Lions at Bills: Special Teams miscues costly in road loss
With a banged up QB and missing several key players on both sides of the ball, the Detroit Lions look more like a MASH unit than an NFL team right now.
Their playoff aspirations barely hanging on by a thread, the Detroit Lions have hit the second stop on their two-week road trip at New Era Field in order to take on the Buffalo Bills. The Lion defense matched up against a rookie quarterback, Josh Allen, for the second time in as many weeks and that collective of defenders undoubtedly looked to continue their stellar play from a week ago in Arizona.
First Quarter
Detroit won the toss and deferred possession until the second half so Sam Martin booted the ball away to the all red-clad Buffalo Bills to begin the game. Allen led his unit onto the field and on his first snap, he handed the ball off to his running back Marcus Murphy for a gain of 5-yards on the ground.
Murphy gained another 4-yards on his second carry and on 3rd & 1, the young QB Allen kept the ball himself in order to move the chains. Allen completed his first pass of the day to wideout Isaiah McKenzie for a gain of 4-yards through the air.
Murphy and McKenzie both continued to make plays for their team on the ground and through the air as this young Bills team put together a decent drive on their initial attempt. On a 2nd & 10 play, Detroit’s stalwart safety Glover Quin held Murphy to only a yard and on the following third down play, Lion linebacker Devon Kennard came up big as he sacked Josh Allen for a loss of 9-yards for his team-leading seventh sack of the year.
The defensive stand by the Lions forced the Bills into their first punt of the game.
Running back Zach Zenner got the start over LeGarrette Blount and Zenner took his first carry for 2-yards. Matthew Stafford was hit just as he threw his first pass to receiver Kenny Golladay for a gain of 20 but the already hurting QB was a bit gimpy as he rose from the ground.
On third down, the Lions came up just shy of converting the first down.
The Bills took back over offensively after the punt and they managed to keep the chains moving along on third down. Lion linebacker Jarrad Davis continued his heat-seeking missile play from last week as he flat out speared Murphy in the backfield for a loss of 4-yards.
On the next third down play, Detroit’s defense chased Allen out of the pocket and on the pass attempt, Quin very nearly came down with an interception for the Lions but he was ruled out of bounds.
Blount grabbed his first carry and took it for 2-yards as the first quarter came to an end.