Every year a matchup or two earns the right to be called a Super Bowl preview. It took until Week 15 to get there, but this battle between the Buffalo Bills and Detroit Lions promises to be epic.
The NFL world is in for a treat. These are arguably the two best teams in the league, the classes of their respective conferences. Each is coming off different Week 14 with the Bills defense getting blasted by the Rams (who scored a whopping 12 points four days later) in a loss and the Lions dispatched their division rival Green Bay.
If the Bills are going to have a shot at overtaking the Chiefs for the AFC’s top seed, they almost certainly need to win this game. The Chiefs are 2.0 games up on the Bills, and Buffalo needs them to lose two of the next four while winning out. The Bills also need to win this game in order to calm a panicking Bills Mafia, which did not take last week’s loss well. Meanwhile, the Lions are looking to maintain their lead in the NFC North over the Minnesota Vikings.
Some key matchups in this game will determine the outcome, so let’s jump into this.
Bills front four vs. Lions RB tandem
Sonic (Gibbs) and Knuckles (Montgomery) are dominating this season. They have combined for 1,787 yards and 22 touchdowns on the ground, with 66 receptions, 622 yards, and two more touchdowns through the air. The Bills have allowed the fourth most explosive plays (runs of 10+ yards or 20+ through the air) yet are top five in HAVOC plays (negative plays forced). The key will be whether the Bills can force more negative plays than the explosive plays they seem bound to allow.
Josh Allen vs. Kerby Joseph
Lions’ defender Kerby Joseph is tied for the league lead in interceptions with seven and is known to tackle a bit low at the player’s knees. I see an Allen hurdle waiting to happen. Allen is on a tear right now, having totaled 10 touchdowns over the last two games. He’s making MVP-like plays and doing things no quarterback has ever done. The Bills might need another Superman appearance and Allen must avoid interceptions to Joseph to get this win in Detroit too.
Bills secondary versus Amon-Ra St. Brown/Sam LaPorta
The Lions’ offense is loaded with weapons from the receivers, running backs, and tight ends. Jared Goff is the trigger man, completing over 72 percent of his passes. The Bills’ secondary got embarrassed against the Rams, giving up 254 yards, 17 receptions, and two touchdowns to Puka Nacua and Cooper Kupp. St. Brown and LaPorta are more than capable of matching the Rams duo’s production, and it won’t help that the Bills will be without starting corner Rasul Douglas.
