Buffalo pulls back the curtain on its brand-new digs in primetime Thursday night and Dan Campbell knows the Lions understand the assignment at Highmark Stadium.
He put Victory Monday in Detroit on fast-forward to share film of Bills quarterback Josh Allen shredding Houston for four touchdowns — two rushing, two passing — in a Week 1 win. The Lions needed overtime to escape the Saints, 31-30, a win that generated a long list of necessary corrections with minimal prep time to implement fixes before heading to Buffalo.
“That’s the challenge of the short week,” Campbell said, knowing all too well the perils of trying to step in front of Allen and the Bills.
The last time they met, Detroit and Buffalo locked into a shootout. It was the highest-scoring game of the 2024 season — and a 48-42 Buffalo win. Allen had four touchdowns — two rushing, two passing — and generated 430 yards of offense.
“I can’t say enough about this quarterback,” Campbell said. “He’s the catalyst for them.”
Allen led the Bills to a 36-31 road win over the Texans last week, barely blinking in the face of the NFL’s top pass rush.
Detroit can get after quarterbacks. Defensive end Aidan Hutchinson plays a monster role in the success rate of the pass defense. But the secondary stepping on the field in Buffalo isn’t the brand-name version the Lions might prefer. Kerby Joseph, the league leader in interceptions (16) since 2023, had knee surgery; Brian Branch is nine months into recovery from surgery to repair a torn Achilles. Neither will be available until at least Week 5.
Saints quarterback Tyler Shough carved up the Lions after New Orleans fell behind 21-0. He threw for a career-high 410 yards — tops in the NFL in Week 1 — and three touchdowns against Detroit, the type of film Campbell might want to fast-forward. Of course, Allen will take in every detail this week. He averaged 11.5 yards per attempt and hit 20 of 29 passes for 334 yards at Houston.
One particular Allen observation might concern Campbell on the short week. A lot of New Orleans’ success came after the Saints went to an up-tempo, no-huddle operation. No-huddle is an Allen favorite.
“Buffalo does some of that anyway. They’ve always done some of those things. That showed up a little bit,” Campbell said. “It’s those things you address, which we have. You understand what you’re getting ready to face and why wouldn’t they test us there. We would do the same thing.”
The Lions’ offense has shown up consistently and won’t back away from a shootout if one develops Thursday.
Running back Jahmyr Gibbs had a career-high 29 carries for 156 yards and two touchdowns in the season opener. He felt at least two other runs could’ve been bigger plays, even touchdowns, while accounting for 186 total yards. The Lions had 369 yards total offense.
“They’re extremely talented. They’re an explosive offense,” Bills defensive coordinator Jim Leonhard said. “They have been for years. (Jared) Goff has been playing at an extremely high level now for a long time. So, it’s not fun to watch them on tape, but you do know what the issues are — and we’re going to need to solve those problems.”
Rest is a potential problem for both teams.
Gibbs had only two 20-plus carry games in 2025. But he’s confident he’ll be full strength Thursday night. The last time he had to follow up a 20-carry game, Gibbs responded with 120 total yards, seven receptions and three touchdowns on 19 touches against the Dallas Cowboys in December.
Bills first-year head coach Joe Brady went shirtless to celebrate with his team in the postgame locker room on Sunday. But like Campbell, he said he’ll punt sleep for a few days to prepare for a juggernaut offense.
“A couple of people have asked me how I celebrated the win, and I went straight (home) and had to watch an overtime game,” Brady said. “That’s part of the Thursday night games. We can sleep on Friday, but let’s do everything we got to do to help put our guys in position to have success.”
The Bills had 10 plays of 15 yards or more at Houston and punted only twice.
Brady sat with running back James Cook for a portion of the flight home from Texas on Sunday night to assure him he’s still a big part of the offense. Cook had a fumble in the last game and is “still pissed,” Brady said. The lights and Bills Mafia might well represent the type of medicine Cook needs to give Gibbs a run for his money Thursday night.
“Both teams played a lot of plays (Week 1). And so there’s going to be a lot of getting the bodies right and making sure that you’re mentally sharp,” Brady said. “It’ll be an outstanding atmosphere and it’s a matchup that everybody should be excited about.”
A familiar face awaits Gibbs and quarterback Jared Goff. Safety C.J. Gardner-Johnson, playing for a fifth team in four seasons, gets to have another round on his redemption tour after beating the Texans in Week 1 — and letting them know after the game how he felt about it. Gardner-Johnson spoke out in 2023, Gibbs’ rookie season, when Cam Newton and others were critical of Goff.
Ben Bartch is the planned starter at left guard for the Lions. Christian Mahogany (hip) left last week’s game but his injury is not expected to be long-term. Cornerback D.J. Reed was added to the injury report on Tuesday with a foot injury, but Detroit didn’t hold an on-field workout.
Bills defensive lineman T.J. Sanders (knee/illness) did not participate Tuesday and three others were limited: running back Ty Johnson (hamstring), linebacker Terrel Bernard (calf) and Cole Bishop (knee/groin).
