DETROIT – On a day when his defense surrendered 42 points, 30 first downs and 521 yards of offense to the Detroit Lions, Sean McDermott may never have been prouder of his Buffalo Bills defense than he was Sunday night at Ford Field.

“Well, I feel good about it, I do, I feel good,” McDermott said after having caught his breath following the Bills’ 48-42 victory of the Lions, a game that normally would deprive the proud defensive coach of sleep for 72 hours, but not in this case.

“You gotta celebrate wins in this league,” McDermott continued. “I mean, it’s just hard to win, it’s hard to win here. This team … they haven’t lost anything since the second week of the season. We were coming off the (disappointing) game the week before and getting back late, having the snow day, I mean, good Lord. Extremely grateful.”

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Everyone knew that in a game matching the top two offenses in the NFL, defense was probably going to be an afterthought, and it was to the tune of 1,080 combined yards and 90 points, both NFL single-game highs this season. But beyond the great offenses, another key aspect for what unfolded was that both defenses were banged up with injuries and really stood no chance.

In the end, McDermott’s defense found a way to allow six fewer points, and the result was a magnificently impressive victory, one that not only ended the Lions’ 11-game winning streak, but improved Buffalo to 11-3 and sent it a full game ahead of the Steelers – 27-13 losers to the Eagles – in the race for the AFC’s No. 2 seed.

Of course, McDermott was able to smile because while his defense was getting eviscerated, Josh Allen was even more lethal against Detroit’s overwhelmed group as he threw for 362 yards, ran for 68, and put up four more touchdowns to lead a 559-yard flogging.

“I’m honored to be his left tackle, man,” Dion Dawkins said.

Here’s how I graded the Bills:

PASS OFFENSE: A+

There really aren’t any more words left to describe the brilliance of Allen. He is an unstoppable superhuman force right now and the way he carved up the Lions was mind-melting. He completed 23 of 34 for 362 yards, completed seven passes of at least 20 yards to five different targets, and some of those completions came after he extended the play to upwards of seven and eight seconds.

The Bills had the ball for 11 possessions not counting the kneel at the end, and they scored six TDs and two field goals, and should have had another TD, or at least a FG, at the end of the first half. The only other times they didn’t score while trying, they punted once and had their last first-half possession end because the clock struck zero while out of FG range.

RB Ty Johnson was the big-play man as he caught five passes for 114 yards, but it seemed like everyone made a great play in the passing game at some point. Dalton Kincaid, Dawson Knox, Keon Coleman, and Khalil Shakir (who caught a three-yard shovel pass TD) all played key roles and made big catches. Incredibly, Amari Cooper not only didn’t catch a pass, he wasn’t even targeted, and amid all this revelry, that is a pretty big red flag. Like, how was that possible?

Although David Edwards was nailed for two holding penalties, one that nullified a TD pass in the fourth quarter, the line did not allow a sack against a defense that dialed up plenty of blitz pressure.

RUN OFFENSE: A+

James Cook bounced back from his weird 20-yard performance last week and rushed for 105 yards and two TDs including a dazzling, tackle-breaking 41-yarder to start the third quarter. And of course Allen was a beast once again, driving daggers into the Lions’ heart with his mad dash scrambles and designed runs.

The Bills finished with 197 yards, second only to their 220-yard night against the 49ers, and averaged 5.8 yards per carry and that was important because unlike the Lions, the Bills were able to remain two-dimensional and 11 of their 28 first downs came via the ground.

PASS DEFENSE: D-

I can’t give the Bills an F, not given the fact that they were missing three starters in the secondary and were playing the NFL’s top-scoring offense, in a game where the Lions had to pass on almost every play in the second half. Of course they were going to put up pinball numbers in the pass game and Jared Goff did – 38 of 59 for 494 yards and 5 TDs with Amon-Ra St. brown catching 14 for 193 yards.

Yeah, it’s going to trash Buffalo’s defensive rankings, but McDermott’s not sweating that. To have survived this game in those circumstances and leave town with a W was impressive.

Do you think Ed Oliver heard some of the criticism he has been receiving for his lackluster performance in 2024? Oliver was a beast in this game as he generated 10 QB pressures against Goff and recorded his second sack of the season. That was the most of any DT in the NFL this season. Greg Rousseau and Christian Benford also had sacks.

Sure, the coverage grades are brutal, but again, extenuating circumstances. I mean come one, they won a game starting Kaiir Elam, Cam Lewis and rookie Cole Bishop.

RUN DEFENSE: A

The Lions came into the game with the fourth-best rushing attack in the NFL at 151 yards per game, and they couldn’t get anything working against a Buffalo defense that began the day 19th in run defense. Sometimes there is no explaining what happens in NFL games.

Jahmyr Gibbs, who is already over 1,000 yards, managed just 31 on eight attempts and David Montgomery was completely muted with four yards on five carries. Even with Goff’s scrambles, the Lions finished with 48 rushing yards, the first time they’ve been held under 111 this season.

Going against the Lions’ top-rated offensive line, the Bills’ defensive line finally showed up as Oliver, DaQuan Jones and the other DTs held up inside, and Terrel Bernard and Taron Johnson were able to slice in to make tackles, Bernard getting 10 and Johnson eight, those most of those did come in the pass game.

One of the keys was that Buffalo veered away on occasion from its base nickel and had three LBs in the game, though that had to stop when Dorian Williams, and then Matt Milano, left with injuries.

SPECIAL TEAMS: A-

Tyler Bass can drive you nuts, right? He’s responsible for that minus on the grade because he somehow missed a 24-yard chip shot late in the first half which, at the time, felt like it could be a big turning point in the game. But he’s also part of the overall A because in the fourth quarter, with the game still very much undecided, he nailed kicks from 50 and 41 yards to keep the Bills in control. And on kickoffs he was a perfect 9-for-9 on touchbacks.

Punter Sam Martin had only one chance and it was a beauty, a 51-yarder that was downed at the 4 in the third quarter.

Brandon Codrington had a nice 17-yard punt return early in the first quarter that enabled the Bills to avoid a bad drive start position.

And then of course there was Buffalo’s work on Detroit’s two onside kicks. Mack Hollins fielded the first and raced 38 yards to the 5 to set up the TD that gave the Bills a 45-28 lead. And then Taron Johnson managed to survive a nasty scrum on the second one with 12 seconds left that saved the Bills from having to defend perhaps two Hail Marys, something that as we all know is a scary proposition for the Bills.

COACHING: A

Look, this was a rough day for the defense, there’s no denying that. But given that the Bills had only one full-scale practice during the week, they were down three secondary starters, and lost Milano and Williams for lengthy stretches in the game, I’m not sure I can criticize Bobby Babich for what happened. That, plus, the game script – with Detroit trailing by double digits almost the entire game – were a perfect recipe for how Goff piled up humongous numbers.

Offensive coordinator Joe Brady was outstanding. What a game plan this was, the diversity of it which included getting Ty Johnson, of all guys, to be involved in such seismic passing plays, something that surely had to catch the Lions off guard. Brady mixed run and pass beautifully and it might have been his best game of the year as the Bills averaged 8.2 yards per play, especially, again, when you add in the lack of practice time.

And McDermott has to get credit, too. You didn’t see him calling for an onside kick in a 10-point game with 12 minutes left to play, did you? Man, Dan Campbell is fun and exciting, but that was just stupid on every level. McDermott had the Bills ready to play in an electric environment against what many believe is the best team in the NFL, and were, at least, based on record until losing this game.