The Buffalo Bills earned a big win tonight, putting up 21 points early in the game before outlasting the Detroit Lions in a 41-31 victory. What better way to open the team’s new stadium than with a big victory over a solid NFC foe?
Buffalo was in control right from the start, opening the scoring with a touchdown on their first drive. After forcing Detroit to punt on its first possession, the Bills scored again and they were off to the races. The Lions wouldn’t go down quietly, but when the clock hit
triple-zero, Buffalo had the ball and the win, and the 2-0 start to the season.
Much of tonight came up aces, but there were some negatives despite the big win. Here is our stock report for the evening—feel free to leave your suggestions in the comments below!
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Horns Up: Josh Allen
Another game, another fantastic effort for Buffalo’s MVP. Allen started the game using his legs, running for 40 yards on a drive that ended with his one-yard touchdown rush. Allen added not one, not two, but three first half touchdown passes, as well, hitting Joshua Palmer for a 43-yard strike, Dawson Knox for a one-yard score, and Dalton Kincaid for a 16-yard score. Once again, Allen was efficient, but he did not fear pushing the ball downfield against a depleted Detroit secondary. In the second half, he kept the pressure on the Lions, leading scoring drives of 75 and 61 yards to seal the win. Overall, Allen finished the night with five touchdowns overall—three passing and two rushing. He completed 20-of-31 passes for 248 yards, adding 72 rushing yards on 11 carries.
Horns Up: James Cook III
It was a big first half for the NFL’s 2025 leading rusher. Cook totaled 101 rushing yards in the first half of action, and his best drive came at the most important time of the first half for Buffalo. After ceding a score to Detroit, which made the score 21-7, Cook gashed the Lions defense on the first three plays of the ensuing drive. He ran for 20 yards, 35 yards, and six yards on the first three plays of the drive, bringing the Bills all the way to the Detroit 13-yard line. One penalty and one play later, Allen found Kincaid to give the Bills a 27-7 advantage and the perfect answer to an opponent’s scoring drive. Cook had opportunities in the second half, as well, and he added a rushing touchdown of his own to punctuate the victory in the fourth quarter. He finished with 20 carries for 134 yards and a score. He also caught one pass for four yards.
Horns Up: Dalton Kincaid
Once again, the big tight end had a big day. He was open in space by design, but he also has shown a knack for finding the right space against zone defense, and with DJ Moore going down with an injury in the first half, it cleared the way for Kincaid to step up and lead the team in receiving. Well, maybe that’s not fair—he led the team in receiving last week, too—but without Moore to open things up for him, he still found space. If Kincaid can stay healthy all season, look out. That breakout we’ve hoped for might be upon us. He even looked great as a blocker, building on a strong game against the Texans to show that he has mastered what was one of the bigger holes in his game. Sure, it’s early, but Kincaid looks every bit the elite tight end Buffalo assumed they drafted in the first round of the 2023 NFL Draft. He had seven catches for 95 yards, narrowly missing a second-straight 100-yard receiving day.
Horns Down: Pass Defense
I think that there are layers to this, so forgive me for nit-picking here. But, the coverage and the pass rush aren’t consistently marrying right now. That’s reasonable given that we’ve only seen two games in five days under new defensive coordinator Jim Leonhard. However, there were concerns coming into the year that the Bills’ personnel didn’t necessarily fit the more man-heavy, pressure-oriented looks Leonhard wants to utilize, and through two games, some of those fears are coming to fruition. When Buffalo blitzes, there are too many openings and rushers aren’t getting home. When they don’t blitz, the front four is struggling to create consistent pressure. There are flashes of good, enough where I think it’s going to be great. But, for now, there is definitely room for improvement.
Horns Down: CJ Gardner-Johnson
I noticed Cole Bishop. I noticed Jordan Hancock. I noticed Damar Hamlin, too. I didn’t really see Gardner-Johnson much in coverage, nor did I see him much in run support. The defensive secondary in general hasn’t been great, but the safety play has been very hit-or-miss through two games. Gardner-Johnson had just one tackle in the game, and while he is a good veteran presence, he needs to make some plays on the ball to truly be an improvement over what the Bills had there last season.
Horns Up: Disappointing Former Draft Picks
Keon Coleman saw six targets, and he caught them all for 63 yards. DeWayne Carter made some plays in the run game, and he even looked spry on a few pass rush reps. Both players saw more time tonight thanks to injuries, as Coleman likely played more thanks to DJ Moore’s injury, and Carter stepped up when Ed Oliver went down with a hip injury suffered during warmups. Frankly, this might have been the best showing of Carter’s young career, and after missing all of last season due to a torn Achilles, it was nice to see the Duke product step up. Neither Coleman nor Carter needs to be a star for this to be a successful year for the Bills, but if they can put together solid outings like they did tonight, they could become part of a dependable depth squad for a team with immense potential. Tonight was a good sign for both players, and in turn, it was a good sign for the Bills overall.
Horns Down: The Injury Bug
Ed Oliver hurting his hip in warmups? Not great. DJ Moore hurting his shoulder during the game? Really not great. These things are inevitable, but they’re still not what anyone wants to see. Buffalo has ten days to rest before playing its next game against the Los Angeles Chargers. Hopefully, those ten days let the Bills see some better health before a big AFC matchup.
Horns Down: Landon Jackson
After some encouraging reps on Sunday, Jackson was bullied for much of the evening. He did manage two tackles, but he was also called for a tripping penalty late in the first half that gave the Lions an easy field goal before the half came to a close. Whereas DeWayne Carter seemed to boost his stock tonight, Jackson looked mediocre at best.
Horns Unclear: You Make the Call
What do we think, friends? On a short week, we couldn’t come up with some better branding, but I’m still open to suggestions about the name of the column and nominees for our stock up and stock down tonight. With apologies to the person who suggested just calling it “stock up/stock down” (I can’t remember offhand who it was), I just wanted to say that I initially leaned that way too. We can yell at clouds together.
Go Bills!
