Ford Field will
have two shades of blue in their arena tomorrow afternoon. Nickel City is coming to Detroit and bringing
their often-rowdy Bills Mafia fans with them.
We can only hope they don’t bring their tables with them, a fanbase
notorious for jumping and slamming people through tables like they are WWE
wrestlers. I am extremely excited about
this game! Though as a fan of a team that
also plays in the same time slot, I wish this would have been scheduled as the
Sunday Night game and many others may also be wondering why this is not. These two teams are both very much in the
Super Bowl discussion this year and for good reasons. They are the top two scoring offenses in the
NFL through 14 weeks, along with two top 10 defenses in points allowed. This contest has all the makings of a heavyweight
fight! In one corner you have a man who
was being discussed as an early favorite for MVP, Lions QB Jared Goff, and in
the other corner, you have another possible regular season MVP in Josh Allen.
I did some
research for this game and found that these two teams have met twelve times in the
history of their franchises. Buffalo leads
the series with a record of 7-4-1. Buffalo,
aka Queen City of Lakes, has often left the pride drowning as the Bills not
only own the series but have also beaten the Lions 50% of the time in Detroit. The Bills have been on a roll against the
Lions winning six of their last seven meetings, two of which were at Ford Field
including their last game when Buffalo beat Detroit 28-25 in 2022. The biggest difference for the Lions this
time around would have to be their dual running threat, Sonic & Knuckles. In case you don’t know what, I am speaking of
this was the nickname given to their two rushers Jahymr Gibbs (Sonic) and David
Mongomery (Knuckles). The nickname just
symbolizes the speed of Gibbs which perfectly mixes with the hard-running style
of Mongomery.
Detroit has
been widely known for being one of the grittiest teams in the NFL ever since
Dan Campbell took the reigns as their head coach back in January of 2021. This has been largely publicized as
ultimately the best decision the Detroit Lions have made in the history of their
organization. What Campbell has built
there is truly incredible. Taking a team
with a miserable history and turning it into a powerhouse for the foreseeable future
is a true testament to how well he knows football and his beliefs for what can
become greatness. Trading Matthew
Stafford for Jared Goff was scrutinized and criticized leaguewide when the Lions
made the move per Stafford’s suggestion.
There are still doubters when it comes to Goff, but the reality is that
he is one of the most reliable quarterbacks in the NFL today. Sure, he may not be in your top five most
desirable QBs when it comes to fantasy football, but going into week 15 he has
his Lions sitting atop the NFC and the entire league tied with KC for first
place at 12-1. Detroit’s offensive coordinator
Ben Johnson has this unit placed as second-best in total yardage per game and
that will only continue with the pieces they have. They have a top 5 O-line that has allowed the
8th least sacks this year, and three highly impressive receivers
(Amon-Ra St.Brown, Jameson Williams, & Tim Patrick) as outlets at Goff's
disposal plus a tight end in his second year who is coming off a Pro Bowl
season (Sam Laporta).
LIONS OFFENSE:
TOTAL OFFENSE P/G- 394.8 (2ND)
RUSH YARDS P/G- 151.1 (4TH)
PASS YARDS P/G- 243.8 (4TH)
POINTS P/G- 32.1 (1ST)
TOTAL SKS ALLOWED- 25 (8TH)
LIONS DEFENSE:
TOTAL YARDS P/G- 318.6 (10TH)
RUSH YARDS P/G- 93.9 (5TH)
PASS YARDS P/G- 224.7 (24TH)
POINTS P/G- 18.0 (T-2ND)
TOTAL SACKS- 31 (T-19TH)
The Buffalo
Bills are heading to Detroit with a ton of confidence in their back
pockets. Buffalo is coming off a loss,
though Josh Allen had his best performance of his career, accounting for six
touchdowns himself. Allen put up all 42
points alone last Sunday (minus PATs) as the Bills still managed to lose 44-42
to a quickly turned-around Los Angeles Rams squad. Buffalo’s QB threw three touchdowns while also
rushing for an added three scores, literally doing everything in his power to win
the game, without a single turnover. Buffalo’s
OC Joe Brady will have his full repertoire of players ready to go into combat
against Aaron Glenn’s (Detroit’s DC) number-two-ranked scoring defense. Running back James Cook should be back to
himself this week after having a dud against the Rams and Brady should utilize
him steadily in their passing game, which should cause mismatch issues for
Detroit with all the injuries to the Lions linebackers. Josh should also greatly benefit from veteran
Amari Cooper and rookie Keon Coleman, both back in full health. Cooper comes into this game being targeted 14
times last week (most targets for him in a game this season) while hauling in 6
receptions for 95 yards. Their tight end
Dalton Kincaid has missed the previous three games but was a full go at
practice on Wednesday. He is listed as questionable,
but I’d bet he’ll be available Sunday.
BILLS OFFENSE:
TOTAL YARDS P/G- 355.0 (10TH)
RUSH YARDS P/G- 125.7 (11TH)
PASS YARDS P/G- 229.3 (12TH)
POINTS P/G- 30.5 (2ND)
TOTAL SKS ALLOWED- 13 (1ST)
BILLS DEFENSE:
TOTAL YARDS P/G- 332.0 (14TH)
RUSH YARDS P/G- 123.1 (19TH)
PASS YARDS P/G- 208.9 (9TH)
POINTS P/G- 20.6 (8TH)
TOTAL SACKS- 29 (T-22ND)
This game may
very well come down to whoever possesses the ball last and could be a high-scoring
game. I think the Bills will probably have
a pass-happy game plan with Detroit giving up the 22nd most passing
yards per game. The Lions haven’t had
much of a pass rush ever since their all-star edge rusher Aidan Hutchinson went
down at the beginning of the season with a leg injury. On the other side, the Lions' offense can beat
you by way of ground or air, though the smarter move would be to ground and
pound on Bobby Babich’s (Bills DC) 19th-ranked run defense. I mean they are the only NFL team currently
with two premier running backs, as aforementioned Sonic & Knuckles (Gibbs and
Montgomery). Gibbs is 5th in
rushing yards this season (1,016 yards) while both backs rank in the top ten in
rushing touchdowns (Montgomery 3rd-12tds, Gibbs 9th-10tds). It is also notable to add that Josh Allen ironically
is ranked 10th in rushing touchdowns this season with 9. Allen is the ultimate weapon and one of the
most athletic QBs the NFL has ever seen.
He is also 6th in passing TDs with 23, while Jared Goff ranks
one spot higher at 5th with 25 TDs.
Buffalo goes into Ford Field as +2.5 underdogs, but I would bet the
Lions stay hot, winners of their last 11 straight who haven’t lost a game since
week 2.
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