I doubt it. I've seen your neighborhood lol
Bills vs Lions
- Thread starter HipKat
- Start date
SpikedLemonade
Well-known member
You have been lulled into a false sense of security then.
herodotus
Well-known member
Balls:
Josh the Mother Fucking MVP Allen. He has been carrying this team since his rookie year so please Terry and Kim, get out the checkbook and either start writing zeros until Josh says stop or just let him fill in the amount of money he wants. Its completely up to him
Offensive line: I don't want to jinx anyone but when is the last time Josh got sacked?
Receivers: Damn, hot diggity damn
Joe Tom Brady: sadly he's gone after this year, unless the Pegs are smart enough to fire McDumbass should he lose a playoff game before the Superbowl
Hollins: did just enough to put the game away
Goats:
Defense: two straight weeks of 35+ points allowed? I want people learning fundamentals again
Bass: we won but had you made that kick late in the first half I wouldn't have died three times in the fourth quarter. Peter was saying you again after the final lion TD
Josh the Mother Fucking MVP Allen. He has been carrying this team since his rookie year so please Terry and Kim, get out the checkbook and either start writing zeros until Josh says stop or just let him fill in the amount of money he wants. Its completely up to him
Offensive line: I don't want to jinx anyone but when is the last time Josh got sacked?
Receivers: Damn, hot diggity damn
Joe Tom Brady: sadly he's gone after this year, unless the Pegs are smart enough to fire McDumbass should he lose a playoff game before the Superbowl
Hollins: did just enough to put the game away
Goats:
Defense: two straight weeks of 35+ points allowed? I want people learning fundamentals again
Bass: we won but had you made that kick late in the first half I wouldn't have died three times in the fourth quarter. Peter was saying you again after the final lion TD
You misspelled RBs which is weird cause it's only 3 letters lol
herodotus
Well-known member
come on, I have had 3 massive heart attacks and a couple strokes in the past couple hours. That said, yeah the backs did a damn good job
sukie
Well-known member
Enjoyed the game. We were minus 3 starting DBs and we won. The last TD was really playing soft and wanting them to use clock. It happened…. I was nervous which is PTSD from 00:13… I don’t care about style points. Many had Bills potentially getting blown out. We won the battles and the war…
Give Ed Oliver 2 balls cuz that is how he played.
Give Ed Oliver 2 balls cuz that is how he played.
Buffalo Bills 48, Detroit Lions 42
FULL BOX SCORE
Nick Shook's takeaways:
- Buffalo's offense is soaring. Fresh off a 42-point showing in a loss to the Rams, the Bills simply resumed their prolific production Sunday, rolling into Detroit and open-hand smacking the Lions in the mouth -- in the form of two 70-plus-yard touchdown drives -- with zero fear of repercussion. Had Tyler Bass not missed a field goal inside two minutes in the first half, the Bills would have gone a perfect 4 of 4 on scoring possessions in the first two quarters. They only punted once, finished with 559 yards of offense, rode their all-world (and MVP favorite) quarterback Josh Allen to four total touchdowns, enjoyed a 105-yard, two-touchdown day from their bell cow running back James Cook and did so with another running back (Ty Johnson) leading them in receiving. They can beat you in so many different ways and proved that on Sunday. It's not difficult to remember, but sometimes it's challenging to fathom the Bills let their offense linger in purgatory under former offensive coordinator Ken Dorsey as long as they did. With Joe Brady now calling the shots, the Bills are firing on all 12 of their cylinders. Yes, the Bills are a Lamborghini Aventador. Catch a glimpse while you can.
