The Buffalo Bills (2-0) had a close call last week against the Houston Texans where the game came down to the wire as the Bills are trying to get over the hump and compete for the Super Bowl. Buffalo was going to have a tougher matchup on Thursday Night Football with the Detroit Lions
(1-1) visiting Highmark Stadium, but the Bills were able to take care of business in their first game at the new home field.The Bills beat the Lions on Thursday 41-31 thanks to multiple players stepping up on both sides of the ball as Buffalo shellshocked Detroit to begin the game. Quarterback Josh Allen knew that he had to play better if the Bills were going to be able to beat the Lions on a short week and he finished the game completing 20 of his 31 passes for
248 yards and three touchdowns while running for two scores as well.
On the defensive side of the ball, the Bills held the Lions to just 17 points throughout he first three quarters, but they were able to make just enough plays to prevent Detroit from making a comeback. With the Bills winning their first home game at their new home stadium, here is the stock report for Buffalo following their win over the Lions on Thursday Night Football:
Stock Up: QB Josh Allen
In a game between two high-octane offenses, Allen was going to have to bring his "A" game if the Bills were going to be the ones to emerge from this shootout victorious. From the beginning of this matchup, Allen took that to heart as he accounted for five of Buffalo's touchdowns, showing once again that he is one of the most dangerous dual-threat signal-callers in the NFL.
Stock Down: WR Khalil Shakir
In a game where the Bills needed some of the other playmakers to step up with DJ Moore exiting the matchup due to a shoulder injury, Shakir was nowhere to be found against Detroit's defense. Shakir has been arguably Allen's most dependable receiver over the past few seasons, but in this Thursday Night Football matchup against the Lions, Shakir did not step up when the team needed him.
Stock Up: LB Greg Rousseau
One of the reasons that the Bills were able to jump out to such a commanding lead in the beginning of this game was due to the pressure from Buffalo's defensive line, especially from Rousseau. At a certain point in the contest, it seemed like Rousseau had no trouble getting to quarterback Jared Goff, especially since he was able to bring him down twice.
Stock Down: Bills Secondary
While Buffalo's secondary did a great job of limiting Detroit's passing attack in the first half, the Bills' defensive backfield let up some of its pressure in the second half, allowing the Lions to gain confidence passing the ball. Buffalo did a great job of limiting wide receiver Jameson Williams' big-play ability, but it came at the cost of wide receiver Amon-Ra St. Brown and tight end Sam LaPorta getting whatever they wanted.
Stock Up: RB James Cook
If Josh Allen wasn't so good in this game, Cook would have been the first stock up entry, but that's just a testament to how good Cook can be even when his teammates are going off. Cook did not do much in the passing game with his receiving ability, but that's okay because he was able to establish his dominance on the ground with Detroit having no answer for him at any point in the matchup.
Stock Neutral: WR DJ Moore
Moore exited this game with a shoulder and stinger injury and did not officially log any statistics for his receiving while having one carry for -1 yards. Moore is the best wide receiver among the group and while it's concerning that he wasn't able to return to this contest, the hope is that he shouldn't have to miss too much time with his shoulder injury.
This article originally appeared on Bills Wire: Stock up, stock down following the Bills' 41-31 win over Lions
