Bills 41-31 Lions: Allen five TDs, first night in the new Highmark Stadium
Three passing scores, two rushing scores, and a 2-0 start. Detroit is 1-1. The rest of Week 2 has not been played.
Why this game matters
Thursday was the first regular-season snap in Buffalo’s new Highmark Stadium. ESPN, AP, NFL.com and The Athletic all print the same final: Bills 41, Lions 31. Week 1 is closed. Week 2 is open. Sunday has not been played.
What actually happened
ESPN box: Lions 0-10-7-14. Bills 14-13-7-7. Josh Allen scored the first touchdown in the building, a 1-yard rush. Joshua Palmer caught a 43-yard pass. Dawson Knox scored on a catch. Sources disagree on the Knox yardage (ESPN recap 2 yards, ESPN play-by-play 1 yard), so that number stays off this page.
Jahmyr Gibbs an 11-yard catch, 21-7. Dalton Kincaid 16 yards, extra point missed, 27-7. Jake Bates 31 yards as time expired in the half, 27-10. Amon-Ra St. Brown 2 yards in the third. Allen a 2-yard rush. Sam LaPorta 1 yard. James Cook 1 yard with 2:50 left. Goff’s fourth touchdown pass, St. Brown’s second of the night, closed Detroit’s fourth quarter.
ESPN recap: Allen 20 of 31, 248 yards, three passing touchdowns, 69 rushing yards, two rushing touchdowns. Cook 134 rushing yards. Goff 26 of 38, 327 yards, four touchdowns. St. Brown nine catches, 142 yards, two scores. Gibbs 52 rushing yards. Bills 446 yards. The Athletic also prints 41-31 and five total Allen touchdowns. Where rush-yard totals disagree across desks, this page follows ESPN.
What it changes
Buffalo is 2-0. Detroit is 1-1. ESPN: Lions host the Jets on 27 September. Bills host New England on 27 September. Do not invent a Sunday score. Those games have not kicked.
Sources
Every score and ranking on this page is locked to a named source. If it is not here, it is not on the page.