- Lions' defensive injuries finally become a problem. Like in a torturous dental appointment, the teeth have been yanked from Detroit's defense this season. It began with the loss of Aidan Hutchinson and has steadily continued, even extending to budding star defensive tackle Alim McNeill on Sunday. Simply, the Lions have lost too many contributors to field a defense capable of keeping them in the game against the most explosive offenses in the NFL. Detroit rarely had an answer for what Buffalo aimed to accomplish, so much that when the Lions cut the Bills lead to 10 with 12 minutes left in the fourth -- plenty of time to mount a comeback in today's NFL -- Dan Campbell elected to try an onside kick, effectively admitting he knew his defense couldn't stop Josh Allen. While talking heads will spend the next 3-4 days debating this decision (spoiler: it was wrong), what was more concerning is how obvious this issue is for the NFC's favorite. It also wasted another great Jared Goff performance. While technically boundless, I've already spent too much digital space lamenting the wasted performances of Joe Burrow this season. Well, Burrow now has good company, because Goff became the only player since 1950 to lose a game in which he finished with 400-plus passing yards, five-plus passing touchdowns and zero interceptions. Previously, quarterbacks who achieved these numbers were a perfect 16-0. Detroit couldn't pressure Allen, failed to keep him contained in the pocket, left far too many Bills pass catchers wide open, was outcoached on crucial downs, failed to stop the run and generally lacked juice. Mid-December is not a good time for these issues to arise. Detroit needs to find a fix quickly.
- Bills make another statement. Buffalo could have spent the week licking its wounds from last week's shootout loss to the Rams and feeling sorry for itself before traveling to Detroit to get beat by another NFC team. It did the opposite. The Bills showed they didn't fear the raucous Lions fans, jumping out to a 14-0 lead and then matching Campbell's fourth-down aggression by converting a fourth-and-2 for a 31-yard gain, leading to their third touchdown in as many possessions. They stood firm against Campbell's onside kick, taking his decision and shoving it in his face by quickly turning that possession into a touchdown. They outdueled a risk-taker by converting in crucial situations. They never wavered, even in the hostile confines of Ford Field. The black uniforms and 12-1 record didn't scare them one bit. This is the mark of a team out to prove a point, a team that has been the bridesmaid for far too long and is ready to prove it's their time. There's still plenty of football left to be played, but place the Bills atop the list of teams nobody wants to face. Detroit learned first-hand Sunday.
Next Gen Stats Insight for Bills-Lions (via NFL Pro): James Cook generated a season-high 52 yards before contact as well as 53 yards after contact, the second game of his career in which he has eclipsed 50-plus yards before and after contact.
NFL Research: The Bills have scored 30-plus points in eight consecutive games, tied for the longest streak in a single season in NFL history (2013 Broncos, 2010 Patriots, 2007 Patriots, 2000 Rams). Each of those teams featured a player who won NFL Most Valuable Player.
From the very first drive Sunday, the biggest problem for the Detroit Lions was obvious: They had no way to contain Josh Allen. On third down, on the Bills' initial possession, Allen put his MVP candidacy on full display, escaping to his right, stopping about a foot inside the boundary, waiting, directing, extending and then slinging the ball nearly sidearm across his body to Ty Johnson for 24 yards.
It's the kind of play that belongs on the Allen highlight reel. And more than any other moment from the Bills' 48-42 victory Sunday -- more than the pass Amon-Ra St. Brown could not reel in as the Lions were driving late in the second quarter, more than Dan Campbell's decision to try to steal a possession with an onside kick with 12 minutes remaining -- it encapsulated why the Bills have completed, in the space of one month, the two most impressive victories of the season, over each conference's top seeds. Allen and the Bills offense are playing at a level they had previously not reached, and they are doing it against the very teams they will have to overcome if they are finally to win a Super Bowl.
The Bills practice the scramble drill, like all teams. Head coach Sean McDermott said this is the best he has seen Allen play and he, like everyone else, is marveling at the off-schedule plays, like when Allen escaped to his right, pulled free of an attempted ankle tackle, and heaved a rope to Keon Coleman for 64 yards.
"That, and blacking out, a little bit of both," McDermott said of his response to those plays. "He's incredible. He's not doing that if the offensive line is not doing their job. It takes a real unselfish approach, week after week, to get that type of performance."
