Josh Allen and the Buffalo Bills (10-3) travel to Ford Field Sunday for a highly-anticipated showdown with Jared Goff and the Lions. Kickoff is set for 4:25 p.m. EST.

Allen, a two-time Pro Bowler and one of the best quarterbacks in the game today, is enjoying a terrific season. The Wyoming product has thrown for 3,033 yards, 23 touchdowns and just five interceptions through 13 games. Plus, he’s recorded a league-best QBR (76.7).

On top of all that, the dual-threat passer has added another 416 yards and nine touchdowns as a runner.

Undoubtedly, Aaron Glenn’s defense will have its hands full trying to limit the productivity of Allen in this Week 15 matchup.

“He is challenging, and I haven’t had a chance to truly deep dive them yet, but I do know this: he’s taken care of the football,” Detroit head man Dan Campbell said of Allen. “He’s taking the plays that are there, and once he progresses, if it’s not (there), then he uses his legs. So, I feel a more patient player out of him, and because of that, he’s playing at a very high level. And, that makes him even more dangerous.

“He’s got a big-time arm, he’s accurate, he can read defenses, and then he’s got the physical ability to take off and run. And, he can run over people, he can run around you, he can get on the perimeter. So, yeah, this is going to be a huge task for us. This is not going to be easy.”

Without further ado, let’s take a look at three ways in which Detroit can attempt to curtail Allen’s production Sunday.

Bring the pressure 

It’ll be easier said than done against Allen, who has a knack for escaping the pocket and evading pass-rushers. Because of such, he’s only been sacked 13 times this season. That mark ranks toward the very bottom of the league among qualified quarterbacks.

Nonetheless, the onus will be on Glenn to dial up the blitz and get in the face of Allen as much as possible. 

Additionally, EDGE Za’Darius Smith will be key to the Lions’ pass-rushing efforts vs. the Bills signal-caller. In four games in Detroit, he’s amassed 20 total pressures, 14 quarterback hurries, two QB hits and four sacks.

The Lions certainly could use a solid game from the pass-rusher Sunday.

Deploy Jack Campbell strategically 

I’m fully aware that Glenn is not a fan of utilizing a QB spy. However, Jack Campbell, as the de facto quarterback of the defense, will still play a vital role in stymieing the efforts of Allen both through the air and on the ground. He’ll be responsible for keeping a close eye on the Bills dual-threat passer. And he’ll be tasked with ensuring that Allen doesn’t break off any big plays with his legs.

It won’t be an easy assignment for the middle linebacker, but it will be an ultra important one on Sunday.

Keep Allen and the Bills’ offense off the field

The best way of doing this is through long drives by Goff and the Lions’ offensive attack. And, Detroit can accomplish this by relying upon its bread and butter: its ground game.

Through 13 games, the Lions have compiled 1,964 yards and 22 touchdowns on the ground (both of which are the fourth-best marks in the league).

Jahmyr Gibbs, the “Sonic” to David Montgomery’s “Knuckles” persona, leads all Detroit running backs with 1,016 rushing yards on the season.

I expect a healthy dose of both Gibbs and Montgomery in this Week 15 contest. And, I truly believe this will be a method deployed by the Lions to keep Allen and Buffalo’s high-octane offense off the field.

Swinging momentum right back to the Sabres before the opening frame concluded, Tage Thompson finished Jason Zucker’s pass on the rush at 10:25 to even it up at 2-2. A goal from Zucker, his first of the night, during a delayed penalty at 15:26 pushed the hosts back in front 3-2.

Husso finished with four saves in the opening frame, then Cossa took his place in the crease to kick off the second period.

“I thought it would be a little unfair on Coss to do it with four minutes left,” Lalonde said about switching out goalies. “So I wanted to get to the end of the [first] period. It was a pretty easy decision.”

Lucas Raymond tied it 3-3 at 1:05 of the second period, blasting Larkin’s pass from the right face-off circle past Reimer for his 11th goal of the season. Eric Gustafsson recorded the secondary assist.

