Josh Allen quickly put his stamp on the Buffalo Bills’ new stadium, which has been dubbed “The House that Allen built.” Allen threw three touchdown passes and ran for two scores, and the Bills beat the Detroit Lions 41-31 on Thursday night in the first regular-season game at Highmark Stadium. It was Allen’s fourth five-TD outing, and followed a four-touchdown outing (two passing, two rushing) in Buffalo’s season-opening win at Houston. Allen followed the pregame fireworks celebration with more of his own by overseeing touchdown drives on each of Buffalo’s first four possessions.
He scored the first regular-season TD in the stadium on a one-yard run 5:51 into the opening quarter. He followed that with a 43-yard scoring pass to a wide-open Josh Palmer. Tight ends Dalton Kincaid, with a 16-yard catch, and Dawson Knox, with a one-yarder, also scored for Buffalo in the first half.
Allen finished the night 20 of 31 for 248 yards, and added 72 yards rushing. James Cook had 134 yards rushing and put the game away with a one-yard TD run late in the fourth quarter. This is a great spot, we’re going to be here for a long time, hopefully the fans enjoyed it,” said Allen.
Allen’s two rushing TDs upped his career total to 83, moving him into a tie for 18th on the NFL list with Jim Taylor. He also picked up his 90th regular-season victory, becoming one of just four quarterbacks to reach that milestone through their first nine seasons. The Lions were undone by their injury-depleted defense, and a banged-up offensive line that had difficulty opening holes for Jahmyr Gibbs and protecting Jared Goff.
After rallying from a 21-0 deficit to cut Buffalo’s lead to 34-24, the Lions offense stalled midway through the fourth quarter. Backed up at their own 10, the Lions went three-and-out and were forced to punt after Goff had two passes tipped by Deone Walker, and Gibbs was stopped for no gain. Goff finished 26 of 38 for 327 yards and four touchdowns.
Amon-Ra St Brown had nine catches for 142 yards and two scores. Gibbs also scored on an 11-yard catch but was limited to 52 yards rushing. Sam LaPorta scored on a one-yard catch.
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