It's worth remembering, because it's easy to forget now, that this was supposed to be a bridge year for the Bills, with the departure of so many veterans and the transition to younger players, and a nearly completely made over receivers room -- one without star Stefon Diggs. Instead, Diggs' departure has seemed to liberate Allen from having to concentrate on feeding the ball to the Pro Bowl wideout, bringing more balance to the offense. On Sunday, nine players caught passes. The Bills rolled up 197 yards rushing. Allen said players have bought in. They were up 14-0 after their first two possessions, forcing the Lions to play from behind throughout the game. They had a 21-point lead in the third quarter. They punted just once. In a game against the NFL's top offense, the Bills knew they would have to score and keep scoring. That the Lions' defense is decimated by injuries certainly helped the Bills -- Detroit did not have a sack, and rarely even got in Allen's face -- but the Bills have also developed a mindset, which became especially acute after the 44-42 loss to the Rams last week.
"The mindset we had this week was win every play, whatever the play was, find a way to execute at the highest level," said Allen, who was 23-of-34 passing for 362 yards and two touchdowns, with 68 rushing yards and two rushing scores. "This is going to help us in the long run. Too many plays we left out there. To nitpick a game like that sounds kind of dumb. But I still felt like we left some out there."
This has been the story for nearly every Bills opponent this season, but Allen's dominance was especially noticeable Sunday, against a team that has been the best in the NFC all season. But the attrition on the Lions defense -- which saw defensive lineman Alim McNeill (knee) and cornerbacks Carlton Davis (jaw) and Khalil Dorsey (ankle) exit Sunday’s game -- caught up with them. Defensive coordinator Aaron Glenn has been able to work magic in recent weeks with a patchwork roster, and that has allowed the Lions to keep winning against most teams, even those, like the Green Bay Packers, who are likely to be in the playoff field, too.
The Bills, though, represented a step up in opponent class, and the Lions defense looked weary, unable to get a stop when it needed one, outmanned and outgunned, the Bills having picked apart the middle of the defense all night. Campbell's decision to try an onside kick with 12 minutes remaining and the Lions trailing by just 10 points, was a nod to the harrowing reality the Lions were facing: They couldn't stop the Bills on most possessions, so they had to try to steal one. It backfired -- Mack Hollins returned the onside kick to the 5-yard line, and the Bills scored on the next play to take a 17-point lead -- but you can appreciate Campbell's thinking. He has been delightfully aggressive as a head coach and most of the time -- as it did early in the season against the Cowboys -- it beats opponents into submission. It is a testament to the Bills that this time the Lions' aggressiveness was a signal of desperation, not domination.
And now the Lions, who had not lost since Week 2, are in a dogfight -- to hold on to the NFC North against the Vikings, to hold on to the NFC’s top seed against the Eagles. The loss means they almost certainly won't get the chance to rest players before the playoffs start. The Bills remain two games behind the Chiefs in the AFC standings, although Patrick Mahomes' ankle injury, with games Saturday and on Christmas Day, means the Chiefs might not be able to coast to the first-round bye.
When the Bills beat the Chiefs last month, they were careful not to celebrate too much. They know they have to beat them in January, too. On Sunday, the victory was so complete on the road and so welcome after the narrow loss to the Rams, that the Bills seemed more at ease. More of the season is gone, more has already been proved, the playoffs are close. McDermott talked about the Bills' attitude and focus this week, and he mused about how resilient the Bills have been over the years, and how much they are like the city of Buffalo and the fans themselves. McDermott said the Bills have to learn to close out games better. But those are the details championship-caliber teams can afford to focus on as the regular season winds down.
"It's not easy, winning in the NFL," McDermott said. "When you're talking about today's game and some of those other games, you're talking about rare air up there with the best teams that are around right now."
That was no blackout McDermott experienced. The Bills are one of those teams, too.
Report Card: Offense shines, run defense excels as Buffalo Bills down Detroit Lions
Report Card: Offense shines as Buffalo Bills down Detroit Lions
Jay Skurski weighs in with his grades for the Buffalo Bills after their 48-42 victory over the Detroit Lions.
Grading the Buffalo Bills in their 48-42 victory over the Detroit Lions on Sunday at Ford Field ...