After Nicolas Aube-Kubel finished a rebound to make it 4-3 at 2:26 of the middle frame, Zucker extended it to 5-3 with his second tally at 9:46. He skated across the front of the crease and tucked the puck past Cossa.

Copp scored his second of the game at 10:27 of the third period, finding a rebound in front and sending it in to bring Detroit within 5-4. Assisted by Compher and Seider, Copp recorded his seventh goal of the season and second multi-goal game of the campaign.

Netting the equalizer for the Red Wings a little over four minutes later, Seider got a pass from Raymond then snapped home a shot from the right face-off circle to make it 5-5 at 15:42 of the third period. Simon Edvinsson collected the secondary assist on Seider’s third goal of the season, giving the Swedish defenseman three assists in his last four games.

Lalonde said secondary scoring played a big role in the eventual win.

“I thought we could get some offense tonight,” Lalonde said. “Some of the things we’ve worked on and preached, but the guys had to go out and execute. We got some balanced scoring throughout.”

Detroit Lions coach Dan Campbell made plenty of waves with his decisions to go for it on five different occasions against the Green Bay Packers. In the team’s 34-31 win, the Lions converted on four of those attempts.

Campbell has gotten extra attention for his aggressiveness given the situations in which the team went for it against Green Bay. Their one failed attempt came on a fourth-and-1 on their own 30-yard line.

Additionally, the Lions elected to go for it with the game tied and less than a minute left in the game. While they were within field goal range, Campbell opted to go for it as a first down would’ve allowed Detroit to run the rest of the clock down prior to a field goal from Jake Bates.

The Lions, who rank ninth in the league in fourth down attempts with 23, converted on a run by David Montgomery. They were able to bleed the remainder of the clock and cement the win with Jake Bates’ field goal at the final horn.

Speaking Tuesday during his weekly radio interview, Campbell acknowledged that not all coaches are as willing to be aggressive in those situations. He noted the backlash that comes with not converting, as fans can turn on their coaches if decisions like that turn costly.

Campbell encountered this last season, as the Lions’ failed fourth downs in the NFC Championship game led to the doxxing of his address and resulted in angry fans coming to his house. He and his family moved in a decision that became public early in the 2024 season.

“I don’t know. Well, here’s the obvious. What happens when we don’t get that? That’s the obvious. Well, we’re moving to the next house,” Campbell said. “That’s why. To each his own, there’s plenty of philosophies that work in this league. And you can win a lot of games doing it your way, and I just lean more this way. It doesn’t mean that we’re always gonna be this way, but that was right for that game.” 

Power Rankings: Lions Shedding Problems That Ruined Other Teams

Now in his fourth-year as the Lions’ coach, Campbell has experience in a number of unique late-game situations. The choice he faced against Green Bay was similar to one the Lions dealt with last season in a game at the Los Angeles Chargers.

In that game, the Lions went for it on a fourth-and-2 from the Chargers’ 26 with the game tied. Similarly, they were in field goal range and the Chargers were out of timeouts. Jared Goff hit Sam LaPorta for a first down, then took three knees before Riley Patterson kicked the game-winning field goal as time expired.

Situations such as that, along with the many others that Campbell has encountered in his time as a coach, serve as one of the influences for shaping the decisions that the coach makes in these moments. In 2024, the Lions have converted 68.8 percent of their fourth-down attempts.

While Campbell has become one of the figures most synonymous with taking risks, he admitted that he won’t always opt to take a chance. Rather, his decisions are based on evaluating each situation. Against Green Bay, he felt that the aggressive decisions were what the team needed to win.

“I think everything that I’ve been through as a coach, a lot of those come in. Things that happened in New Orleans, certainly things that have happened here,” Campbell said. “And then you think about how the game has gone, where you’re at, where your guys are at. Where you feel like you’re best suited to finish the game out. Look, if you think you can win the game and you don’t have to worry about anything else after that moment, I’m gonna be drawn to that more times than not. It’s not always gonna play out like that, and it doesn’t mean I’m always gonna go for it in that situation. But we were under a yard, and I felt like that was the right thing to do in that moment.”