Free Press sports writer Dave Birkett highlights the best and worst performances of the Lions’ 48-42 loss to the Buffalo Bills on Sunday at Ford Field.

The Lions (12-2) lost for the first time in exactly three months — when they also lost at home to Tampa Bay, 20-16, in Week 2 on Sept. 15 — and had their franchise-record 11-game win streak snapped. The Lions will have to wait a week to get a second shot at setting the franchise single-season wins record when they visit division rival Chicago Bears in Week 16.

Lions-Bills winners

Bills QB Josh Allen

Allen was phenomenal Sunday, passing for 362 yards and two touchdowns and running for two more scores. He has five rushing and five passing touchdowns with zero turnovers in the Bills’ past two games and made a handful of improbable throws after extending plays with his legs.

With his performance, Allen cemented his place as this year’s probable MVP.

“Josh Allen just doing Josh Allen things, man,” Lions cornerback Amik Robertson said. “I don’t think they got any standout dog rec(eiver). They didn’t do nothing — for me they didn’t do nothing special, we just didn’t play Lions football today, man, but we’re going to be all right”

Lions S Brian Branch

Branch was one of the few bright spots on a defense that gave up its most points since Week 4 of the 2022 season.

The second-year safety had 15 tackles, two for loss, and a pass breakup. He had a TFL on a first-and-10 play in the third quarter that helped force the Bills’ only punt of the game and a pass breakup in the end zone that forced the Bills to settle for a short field goal they missed late in the second quarter.

The Lions defense has been decimated by injury and is hemorrhaging talent in the front seven, but they still have two of the best safeties in football in Branch and Kerby Joseph.

MORE BAD NEWS: Lions RB David Montgomery knee injury update

Lions-Bills losers

Lions OL

The Lions have one of the best rushing offenses in the NFL, but couldn’t run the ball a lick Sunday — 48 yards on 15 carries — and that’s part of why they found themselves in a big early hole. They went 0 yards, 1 yard, minus-2 yards on their first three carries and gave up two sacks in their first six pass attempts.

While the failures were a collective effort, Frank Ragnow (two holding penalties) and Graham Glasgow (a face mask) had especially rough days on the interior trying to block Bills defensive tackle Ed Oliver (one sack, three QB hits).

The Lions still rallied for 42 points, so the line wasn’t all bad. But one of the league’s best groups hasn’t been its sharpest in a few weeks and that’s not what this team needs heading into the home stretch.

Lions’ Super Bowl 2025 chances

The Lions are still one of the best teams in the NFL, but it’s indisputable their Super Bowl 59 chances took another hit (or four) with injuries Sunday.

Already down defensive starters Aidan Hutchinson, Marcus Davenport, Derrick Barnes and Alex Anzalone, the Lions lost two more defensive starters to major injury Sunday in Alim McNeill and Carlton Davis, gunner/cornerback Khalil Dorsey to a broken leg and running back David Montgomery to an MCL injury.

As good as they’ve been, the Lions are starting to run out of capable bodies, especially on defense. They could lose all four of the players who got injured Sunday for the remainder of the season, and good teams like the Bills and good quarterbacks like Allen are more than capable of exploiting their holes.

DAVE BIRKETT: Campbell’s onside kick was fine, the defense was not: 5 final thoughts on Lions-Bills

On Sunday, the Lions’ decimated linebacking corps struggled to get off blocks and cover Buffalo’s running backs and tight ends in the pass game. Anzalone should return soon, but it might not be enough to save the league’s most injury-ravaged defense.

Dave Birkett is the author of the new book, “Detroit Lions: An Illustrated Timeline.” Order your copy here. Contact him at dbirkett@freepress.com. Follow him on Bluesky, X and Instagram at @davebirkett.

No, Jared Goff. The sky is not falling on the Detroit Lions. At least not yet. 

The Lions had their NFL-best 11-game winning streak snapped by the Buffalo Bills and electric quarterback Josh Allen in a classic shootout at Ford Field on Sunday. For all the firepower the Lions have as the NFL’s most prolific offense in putting up points, they met their match and couldn’t keep up in the NFL’s highest-scoring game of the season. 

Bills 48. Lions 42. 

Momentum halted. Balloon popped. Gasket blown. 

Yet all it will take for the Lions (12-2) to hang onto the No. 1 seed, earn a first-round bye and seize home-field advantage for the NFC playoffs is another streak – as in winning their final three games. With that, the sky might still be Honolulu Blue. 