Running game
A+ James Cook had his third 100-yard game of the season, and second in the past three weeks, finishing with 105 yards on 14 carries. He also had two rushing touchdowns, giving him 13 on the season. A reminder: He came into the year with four career rushing touchdowns in the regular season, two each in his first two seasons.With his first rushing touchdown, quarterback Josh Allen became the first quarterback in NFL history to record multiple streaks of five or more consecutive games with a rushing touchdown. The Bills rushed for four touchdowns as a team, with Allen finishing with two, and they are the sixth team in NFL history to have at least three rushing touchdowns in four straight games in a season. The only teams with more are the 1950 Bears and 1954 49ers. Allen finished with 68 yards on 11 carries, using a mix of scrambles and quarterback runs. Only O.J. Simpson with 16 in 1975 and Allen with 15 in 2023 have more rushing touchdowns in a single season than Cook.
Bills receiver Khalil Shakir runs after a catch against the Lions in the first half Sunday at Ford Field in Detroit. Harry Scull Jr., Buffalo News
Passing game
A+ Allen started the game 9 of 11 for 161 yards, and finished 23 of 34 for 362 yards and two touchdowns – a quarterback rating of 122.4. He completed passes to nine different receivers, with backup running back Ty Johnson leading with 114 receiving yards on five catches. Yes, seriously. Khalil Shakir had six catches for 39 yards and a touchdown.Playing in their first game back from injury, both rookie receiver Keon Coleman (one catch for 64 yards) and tight end Dalton Kincaid (four catches for 53 yards) made contributions in the win. Dawson Knox had two catches for 42 yards, including one of the spectacular variety when he was able to pull the ball in with one hand before securing it for a huge first down in the fourth quarter.
Run defense
A Sure, it helped that the offense gave the Bills a quick lead, which meant the Lions were going to go to the air more often. Nevertheless, the run defense started on a strong note as Ed Oliver and Matt Milano teamed up to stop Detroit running back David Montgomery for no gain on the second play from scrimmage. Linebacker Terrel Bernard had a team-leading 10 tackles for the Bills. Milano had three tackles before leaving the game with a groin injury in the second half. Baylon Spector had three tackles in his first game back from a calf injury.Pass defense
D Yes, the game plan was to try and keep the Lions in front of them and bleed clock, especially in the fourth quarter, but the secondary didn’t do a very good job. Goff threw for the most yards ever by an opposing quarterback, taking advantage of a secondary that was down three starters.“We prepared as good as we could,” Bills rookie safety Cole Bishop said. “A big focus (was) keeping your depth and everything, making sure nothing gets behind you and feel like we were able to do that, for the most part.”
Amon-Ra St. Brown went off for 14 catches, 193 yards and a touchdown for Detroit, no doubt delighting fantasy owners. There were some good moments for the pass rush, as Oliver registered a strip sack and Christian Benford earned his first career sack on a nicely designed cornerback blitz. Defensive end Greg Rousseau also brought Goff down to increase his sack total to 7.5, which leads the Bills this season. Rousseau had three quarterback hits, which tied Oliver for the team lead.
Special teams
C+ Let’s start with the bad: A 24-yard field goal miss should never happen, but it did in the second quarter by Tyler Bass. Yes, he rebounded nicely in the second half, but he’s still going to make everyone nervous every time he comes on the field. Tight end Quintin Morris had a holding penalty on a punt return, which pushed the Bills inside their own 10-yard line and resulted in 13 lost yards.There was some good, though. Punter Sam Martin was called on only once, but launched a great, 51-yard punt that was downed inside the Lions’ 5-yard line. Rookie returner Brandon Codrington had a 17-yard punt return, while Mack Hollins’ 38-yard kick return on a Lions’ onside attempt was pivotal to the win.
