Josh Allen made the first regular season game at Highmark Stadium one to remember for Bills fans.
The quarterback threw three passes and ran for two in a dominant 41-31 win over the Lions. The Bills improved to 2-0, while the Lions fell to 1-1.
Allen now has four career games with three touchdown passes and two rushing touchdowns. No other player in NFL history has more than two (Kordell Stewart), according to NFL Researcher.
Allen completed 20 of 31 passes for 248 yards and three touchdowns. His scoring drives went for 43 yards to Josh Palmer, 1 yard to Dawson Knox and 16 yards to Dalton Kincaid. Palmer has two catches for 77 yards and two touchdowns this season after catching the game-winning touchdown in Sunday’s win over the Texans.
Kincaid caught seven passes for a team-leading 95 yards.
The Bills lost wide receiver DJ Moore to a shoulder injury and a stinger in the first half.
Allen also ran for 69 yards and two 14-yard touchdowns, topped only by James Cook’s 21 yards for 135 yards. Cook scored the team’s final touchdown on a 1-yard run with 2:50 left to seal it.
The Bills outgained the Lions 446 to 355, were 5-for-5 in the red zone and went 9-of-12 on third down.
Buffalo scored touchdowns on its first four possessions and punted just twice all night.
The Lions, who blew a 21-0 lead over the Saints last week before winning in overtime, fell behind 21-0 and trailed 27-10 at halftime. They twice trailed by 10 points when the game was still within reach, but Allen and the Bills responded twice.
Detroit’s last possession, which pulled it back to within 10, came with 1:42 left as Amon-Ra St. Brown scored his second touchdown. The Bills, however, recovered the onside kick.
Lions quarterback Jared Goff was 26 of 38 for 327 yards and four touchdowns after a slow start. Goff reached 40,000 yards in his 153rd game, the sixth-fastest of any quarterback.
St. Brown caught nine passes for 142 yards and two touchdowns, and Jahmyr Gibbs had 16 passes for 52 yards and six passes for 61 yards and a touchdown.
Bills outside linebacker Greg Rousseau, who had two sacks and two forced fumbles in Sunday’s season-opening win over the Texans, had two sacks and a forced fumble against the Lions.