buffalo won the shootout 48–42.
Afterthoughts
I’m out of breath just typing that game recap! If you told me the Bills would leave their four game stretch against KC, SF, LAR, and DET with a 3–1 record, I would’ve signed up for it instantly. On Sunday, the offense scored every time they needed to, and the defense got just enough stops and a perfectly timed turnover to secure the win.
In the spirit of ‘everybody eats’, nine different players caught a pass from Allen. Surprisingly, Amari Cooper saw zero targets, after a season-high 14 just last week against the Rams. Instead, it was the running backs and tight ends making the most of their opportunities. In their first game back, Coleman’s lone catch was the ridiculous 64 yard completion from Allen, and Kincaid saw a team-high (tied with Shakir) seven targets that he turned into four catches for 53 yards. The offensive line was stellar in pass protection and run blocking, although a late injury to Spencer Brown is worth monitoring this week.
If you didn’t watch this game, you’d see that the defense gave up 42 points and be extremely worried, considering they had just given up 44 a week ago. However, despite missing 60% of their starting secondary, this defense looked different on Sunday, especially in the first three quarters. Detroit has a very explosive offense, there’s a reason they lead the NFL in points and yards per game. No one should’ve been expecting to hold the Lions to 20 points. While 42 is a bit excessive, much of that came when the game was already out of hand. The Lions punted three times and turned the ball over once. If you give Josh Allen those four extra possessions to work with, I like Buffalo’s chances in any game.
The defensive line in particular looked much better than last week, pressuring Goff on a somewhat consistent basis, recording three sacks, and nullifying several of Detroit’s early rushing attempts before the score forced them to shift to a pass-heavy offense. The scariest rushing duo in the NFL totaled 35 yards on 13 carries, with David Montgomery averaging only 0.8 yards per carry and Gibbs an acceptable 3.9.
Tyler Bass has had more than his fair share of struggles this season, highlighted by his 24-yard miss. However, he came in clutch with his makes from 50 and 41 to keep the game just out of reach for Detroit.
Game Awards:
Offensive Player(s) of the Game: Buffalo’s RB Trio
The Lions may have the best RB duo in the league, but Buffalo has the best trio, which was on full display in Detroit. James Cook totaled 105 yards and two touchdowns on 14 carries, while also adding a 28 yard catch. Ty Johnson led the team in receiving yards (just as everyone expected) with 114 on five catches for an absurd 22.8 yards per catch. He also added nine yards on two carries. Rookie Ray Davis recorded seven carries for 15 yards, with the team relying on him in short-yardage situations, and scored a touchdown on one of his two receptions for 14 total yards.
Defensive Player of the Game: Ed Oliver
I’ve been saying all season that someone other than Rousseau would need to step up for this pass rush, and that’s exactly what Oliver did on Sunday. Not only did he have his best game of the season, it was arguably one of the best games by any defensive tackle this season. Per Next Gen Stats, Oliver’s 10 QB pressures is the most by any DT in a game this season. He also recorded four total tackles, a sack, and forced fumble in the box score.
MVP: Josh Allen
I mean, what more is there to say at this point? Allen is playing on another level right now, with incredible efficiency and a blatant lack of turnovers or turnover worthy plays. He finished Sunday’s game with 362 passing yards and two passing touchdowns, while adding 68 rushing yards and two scores on the ground. He’s the betting favorite to win MVP, and I don’t see how he doesn’t leave the NFL Honors with some hardware this year.
What’s Next: Bills vs Patriots 12/22
Buffalo closes out their schedule with three AFC East matchups, the first of which is at home against the Patriots. Rookie QBs have historically struggled against Sean McDermott, so Drake Maye will be put to the test as Buffalo looks to keep their shot at the #1 seed in the AFC alive.
Editor’s babble: Whew. That’s one heck of a recap of one heck of a game. Many thanks to Colin Richey for his contributions to our blog. You can also find Colin on Xwitter @whatthef00tball.
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