Coaching
B Let’s start with the challenges faced during the week. Losing a practice because of the weather couldn’t have been easy, especially for the coaches, who are notorious creatures of habit. The Bills, however, looked absolutely dialed in from the start on both sides of the ball. That’s a credit to Sean McDermott and his whole staff. The Bills were penalized six times for 49 lost yards, although the false start against Dion Dawkins looked like a blown call by the officials.McDermott’s aggressiveness to go for it on fourth and 2 from his own 49-yard line set exactly the right tone against an opponent who is known for the same, aggressive approach.
The Bills now head into the final three games of the season with a firm grip on the No. 2 seed in the AFC. They’ll need some help from other teams if they’re going to catch the Chiefs for the No. 1 seed, but at least they’ve given themselves a chance.
Victor7
Well-known member
Balls
Josh MF Allen. What is else is there to say? Honestly. What a privilege it is to watch this dude ball. He deserves a Lombardi man.
Joe Brady. He was cookin with the play calling. Brilliant game plan
Cook/Davis/Ty. The 3 headed monster is elite. You can quote me on that.
Kincaid / Knox. Great performance from our TE's. Both contributing in bog ways.
OL. Another sackless game, great runs. Just an overall tremendous performance from the big guys up front.
Ed Oliver. Guess he head all the (deserved) shit sent his way the past few weeks. He showed up.
Collins. Heads up play on the onside kick. I thought he was gonna score man. Honorable mention to Campbell for calling it. What a dumb decision man. Guess that's what Allen does to you that you prefer to go for a 7% chance play rather than give Josh the ball back.
Taron for recovering the other short kick. Man those were some nerve racking seconds after the kick and all the time it took the refs to make a call.
Goats
Defense. I know it was the Lions and their mighty offense. I get it. Its not like I expected a shutout or a 10 point outing. But still. Another 40 burger and nearly 500 yards with 5 scores to Goff. Lions converted all 4 of their 4th downs and every drive in the red zone they had. You bet your ass Andy Reid is taking notes of the game plans form the past 2 weeks and getting ready for January. Very concerning. Spare me the injury bullshit excuses. We were fully healthy last week.
Babbich / McD. See above. Cant stop a nose bleed. We had to get to a onside kick recovery to finally breath.
Bass missing from 24 yards. I think half the posters on this board can make that kick.
Refs for calling a phantom hold on the Allen chest pass. Way to taka way another highlight play from the league MVP
Wasn't a fan of the non hail Mary at the end of the half. Really irrelevant int he end. But what happened? Did Allen audible out of it? I mean we got big guys, heave it up man, who knows.
Josh MF Allen. What is else is there to say? Honestly. What a privilege it is to watch this dude ball. He deserves a Lombardi man.
Joe Brady. He was cookin with the play calling. Brilliant game plan
Cook/Davis/Ty. The 3 headed monster is elite. You can quote me on that.
Kincaid / Knox. Great performance from our TE's. Both contributing in bog ways.
OL. Another sackless game, great runs. Just an overall tremendous performance from the big guys up front.
Ed Oliver. Guess he head all the (deserved) shit sent his way the past few weeks. He showed up.
Collins. Heads up play on the onside kick. I thought he was gonna score man. Honorable mention to Campbell for calling it. What a dumb decision man. Guess that's what Allen does to you that you prefer to go for a 7% chance play rather than give Josh the ball back.
Taron for recovering the other short kick. Man those were some nerve racking seconds after the kick and all the time it took the refs to make a call.
Goats
Defense. I know it was the Lions and their mighty offense. I get it. Its not like I expected a shutout or a 10 point outing. But still. Another 40 burger and nearly 500 yards with 5 scores to Goff. Lions converted all 4 of their 4th downs and every drive in the red zone they had. You bet your ass Andy Reid is taking notes of the game plans form the past 2 weeks and getting ready for January. Very concerning. Spare me the injury bullshit excuses. We were fully healthy last week.
Babbich / McD. See above. Cant stop a nose bleed. We had to get to a onside kick recovery to finally breath.
Bass missing from 24 yards. I think half the posters on this board can make that kick.
Refs for calling a phantom hold on the Allen chest pass. Way to taka way another highlight play from the league MVP
Wasn't a fan of the non hail Mary at the end of the half. Really irrelevant int he end. But what happened? Did Allen audible out of it? I mean we got big guys, heave it up man, who knows.
