3 Winners, 8 Losers From Lions Week 2 Loss to Bills

Who stood out, played poorly for Lions in loss to Bills?

Detroit Lions wide receiver Amon-Ra St. Brown (14). | IMAGN IMAGES via Reuters Connect

Detroit had a short week in Week 2 facing the Buffalo Bills on Thursday Night Football. The Lions looked to spoil the breaking in of Buffalo’s New Highmark Stadium while also trying to avenge their 2024 loss to Buffalo in Ford Field.

Thursday didn't go as planned, as Buffalo humiliated the Lions. The Bills jumped out to a 21-0 lead, and the only thing to go wrong for the AFC squad was a missed extra point. 

Although the final score was 41-31, the Lions were not within one possession after Buffalo went up 14-0 and spent a majority of the game playing catch-up.

Here are winners and losers from Thursday's game.

Winners

RB Jahmyr Gibbs

Gibbs was the offense for the first half. In their only touchdown drive of the first half, Gibbs provided most of the chunk plays, finishing it with a receiving touchdown. At one point in the first half, Gibbs had 80 total yards, and the Lions offense had only 18 total yards outside of Gibbs.

The second half saw a shift away from Gibbs due to the Lions trailing, but Gibbs still ended with 113 total yards.

TE Sam LaPorta

Another bright star for the Lions was LaPorta. The tight end was fully back to full form after missing the end of 2025 with injury. In addition to helping pave the way for multiple Gibbs runs, LaPorta added six catches for 52 yards and a touchdown. 

When the Lions needed a play in the second half, he was relied upon. He also notched an impressive one-handed catch on a lobbed toss from Goff.

WR Amon-Ra St. Brown

Much like last week, St. Brown was targeted early and often as the star receiver in Detroit’s offense. Unlike the Saints game, St. Brown had the yardage to show for it. He had crossed the 100-yard mark by the fourth quarter.

St. Brown also added his third touchdown of the young season in the third quarter, helping pull the Lions within 10 points. 

The perennial Pro Bowl threat did the same under the two-minute warning, finishing with a second touchdown grab amidst a nine-catch, 142-yard night.

Losers

C Juice Scruggs

After being the best blocker of the group against the Saints, per PFF, Scruggs struggled against Buffalo. The Penn State product had a high snap that forced Goff to fall on the ball on third down, and then had a false start on third-and-inches that led to a punt the next play.

A false start as a center is an inexcusable penalty, and it is the mental errors that stopped Detroit from turning Thursday into a shootout.

OT Larry Borom

Borom had a rough outing in place of injured rookie Blake Miller. The former Dolphin struggled, getting beat for multiple pressures. 

In the two-minute drill to end the first half, Borom was whistled for a false start as the Lions were on the edge of field goal range. He added a second false start as the Lions faced fourth-and-three in the redzone. 

Borom allowed a sack on second down as the Lions looked for a last-gasp touchdown drive while down 17 with less than four minutes remaining.

CB Rock Ya-Sin

Ya-Sin was picked on multiple times during the game, and was whistled for two penalties, one for a defensive holding that ultimately could have gone on him or Roger McCreary. That occurred on a Skyler Gill-Howard interception off of a deflection. 

His second penalty came on an offsides penalty when pressing. That is another case of a simple mental error that is easily preventable by the Lions. 

CB D.J. Reed

Another defensive back that was picked on was Reed. Josh Allen torched the Lions defense for four touchdowns in the first half, and Reed had his own penalty problems.

The corner had a hold on one of the first Allen passes of the game, and it did not even stop the play. Instead, the Bills added a free five yards on top of the play.

DB Avonte Maddox

Maddox did not play much against the Bills, as a leg injury saw the former Eagle carted off. However, when he was on the field, the safety blew a coverage that led to a Joshua Palmer touchdown with no Lions within 10 yards.

Worse yet, this blown coverage came on third-and-11. Maddox would leave the game with an injury later in the first half.

LB Devin White

White had a few high moments, providing pressure in the first half. However, White’s presence was not felt throughout the contest. What bumped the former first-round pick into the loser category was an inexcusable frustration penalty. 

White was whistled for a facemask after the Lions had made a stop on the goal line, gift-wrapping the Bills a free first down when already up 10 points. The Bills scored on that possession, unsurprisingly.

WR Isaac TeSlaa

TeSlaa won the WR3 battle over Tay Martin and Greg Dortch out of training camp, but has done little in terms of production through two weeks. TeSlaa received one target in week one, and added two more in the first half of week two. He came up with no catches.

His fourth target was a catch for six yards, before a target in the end zone was broken up. TeSlaa added his first big catch of the season on fourth down, but by then, the Lions were down 17 as the two minute warning approached. 

DE Tyler Lacy

Lacy provided the finishing blow for the night with Detroit. The big end made little impact to the game, and then was penalized for a facemask penalty with Detroit down 10 and able to stop the clock one more time for the very slim chance of a comeback.