SI:AM | The Bills’ Offense Is Humming, While the Lions’ Defense Sputters

Good morning, I’m Dan Gartland. My condolences to any of you who were playing against Josh Allen in fantasy football.

In today’s SI:AM:
🦬 Bills win in stadium’s debut
✈️ How the Niners beat jet lag
🤫 Subtle NFL trend

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Josh Allen is still a freak

New stadium, same old Bills.

Buffalo beat the Lions, 41–31, on Thursday Night Football in the first regular season game played at the new Highmark Stadium.

Josh Allen led the way, of course, accounting for five total touchdowns (three passing, two rushing), including a 43-yard bomb to Josh Palmer in the first quarter.

The Bills’ offense hasn’t missed a beat under new coach Joe Brady, who had been the team’s offensive coordinator in 2024 and ’25. They beat the Texans and their vaunted defense, 36–31, in Week 1, and picked up right where they left off in Week 2. It’s the first time since 1991 that Buffalo has won back-to-back games while scoring at least 32 points with no turnovers.

As encouraging as that performance should be for the Bills, it should be equally alarming for the Lions. Detroit has never had a particularly stout defense under coach Dan Campbell (or at any point in the past decade, really), but it’s been especially ghastly this year. The Lions gave up 30 points last week—all after halftime—in a 31–30 overtime win over the Saints. The Saints! They let Tyler Shough throw for 410 yards. And how did they follow that up? By allowing 27 first-half points last night. That’s 57 points over four quarters of football (plus one overtime possession).

The Lions have now allowed 915 total yards, the most in a team’s first two games of the season since the 2022 Ravens. They’ve also given up 63 first downs. Only one team on record has allowed more in their first two games (the 2018 Chiefs).

The Lions’ defense overperformed during their historic 15–2 season in 2024, ranking 20th in the league in yards allowed but somehow seventh in scoring. When the defense regressed last season (18th in yardage, 22nd in scoring), the team’s results suffered accordingly. Detroit went 9–8 and missed the playoffs. Now, the defense looks even worse, and predictably so. Several key contributors from last year’s team—like Terrion Arnold, Alex Anzalone and D.J. Reader—are now elsewhere. Safeties Brian Branch and Kerby Joseph are on the reserve/PUP list and will miss at least the next two games.

The Lions will have a chance to rebound next week against the Jets, but in a division that includes the Packers and Bears, Detroit’s defensive woes could prove fatal.

The best of Sports Illustrated

Rams-49ers at Melbourne Cricket Ground — The Niners shook off the effects of a long plane ride to stomp the Rams in Week 1. | Erick W. Rasco/Sports Illustrated

Gilberto Manzano: Bills’ Vision Is Becoming Clearer After 2–0 Start Against Playoff-Caliber Teams
Albert Breer: Inside the 49ers’ Trip to Australia and How They Defeated Jet Lag and the Rams
Conor Orr: The NFL’s Latest Offensive Trend Was Hiding in Plain Sight As It Swept the League in Week 1
Gilberto Manzano: How Florida RB and NFL Draft Prospect Jadan Baugh Learned the Art of the Juke
Pat Forde: Protect College Sports Act’s New Expansion Provision Could Put ACC on Chopping Block
SI Staff: Ole Miss vs. LSU Picks: Predicting Final Score of Lane Kiffin’s Return to Oxford
Ryan Phillips: Analyzing the Crowded AL Playoff Chase: Contender Odds, Strengths, Weaknesses
Amanda Langell: The Curious Case of Christian Pulisic: From American Phenom to USMNT Outcast

The top five…

Trevor Story rounds the bases after a home run — Trevor Story’s homer gave the Red Sox a big win over the Rangers. | IMAGN IMAGES via Reuters Connect

… things I saw last night:
5. Pitt freshman Damon Ferguson Jr.’s touchdown run after shaking off a tackle in the backfield.
4. Jahmyr Gibbs’s touchdown catch while absorbing a big hit.
3. Yordan Alvarez’s 40th homer of the season—a towering blast into the upper deck.
2. Trevor Story’s go-ahead homer for the Red Sox in the eighth. He flipped his bat immediately after making contact, which was gutsy because it was a liner that barely cleared the wall.
1. White Sox left fielder Randal Grichuk’s perfect throw to nab a runner at second.

📺 What we’re watching today …

College Football

No. 5 Miami at Wake Forest, 7:30 p.m. ET, ESPN

In a matchup of undefeated teams, Hurricanes quarterback Darian Mensah and wide receiver Malachi Toney will look to keep the country’s top offense rolling.

No. 22 Houston at No. 13 Texas Tech, 8 p.m. ET, Fox

This will be the first meeting between Houston and Texas Tech in which both teams are ranked since 1989, when No. 13 Houston beat No. 20 Texas Tech inside the Astrodome, 40-24. The Cougars have won each of the last five meetings when Houston has been ranked.

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