There certainly could be easier matchups for a team coming off its worst defensive performance of the season.
Before the Bills wrap up the regular season with three straight divisional games against the Patriots, Jets and Patriots again, they first have to deal with the NFC’s best team, the Detroit Lions.
With CBS’ top broadcast crew and The NFL Today studio show en route to Detroit, the Bills are once again in the spotlight. It’ll be their first trip there to play the Lions since Thanksgiving 2022, when Josh Allen’s last-minute connection with Stefon Diggs set up a game-winning field goal for Tyler Bass.
The Lions finished that season 9-8 and have only improved from there under coach Dan Campbell.
Campbell, by the way, has actually faced the Bills twice as a head coach: he finished the 2015 season as Miami’s interim coach for 12 games, including a 33-17 loss in Orchard Park to Rex Ryan’s Bills. I have to admit, I didn’t think much of Campbell when he made his memorable introduction to Lions fans, talking about biting kneecaps off in 2021. He’s now considered one of the game’s premier leaders, having revitalized a long-suffering Detroit franchise with an aggressive and emotional coaching style. Don’t be surprised to see the Lions trust their offense to get a yard or two on fourth down in an unconventional spot.
Detroit has responded perfectly to the playoff heartbreak it experienced last year in the NFC Championship Game. The Lions (12-1) are tied with Kansas City for the league’s best record. And their point differential of plus-183 blows out every other team in the league (including Kansas City’s -plus54). The Bills, at plus-129, are second in that category, 54 points behind the Lions.
The Lions rank fourth in passing offense (yards per game), fourth in rushing offense and second in overall offense. And their defense, ranked 12th in yards allowed, has held up impressively despite a slew of injuries, most notably star defensive end Aidan Hutchinson’s broken tibia and fibula in October.
“They are as high-effort as they come,” Bills quarterback Josh Allen said of Detroit. “Obviously one of the top scoring defenses in the league. We’re not playing their offense on our side of the ball but they do such a good job of holding onto the football and scoring points. It’s a really, really well-coached team and they’ve battled with a lot of injuries on that defensive side and you wouldn’t know it by watching the film.
“They know their roles, they attack each and every play and we’ve got to be ready for them.”
The Bills, meanwhile, may finally have their full complement of offensive weapons. Keon Coleman and Dalton Kincaid were both full participants in practice on Wednesday before the Bills canceled Thursday’s practice due to a lake effect snow storm. After meeting virtually Thursday, they practiced in person on Friday.
While the offense looks healthier, the injury focus now shifts to the defensive secondary, where Rasul Douglas is out and Taylor Rapp and Damar Hamlin are both questionable. Could we see Micah Hyde make his season debut less than two weeks after he signed to the practice squad?
Lions QB Jared Goff is one of the top candidates chasing Allen as the favorite to win MVP. He has some talented receivers (Amon-Ra St. Brown, Jameson Williams) and stud tight end (Sam La Porta). And although the Bills got lit up by a former Lions quarterback last week, Matthew Stafford, they also have a tall task in run defense this week.
With three All-Pro linemen in 2023, Detroit has a dominant rushing attack featuring David Montgomery and Jahmyr Gibbs, the latter already a 1,000-yard back and the former over that mark in all-purpose yards.
The Lions have won 11 straight, but with a few close calls recently.
While they’ve dominated many weeks — beating the Cowboys, Jaguars and Titans by a combined 122 points — the last two games have seen the Lions hold on to their win streak by a field goal twice. First they won with a Bears clock management meltdown on Thanksgiving that cost coach Matt Eberflus his job, then in a last-second Jake Bates field goal to beat the Packers after Campbell’s gutsy call to run on fourth down in a tie game — keeping the ball away from Jordan Love and the Green Bay offense.
In his Wednesday press conference in Detroit, Campbell praised James Cook as a back who can run in multiple schemes and Buffalo’s line — shouting out coach Aaron Kromer — as one that makes Cook and Allen’s jobs easier.
But Campbell’s greatest praise probably came for the quarterback his team is set to face.
“He’s big, he’s strong, he’s fast, he’s pretty explosive and he’s competitive,” Campbell said. “At the end of the day, he’s got all these physical attributes, but then it’s what he’s got inside of him, man. He’s the ultimate competitor.
“That’s what separates him from a lot of guys: he is fearless and it’s why those guys play the way they do for him. He just won’t give it up, he’s not going to give it up and he’s going to do whatever it takes to get the next first down or get the touchdown and when they need him in crunch time he’s gonna show up and he won’t give up. I think that’s what makes him who he is, his competitiveness.”