Remember the days when the O-line was our biggest liability?
Victor7
Well-known member
The OL has been a strength for this team for a couple of seasons, now. Which is why I never understood some posters calling for more picks for the line. They are elite.
sukie
Well-known member
Keon shook of rust and halls in a bomb
Cooper no targets and no bitching , refreshing
Hollins play Not scoring was great but Josh gold killed clock at least one straight ahead run.., we scored in 10 seconds
Bills dominated this game. Garbage score made it six and the called back tuddy would have been 4 more.
I like this guy Smoot. Key batted ball and this guy is always disruptive.
Now we need to get our DBs back before playoffs.
Cooper no targets and no bitching , refreshing
Hollins play Not scoring was great but Josh gold killed clock at least one straight ahead run.., we scored in 10 seconds
Bills dominated this game. Garbage score made it six and the called back tuddy would have been 4 more.
I like this guy Smoot. Key batted ball and this guy is always disruptive.
Now we need to get our DBs back before playoffs.
herodotus
Well-known member
depth, depth, and more depth my friend. Oh and on Defense can we just kill the Tim Walz Tampon 2? Its about as effective as the Kamala campaign was. Seriously, there are components on the D that work, but that scheme is shit
Yeah, as he and DeWayne Carter get their sea legs back under them our DL is going to level up at the exact right time.
Position grades: Ed Oliver's big day helps Bills' defense survive Lions' passing attack
Position grades: Ed Oliver's big day helps Bills' defense survive Lions' passing attack
The Bills’ defense needed some impact plays against the highest-scoring offense in the NFL, and the team's sixth-year defensive tackle provided a ton of them.
Ed Oliver picked a great time to come up with his best game of the season Sunday in Detroit.
The Bills’ defense needed some impact plays against the highest-scoring offense in the NFL, and the team’s sixth-year defensive tackle provided a ton of them.
Oliver produced 10 quarterback pressures on 42 pass rush snaps, according to News charting, which NFL Next Gen Stats reports was the most by any NFL defensive tackle in a game this year.
The only other game in his career he had as many pressures was a 2022 overtime loss to Minnesota, when he had 10 pressures. Particularly impressive was Oliver’s bull rush and pancake of three-time Pro Bowl center Frank Ragnow in the second quarter, which resulted in a sack by Greg Rousseau.
Bills defensive tackle Ed Oliver sacks Lions quarterback Jared Goff during the first half at Ford Field on Sunday. Harry Scull Jr., Buffalo News
Oliver sacked Jared Goff early in the game on a bull rush of guard Graham Glasgow. Seven of Oliver’s pressures came vs. Glasgow, who gave up 11 overall. Glasgow had not yielded more than three pressures in the previous 11 games.
“He does what I’ve seen him do many times,” said cornerback Taron Johnson of Oliver. “Having Ed out there firing on all cylinders is so helpful for us.”
“I’m just happy it’s paying off for him,” said defensive tackle DaQuan Jones. “He came to work this week and he was all ready to go and locked in. He came out here, I thought he played his ass off. Flying around, making plays. Screen play, got the strip sack, kind of all over the field today. Just happy it paid off for him, and hopefully that continues.
Here’s a position-by-position breakdown of the game, based on video review and scored on a scale of 0 to 5:
Quarterback (5.0). Three of the amazing Josh Allen throws were: a cross-body dart while running left to James Cook for 28 yards, the 64-yard laser on the run that may as well have been a handoff to Keon Coleman; and the 29-yarder over the shoulder to Dalton Kincaid.
The Bills used seven designed runs for Allen for 51 yards. There were two scrambles for 17 yards and one tush-push for a 1-yard TD.
Allen took a wicked hit from Josh Paschal near the sideline on an incompletion to the end zone early in the fourth quarter, then took another one from linebacker Ben Niemann as he landed on his right shoulder on a run for no gain with 3:35 left.