“I’m sure there will be a ton of stuff written about the sky falling,” Goff said after Detroit’s first loss since Week 2. “We had won how many in a row. It sucks to lose. We would have loved to win every game out, all the way through the Super Bowl. I hope we can look back on this one as a good learning lesson for us and move on.” 

It would have been totally understandable if Goff went home and immediately packed his throwing arm in ice. The ninth-year pro threw a season-high 59 times. Against a Bills secondary without three injured starters, Goff also hit season highs for yards (494) and touchdown passes (5). 

But this came in a game when the Lions logged just 15 rushes and fell into an early hole because the Bills (11-3) started hot by scoring touchdowns on their first three drives. 

Did somebody mention a lesson?

Well, take your pick.

The last time the Lions lost, against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, Goff threw 55 times. So, no, that is not the desired formula. Yet Detroit’s 59-15 pass-run ratio against the Bills, which can be easily skewed when trying to rally from huge deficits, wasn’t the imbalance that should concern the Lions the most. 

They passed because they had to. And they had to because the battered defense – which lost three more players on Sunday – was so overmatched. 

For weeks, Detroit’s defense has been so short-handed. Its best player, defensive end Aidan Hutchinson, suffered a broken tibia and fibula in mid-October. Defensive end Marcus Davenport (triceps) and linebacker Alex Anzalone (broken arm) have missed much of the season, too.  

Yet with defensive coordinator Aaron Glenn creatively crafting schemes to cover for the setbacks – Detroit entered the matchup ranked third in blitz rate (32.2%), according to Pro Football Reference – the Lions kept on winning. 

Then came Sunday, when on top of being unable to contain Allen (the third quarterback in the past 30 years to pass for at least 250 yards with two rushing TDs in the first half), more losses were piled on with injuries. 

Cornerback Khalil Dorsey suffered a gruesome leg injury that coach Dan Campbell said was similar to Hutchinson’s and ends his season. Campbell isn’t sure about the severity of the others, but he’s bracing himself. Defensive tackle Alim McNeill suffered a knee injury. Veteran cornerback Carlton Davis III has an injured jaw. 

“Know more tomorrow,” Campbell said. “I don’t feel good about either of those guys.” 

Still, as you’d expect from him, the coach isn’t hiding behind the injuries. 

“No excuses,” Campbell said, courageously. 

Sure, the NFL is a war of attrition. Every team in the league is dealing with injuries. Yet Detroit’s defense has had more than its share. 

No, it’s not the first unit to be shredded by Allen, the MVP front-runner who spread the football around to nine targets in passing for 362 yards on Sunday and was never sacked. If he wasn’t converting on throws after rolling out of the pocket to extend plays, he was lethal with his legs. Again. Designed sweeps. Improvised scrambles. Misdirection power runs. 

Yet it wasn’t just Allen that the defense couldn’t contain as Buffalo rushed for 197 yards. James Cook (14 rushes, 105 yards) and Allen combined to average 6.9 yards per carry. It’s no wonder that Buffalo balanced its attack with 34 rushing attempts and 34 passes. 

In any event, the defense’s struggles illuminated the enormous pressure on Goff’s unit. After trailing by 21 points early in the third quarter, the Lions trimmed the deficit to 10 points and then to the final six-point margin. But that was more a reflection of grit and resilience than it was an indication that they would seize control of the game. 

And it underscored the reality of a challenge that will escalate when the competition stiffens in January. Balance wins in the playoffs. Complementary football matters. When the defense gets a stop, the offense converts it into points. Or so goes the idea. 

Defense wins championships? Well, until further notice Detroit, averaging an NFL-high 32.8 points per game, needs to be carried by an offense that makes the other teams play catch-up. The Lions have arguably the NFL’s best offensive line and a potent 1-2 running back duo with David Montgomery and Jahmyr Gibbs. Goff has receiving targets galore, led by Amon-Ra St. Brown, complemented by Sam LaPorta, Jameson Williams and Tim Patrick.  

And with all those weapons comes a formula with a tight script. Failing a litmus test against Buffalo wasn’t the worst outcome. Detroit still holds the No. 1 seed. Yet the key question was amplified, given the state of an injury-battered defense that can’t be counted on for stops. 

Of course, Campbell, known for his aggressive game management decisions, pointed to something else that had nothing to do with the defense being short-handed. He grumbled about the intensity. As pesky as the Lions were in the fourth quarter, they had to play catch-up for the entire game. Not easy with that defense. 

