In the Week 2 edition of "Thursday Night Football," the Buffalo Bills play host to the Detroit Lions in the first-ever game at the new Highmark Stadium.
Buffalo is coming off a rollicking win over a fellow AFC contender in the Houston Texans. Josh Allen and Co. put up a spectacular offensive performance against one of the league's best defenses, with Allen throwing for a pair of touchdowns and rushing for a couple more as the Bills came from behind to win 36-31 in Houston.
Detroit similarly played a wild game against the New Orleans Saints, during which the Lions blew a 21-0 lead and had to head to overtime to beat the Saints, who failed on a two-point conversion attempt that would have won them the game. Jahmyr Gibbs had his typical fantastic day with 186 total yards and two touchdowns, but the defense left much to be desired.
Which of these two teams will win what is expected to be another high-scoring affair? We'll find out soon enough. But before we break down some key storylines, here's a look at how you can watch the game.
Where to watch Bills vs. Lions live
- Date: Thursday, Sept. 17 | Time: 8:20 p.m. ET
- Location: Highmark Stadium (Orchard Park, New York)
- Streaming: Amazon Prime
- Follow: CBS Sports App
- Odds: Bills -4.5, O/U 54.5 via DraftKings Sportsbook
Key storylines
- Offensive fireworks expected: The Over/Under total for this game is 54.5 points, which is the highest of the week by 4 full points. These two offenses combined for 67 points in their respective Week 1 games, while giving up 61 to offenses that aren't necessarily expected to be world-beaters in the Saints and Texans. Given the state of their respective defenses coming into this season, it's entirely possible that we see both offenses go off in a big way on Thursday night.
- Josh Allen doing Josh Allen things: Allen threw for two touchdowns and ran for two more against Houston in Week 1. He now has nine such games in his NFL career, which is two more than the next two closest players (Steve Young and Cam Newton) combined. He absolutely tore up what many people believe is the best defense in the league last week, completing 69% of his passes at an average of 11.5 yards per attempt. And he's set up to go off again here.
- Jahmyr Gibbs' workload: Gibbs split time and touches with David Montgomery through the first three seasons of his career. That split workload was no more in Week 1: he played 74% of Detroit's offensive snaps and touched the ball an incredible 34 times (most in the league) in Detroit's overtime win. He's built a bit slighter than your typical workhorse back at just 5-9, 202 pounds, but Dan Campbell has said that he'll be that workhorse for the offense this season. He was not lying. The Bills bottled up Montgomery for only 3 yards per carry last week, but they did yield three touchdowns to Gibbs' former teammate.
- DJ Moore's impact: Moore got off to a bit of a slow start early in Week 1, but he came on quickly and had a massive afternoon: five catches for 100 yards and a touchdown on eight targets, and he also drew a pass interference penalty to set the Bills up with first-and-goal at the 1 for another of their drives. Moore ran 81% of the routes and was targeted 30.8% of the time he ran a route, numbers that represent elite usage for a No. 1 wide receiver, which is something the Bills have needed since Stefon Diggs left town.
- Lions OL injuries: Detroit will be without both left guard Christian Mahogany and right tackle Blake Miller for this game, as they were ruled out with hip and knee injuries, respectively. Ben Bartch came on in relief of Mahogany in Week 1, and Larry Borom is likely to take over for Miller at tackle. That could be an issue against a Bills defensive front that played pretty well against Houston, with Greg Rousseau, in particular, perhaps set up for a nice game against Borom on that right side of the offensive line.
Prediction
This should be a ridiculously high-scoring game. Both the Bills and Lions have explosive offenses paired with defenses that could best be described as charitable, which we saw last week. There are matchup advantages all over the field for both teams. I could see all of Allen, James Cook, Moore, Dalton Kincaid, Jared Goff, Amon-Ra St. Brown and Jameson Williams going off in a potential fireworks show. I lean toward the Bills for the win in the debut of their new stadium, but I like the Lions to keep it close enough that the Bills don't cover the spread.
Pick: Bills 35, Lions 31
