NFL Game of the Week: Buffalo Bills at Detroit Lions

Week 15 of the NFL season brings about a potential Super Bowl preview as the Buffalo Bills head to Detroit to play the Lions at Ford Field.

Josh Allen and the AFC East champion Bills are now two games back of the Kansas City Chiefs for the AFC’s top seed, albeit with the tiebreaker advantage, but Jared Goff and the Lions hold the No. 1 seed in the NFC.

The 10-3 Bills are coming off a 44-42 defeat in Los Angeles against the Rams, but without Allen, they had no shot of keeping this game close.

Allen threw for three touchdowns and ran for three more against the Rams, becoming the first player in NFL history since the merger to do so. Oddly enough, Allen's MVP case strengthened despite the result.

The Bills will have their most offensive success throwing the ball downfield to Amari Cooper and underneath to Khalil Shakir, as Detroit’s pass defense is its biggest weakness.

The potential returns of Keon Coleman and Dalton Kincaid from injury will also help Allen in the passing game.

James Cook will have his work in the ground game cut out for him, as the Lions give up the fifth-fewest rushing yards per game in the league.

However, the Lions struggle against mobile quarterbacks, as they were demolished by Lamar Jackson and the Baltimore Ravens in 2023. This season, their best victory against a mobile QB this year is against Anthony Richardson, who is so inconsistent, and the Indianapolis Colts.

With this thinking, Allen looks to have success running the ball against a Detroit defense missing several starters. Allen has also picked up his rushing lately, including an 82-yard rushing game against the Rams.

On the other hand, the Lions are coming off a nail-biting 34-31 victory over the Green Bay Packers on December 5, which ended with a Jake Bates walk-off field goal, sending them to 12-1 and the playoffs.

Out of any Dan Campbell decision to go for it on fourth down, his decision to go for it on 4th-and-1 in field goal range in a tie game with 43 seconds left against the Packers may have been his craziest one yet.

It paid off in the end, and it was a critical victory to keep Detroit’s control of their own destiny for the No. 1 seed.

Detroit’s offense has to be salivating when they look at a Buffalo defense that just gave up a season-high 457 yards of offense against the Rams, 320 passing.

Goff could have a good day throwing the football considering the Bills gave up yardage at will through the air and failed to sack Matthew Stafford when they played the Rams, but that game could just be a blip on the radar.

Either way, Amon-Ra St. Brown will be heavily targeted against a Buffalo defense that struggles especially against slot receivers.

The main engine of the Lions is the running game, though, as they are one of five teams in the NFL that run the ball more than they pass it.

David Montgomery and Jahmyr Gibbs will succeed against a Buffalo defense that struggled to establish the line of scrimmage against the Rams. It has also seen former All-Pro Matt Milano be terrible in his two games back after his biceps tear.

The Lions’ offensive line, a top unit in the league, projects to plow many holes in the running game and keep Goff clean in the pocket after seeing the Rams’ O-line, not a great unit, have their way with Buffalo.

As for the injury report, the Lions hope Taylor Decker will return on the offensive line, among other players.

The last time the Bills and Lions met, Buffalo won their second game at Ford Field in five days as they defeated Detroit 28-25 on Thanksgiving Day 2022. The Bills’ Tyler Bass connected on a 45-yard field goal with two seconds left to win it.

This game will air in most markets at 4:25 p.m. EST on CBS and stream on Paramount+.

Owen Klein is a third-year majoring in broadcast journalism. To contact him, email ojk5092@psu.edu.