by TYLER HATHAWAY
The Buffalo Bills opened their season with a dramatic shootout victory over the Houston Texans, and will return home this Thursday to open their brand new stadium against the Detroit Lions, who enter off a last-minute win of their own. Expect a lot of points to be scored after the red ribbon gets cut to kick off a new era of Bills football. Here’s the breakdown:
DETROIT LIONS (1-0/NFC North)
vs.
BUFFALO BILLS (1-0/AFC East)
Thursday, Highmark Stadium, 8:15 pm
Storyline #1: First regular-season game in the new stadium
Thursday marks a milestone moment for the Buffalo Bills, as it will be the first ever home game played in the new Highmark Stadium.
Buffalo spent over 50 years in its previous stadium, which originally opened as Rich Stadium in 1973. It will be the third stadium that houses the Bills in their history.
“This place has got grass, and it’s going to be pretty cool in there,” Bills quarterback Josh Allen told reporters earlier in the summer. “I’ve been in there a few times, and I think the fans are going to be very pleased when we get that place rocking.”
The stadium isn’t alone in being a story on Thursday night though, the field will be as well. The Bills chose to resod the field in early September, citing player and team concerns that the grass wasn’t up to par in the preseason.
Storyline #2: Josh Allen delivers milestone win in Houston
The biggest story of the Bills’ win this past weekend was Allen’s performance against one of the best defenses in football.
Allen torched a Texans team that had previously given him troubles, totaling nearly 350 yards of total offense and four touchdowns. He capped the game with a 34-yard strike on third and long to wide receiver Josh Palmer with less than two minutes left that gave Buffalo the lead in what ended as a 36-31 win.
Prior to Sunday, Allen was 0-4 in his career when playing in Houston, and had more turnovers than passing touchdowns.
It was also Joe Brady’s first win as head coach of the Bills.
“It feels good to start the season off right,” Allen said postgame. “Obviously, coach Joe getting his first win as an NFL coach, takes a lot of time, lot of effort to get in a position to do that. I’m really happy for him, he called a great game.”
Storyline #3: Lions coming off a tight win
Buffalo wasn’t alone in winning in the final minutes on Sunday- Detroit needed overtime to dispatch of the visiting New Orleans Saints, 31-30.
Saints quarterback Tyler Shough torched the Lions secondary, leading them back from a 21-0 deficit with over 400 passing yards. The Lions made a stop on a two-point conversion try late in OT that sealed a Detroit win.
While Detroit’s defense struggled in the second half, the offense was potent. Jared Goff threw for 250 yards and two touchdowns, Jahmyr Gibbs ran for over 150 yards and two scores, and Amon-Ra St. Brown made 10 catches for 67 yards and two scores.
Key to the game #1: Limit Jahmyr Gibbs
The Bills defense had a mediocre day stopping the run, as Buffalo was able to limit Texans running back David Montgomery to just 60 yards on 20 carries. However, the Texans still totaled nearly 125 rushing yards as a team and Montgomery found the endzone three times.
While its a step in the right direction for a defense that was the fifth worst rushing defense in football a season ago, their arguably hardest test of the season is coming into town this weekend. Lions tailback Jahmyr Gibbs has ran for over 1,200 yards in two straight seasons and had over 150 yards against New Orleans.
The Bills will need to continue to make strides in stopping the run on Thursday if they want to come away with the win.
Key to the game #2: Don’t come out flat
The Mafia is going to be ready to roar on Thursday night. First home game of the season, coming off of a big win, primetime game, all while being the first game at the new Highmark Stadium.
Buffalo cannot lay an egg in the first half and let Detroit quiet the crowd. The Bills need to start fast, maybe get an early touchdown or two with some stops on defense and let momentum roll from there. Don’t give the Lions any life.
X-Factor: Bills defensive coordinator Jim Leonhard
It was a relatively rough debut for Jim Leonhard’s defense on Sunday against the Texans, all things considered. While the pass rush and defensive front was awesome, with Greg Rousseau and Deone Walker each having career games, the Texans still scored 31 points and generated almost 400 yards of offense, well above their season averages from a year ago.
The Lions’ offense is considered to be much better than Houston’s. Detroit tied for fourth last season in terms of points per game and were fifth in yards per game. And it looks like Detroit didn’t skip a beat last week, finishing with 31 points and 469 yards of total offense. Leonhard’s bunch will have to play better than they did a week ago to avoid the game turning into a track meet. Thankfully, if it does, Allen and the Bills’ offense can win track meets.
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