The coach blamed himself for not having his team playing with urgency from the start. It was the proverbial team punched in the mouth, dazed as it processed what hit it. 

The Bills won’t be the only team capable of inflicting such pain if the Lions, who advanced to an NFC title game meltdown last season, hope to beat the best competition and take it a couple of steps further this time around. 

Lesson? 

“Maybe it’s a good wake-up call for us and a nice little recalibration for us,” Goff said. 

Either that or a reality check. The formula is a bit out of whack. 

“Now what are we going to do about it?” Campbell said. “We won’t sit there and feel sorry for ourselves.” 

After all, the sky isn’t falling. At least not yet. 

Here is a collection of quotes from Detroit Lions players and coaches following their 48-42 loss to the Buffalo Bills in Week 15.

Dan Campbell

On whether he thinks the Bills were great or if the Lions have serious defensive issues:

“No, I just feel like we didn’t play at the same level that that team did today. That’s how I feel, and that’s why, honestly, I put this on me. I didn’t, I just didn’t feel like I had them ready to go, not like we’ve been. You can get away with, maybe if you’re not quite all the way to a 10, but not against the Buffalo Bills, Kansas City Chiefs or Green Bay Packers, Minnesota, Philadelphia—whoever they are. It’s not going to be good enough, and it wasn’t good enough today.”

Jared Goff

On the importance of not overreacting to a loss:

“We don’t, yeah no. We’ll be just fine. I’m sure there will be a ton of stuff written about the sky falling, but no, internally, we’re good. Yeah, we had won how many in a row up to that point, but it sucks to lose. We would’ve loved to win every game out, all the way through the Super Bowl and I hope we can look back on this one as a good learning lesson for us and move on and use some of the stuff that we learned in this game to help us win these next three before we hit the Playoffs.”

Terrion Arnold

On if the defense felt like it was trying to claw back the entire game after a slow start:

“Nah, I wouldn’t say it feels like that. It’s one of those things where you look at, ‘What did we do wrong?’ On the plays that they scored, it wasn’t something where they necessarily went out there and won a 1-on-1 matchup or they went out there and did, it was on us. Aaron Glenn does a great job of putting us in positions to succeed, and we just have to go out there and execute the game plan.” 

Dan Skipper

On his touchdown catch in the second quarter:

“I was trying to — the whole design of the play is the timing of it all. So getting the timing right, and once the ball is in the air, catch the ball, secure it. And then from there, they took (tight end) Brock (Wright). Turned around, there was one guy coming at me, so I lowered the shoulder on him.”

Josh Paschal

On the importance of moving forward after Sunday’s loss:

“He’s a great player, dynamic. He can hurt you with his legs, his arm. They got us today, but we’re gonna regroup. It’s a long season, and the good news is we’re still in control of our own destiny. We’ve got to get coached up and get back to work.”

DJ Reader

On how the team will respond after losing for the first time since Week 2:

“It’ll be fine, just can’t let it snowball. That’s really the thing. People get beat every Sunday. So we just can’t let it snowball. We still are what our record says we are, we’re 12-2. We’ve got a division opponent next week, we’ve got to go out there and get it done.”

Studs and Duds: Goff Makes NFL History, Defense Destroyed

On if this loss will elevate their urgency:

“I think there should be urgency every Sunday. We’re getting closer and closer to the playoffs, we’ve already got a spot there. So I think the urgency, if it wasn’t, we should have it high. I think we do have it high. We just lost man. I think that’s what it is. It happens in this league. S**t, we’ve been kicking everybody’s a** for 12 weeks. This week, it happened to us.”

Sam LaPorta

On the importance of bouncing back next week against Chicago:

“We’ve got three games left. We’re gonna take it one game at a time. We know the opportunity of taking the one seed, just the benefit of playing here at Ford Field, the home-field advantage. Our fans are tremendous. Of course there’s tremendous urgency, but there is every week in the NFL. Every game is a tough game and everybody’s gonna give you their best.”

On if he wants to see the Bills again in February:

“Of course. You always want payback, especially when a team gets the best of you. But that’s the competitor in me saying that.”

Al-Quadin Muhammad

On whether playing a team like the Bills can teach them what they need to improve upon for the playoffs:

“As we watch the film there’s always things you can learn from playing the great football teams. But we’re gonna watch the film, we’re gonna evaluate us and we’re gonna go out there and do what we do best, play our style of football.”