Josh Allen made himself at home in Buffalo’s sparkling new stadium and the Bills tore apart the Detroit Lions 41-31 on Thursday night.
Allen completed 20 of 31 passes for 248 yards with three touchdowns and ran for two scores to carry the Bills to a weeknight party in their first game at Highmark Stadium.
Bills running back James Cook had 20 carries for 135 yards and a touchdown. Tight end Dalton Kincaid had a team-high seven receptions for 95 yards and a score.
Allen had 14 carries for 69 yards as the Bills improved to 2-0 and outgained the Lions 446-355.
Jared Goff connected on 26 of 38 passes for 327 yards and four touchdowns for the Lions (1-1).
The Lions chased the Bills for the entire game and refused to concede when Allen put Buffalo ahead 21-0 early in the second quarter.
Goff, who was sacked four times, connected with tight end Sam LaPorta for a 1-yard score to pull Detroit within 34-24 early in the fourth quarter. The Lions forced the Bills to punt for only the second time all night and had the ball back with 8:25 left in the game.
Only 49 seconds later, the Lions had to punt, and Allen didn’t miss the opportunity to put the game away.
With Bills head coach Joe Brady keeping his foot on the gas, Allen hit Khalil Shakir and Keon Coleman for first-down completions, and Cook sealed it with a 1-yard TD run for a 41-24 lead with 2:50 to go. It was the fifth touchdown in five red-zone trips for the Bills.
Goff whipped his fourth TD pass with 1:42 left in the game, hitting Amon-Ra St. Brown for the receiver’s second score of the night. St. Brown caught nine passes for 142 yards. Jahmyr Gibbs had six catches for 61 yards and a TD, and he added 16 carries for 52 yards.
Allen had four touchdowns (one rushing) before the two-minute warning in the first half, and the Bills scored five touchdowns on their first six possessions.
Detroit dug its way out of a 27-7 hole with a field goal before halftime and added Goff’s second TD pass of the game on the opening drive of the second half, a 2-yard bullet to St. Brown to make it a 10-point game.
Then the Lions’ defense returned to the field.
Allen marched Buffalo 75 yards in 15 plays and beat the cadre of Lions to the right pylon to add another seven points for a 34-17 advantage as the third quarter wound down.
Buffalo sprinted to a 14-0 lead on Allen’s 1-yard run and a 43-yard scoring pass to Josh Palmer. Allen’s 1-yard touchdown pass to Dawson Knox capped a nine-play, 57-yard drive with 11:48 to play in the second quarter and the Bills led 21-zip.
The Lions finally got on the board with Gibbs’ 11-yard reception from Goff with 5:03 remaining in the second quarter. The Bills answered with Allen’s third TD toss. Kincaid made a 16-yard touchdown reception before the two-minute warning. One play earlier, the Bills lost lead wide receiver DJ Moore to a shoulder injury.