Lions can't contain Josh Allen, high-flying Bills in shootout

DETROIT — The other shoe has officially dropped.

After weeks of the Detroit Lions holding the line with a banged-up front seven, Buffalo Bills quarterback and MVP frontrunner Josh Allen put Detroit's depleted defense in a blender all Sunday afternoon at Ford Field.

If this was, indeed, a Super Bowl preview, as many suggested in the buildup, the Lions (12-2) better hope they have a better plan and personnel to stop Allen and Co. the second time around.

Allen threw for 362 yards and two touchdowns on 23-for-34 passing and ran for 69 yards and two touchdowns. Buffalo's rushing attack gashed the Lions' defense for 198 yards, including 105 and two touchdowns from running back James Cook. Bills running back Ty Johnson — a former sixth-round pick (2019) by the Lions — had a career day with 114 receiving yards, further adding insult to injury in a 48-42 Lions loss that snapped the team's franchise-best win streak at 11 games and was the highest-scoring game of the NFL season.

The Lions made a valiant comeback effort, almost recovering an onside kick with 12 seconds remaining that would've given the Lions a chance at one or two more heaves to the end zone, but the Bills ultimately came up with it to seal the win.

Detroit's secondary — which lost cornerbacks Carlton Davis III (concussion protocol/jaw) and Khalil Dorsey (ankle) — was often asked to cover for what felt like an eternity, as the Lions' pass rush lacked the juice it had in previous games despite the return of several starting defensive linemen. Allen made play after play; with his legs, with his arm, with his unique vision that seems to view the NFL football field as some sort of backyard playground.

Even when things went right for Detroit, they seemed to eventually go wrong.

After the Lions forced their first punt of the day with 7:12 left in the third quarter, defensive tackle Alim McNeill came up limping and went into the medical tent. As the cart came out to bring McNeill to the locker room, Lions receiver Amon-Ra St. Brown fumbled — just the second of his career — in Detroit territory, giving the Bills (11-3) the football right back. McNeill was immediately ruled out with a right knee injury, another deadly blow to the Lions' Super Bowl aspirations.

Sure, bad days happen. The Lions marched to the NFC Championship a season ago despite some ugly losses. This team is undoubtedly better than a season ago, but its injury outlook is far, far worse.

For good measure, Lions center Frank Ragnow was assessed a face mask penalty on St. Brown's fumble, furthering the Bills' attempts to make it a three-score game. And they did, on a 3-yard touchdown run by wide receiver Khalil Shakir to put Buffalo up 35-14 with 3:31 left in the third quarter.

Detroit was coming off a mini-bye week after playing on Thursday Night Football in Week 14, but the 10 days off simply didn't seem to make a difference. Not on defense, not on offense, not even on special teams.

The Bills' defense came out with its hair on fire. After forcing a three-and-out on Detroit's opening series, Buffalo gave up a first down to Lions receiver Tim Patrick on the second series — and then promptly sacked Goff twice, including a strip-sack on third down that was recovered by Detroit.

The Bills put together a seven-play touchdown drive on their opening series that featured 57 yards receiving from Johnson, including a 24-yard catch on third-and-5 in Lions territory that helped set up a 1-yard touchdown run by Allen. It took the Bills nine plays to go 78 yards for a touchdown on their second drive, but they got in the end zone all the same, again on a touchdown run by Allen, this one from 4 yards out to go up 14-0 with 2:01 to go in the first quarter.

Detroit finally caught a break when Bills kicker Tyler Bass missed a 24-yard field goal that would have put the Bills up by 10 before halftime. But after Lions quarterback Jared Goff missed a third-down throw to St. Brown, kicker Jake Bates badly missed a 52-yard field goal — just his second miss of the season — before halftime that would have cut Detroit's deficit to 4 entering the locker room.

And it didn't take the Bills long to add to their lead once the second half began. After the Bills went to Johnson — again — for a gain of 19, Cook took a handoff 47 yards up the middle for a touchdown that put Buffalo up by two scores, 28-14, just 1:49 into the third quarter.

The Lions didn't go down without a fight. After the Shakir touchdown, St. Brown caught a pass over the middle that was eerily similar to the one he fumbled on, only this time, he broke a tackle and won a foot race to the end zone for a 66-yard score that cut the deficit to 35-21 with 1:41 remaining in the third quarter.

Again, the Bills answered.

Buffalo faced a third-and-4 from their own 36 on their ensuing possession, bringing the Ford Field crowd to its feet. But the play ended with Buffalo tight end Dalton Kincaid taunting Lions cornerback Terrion Arnold and safety Kerby Joseph, who were no match for another perfectly thrown football from Allen. The Bills re-upped their lead to three scores once again, this time with a 50-yard field goal from Bass, making it 38-21 with 14:02 left in the game.

The Lions put together a five-play touchdown drive, culminating with a 12-yard touchdown pass to running back Jahmyr Gibbs, bringing the deficit to 10.

Desperate to avoid giving the ball back to Allen, the Lions tried an onside kick that was returned by Buffalo's Mack Hollins to the 5-yard line of Detroit. The Bills scored on the very next play, a 5-yard touchdown pass to Ray Davis.

Allen and Goff came into this game with MVP hopes on the line. Despite the sensational showing from Allen, Goff was not outplayed, and one could even argue it was his best outing of the season. He finished 38 for 59 for a season-high 494 yards (the second-most of his career), five touchdowns and no interceptions for a passer rating of 118.9.

One of Goff's touchdowns went to offensive tackle Dan Skipper, who was the face of Detroit's trick-play fiasco in last season's loss to the Dallas Cowboys and was bound to find the end zone at some point this season. He finally made good on the hopes and dreams of Lions fans when he leaked out for a 9-yard touchdown pass with 3:01 to go in the first half, diving his way into the end zone to cut the Lions' deficit to 21-14.

If there's any solace to be taken from the loss, it's how the Lions' offense looked after the early struggles. Wide receiver Tim Patrick got the Lions on the board when he dove into the end zone for a 12-yard touchdown pass that made it a 14-7 game with 13:36 to go in the first quarter. Gibbs scored twice, including a 1-yard touchdown run that cut Detroit's deficit to 45-35 with 8:02 remaining.

Despite some questioning the reasoning of Detroit's onside kick early in the fourth quarter, the Bills' ensuing possession was a perfect example of why the Lions might've felt it was necessary. Allen completed a 22-yard pass to Dawson Knox on second-and-7, then followed it up with a 22-yard run up the middle that put the Bills on the edge of the red zone and allowed Buffalo to bleed most of the remaining clock.

As the Lions fought their way to a 6-point loss, the Philadelphia Eagles — one of Detroit's primary competitors for the NFC's No. 1 seed — romped to a 13-point win over another AFC contender, the Pittsburgh Steelers.

The Lions still hold the tiebreaker over Philadelphia but have a significantly smaller margin for error over their last three games, which will see Detroit travel to Chicago and San Francisco before finishing the season at home against the 11-2 Minnesota Vikings, another competitor for the No. 1 seed and the NFC North.

____