The Lions blitzed right at their season average (35%), but it didn’t work. Allen was 9 of 13 for 124 yards vs. the blitz and also had three runs for 37 yards when the Lions rushed five or more men. The Lions tried to spy a bunch, too. That didn’t work, either. The long pass to Kincaid and 31- and 19-yarders to Ty Johnson came with a spy on Allen.
Offensive line (5.0). The Bills ran their favored tackle trap play 15 times for 118 yards and two TDs, according to News charting. Impressive. That included the 41-yard TD run by Cook, on which Spencer Brown pulled and took out linebacker Kwon Alexander, and David Edwards blocked Jack Campbell. Then the Bills crossed up the Lions by running Dion Dawkins on a pull to the right but Cook ran untouched off left tackle for a 6-yard TD because the defensive end on that side was fooled. Another wrinkle came early when center Connor McGovern pulled right and sealed the edge on a 13-yard Cook run that led to the second TD. Edwards’ holding foul, which wiped out the chest-pass TD to Kincaid, was dubious. Edwards’ hands were inside his man, who was defeated on the rush. The pass protection on the edges by Dawkins and Brown was outstanding. Za’Darius Smith, who has eight sacks, did nothing. A rare blemish was Dawkins’ false start near the goal line.
Running backs (5.0). Ty Johnson put on a show with his sure-handed catches, especially on the 31-yard rub route up the right sideline. On his early 24-yard catch, Johnson was running a simple, short pivot-route to the left but came all the way across the field on a scramble drill to catch a great pass from Allen. Fullback Reggie Gilliam pancaked the linebacker, Campbell, on the Bills’ second run play.
With 133 scrimmage yards, Cook now has 1,060 on the season, 20th among running backs.
Receivers (4.0). Nine players caught passes, led by Khalil Shakir’s six for 39 yards. And the Bills didn’t even need to target Amari Cooper once. The backs and tight ends continually beat Detroit’s beleaguered linebacking corps in man coverage.
Defensive line (2.5). The fast start by the offense helped get the Lions’ offense off script. They had to throw more than they wanted. But the Bills stuffed seven of the first nine Detroit run plays. Five of those were with eight Bills near the line of scrimmage. And the Bills dusted off their 4-3 front on five plays (four with a sixth O-lineman on the field and one with three tight ends). Nice adjustments by the defensive staff. Besides Oliver’s strong pass rush, Greg Rousseau had seven pressures, by News count.
Linebackers (2.5). On the 66-yard TD pass to Amon-Ra St. Brown, Terrel Bernard read the play, got deep in zone coverage and deflected the ball with his fingertips. Not enough. St. Brown caught it, safety Cam Lewis missed a tackle. It was a great throw by Goff. Bernard logged a lot of miles in pass coverage and led the team with 10 tackles.
Defensive backs (3.5). Defensive coordinator Bobby Babich gave some fans what they’ve been calling for with some cornerback blitzes. On the Lions’ sixth play, Babich sent both Christian Benford and Kaiir Elam off the edges and got a sack by Benford. There was a double-CB blitz for a sack in Miami, but that was the first blitz by both outside CBs all season, by The News’ count. Then Taron Johnson blitzed from the slot to help create Rousseau’s sack. Johnson had one other blitz and some run dogs, too. Benford’s fast close and strip of St. Brown to create a turnover in the third quarter was one of the defensive plays of the season. Elam played just fine. With the Bills’ defense sitting back and trying to milk the clock, Goff had some impressive zone-beater throws in the fourth quarter.
Special teams (3.5). Tyler Bass missed a 24-yarder but made 50- and 41-yarders in the fourth quarter. The Bills protected well on a block attempt on their first punt, with Ty Johnson and Baylon Spector sealing up the middle, and Mack Hollins downing the punt at the 4. Hollins’ kickoff return of the onside attempt was a heads-up reaction to set up an easy TD. The last Bills return TD on an onside attempt was by Micah Hyde against Miami in 2019.
“That’s Micah’s highlight; I didn’t want to steal from him,” Hollins joked.