The Detroit Lions are going to have their hands full on Thursday night when they head to Buffalo to face off against Josh Allen and the Bills.
It's a game between two potential contenders with humongous chips on their shoulders: they both want to reach the Super Bowl, they both want to win on the biggest stage in football, and they both want to shake off years of "close, but no cigar" play that has haunted them both.
It's also only Week 2, so it's hard to make any declarative statements about the direction of either team this season at this point in the year. And, both are headed into this primetime contest on a short week, so there may be some sluggishness or miscues at a rate higher than normal.
Here, we'll dive into five Lions that could help to make this a competitive match despite that shortened week, despite some questions in their secondary, and despite having to deal with Allen in front of a very hostile crowd.
5 game-changing Lions in Week 2 against Bills
Aidan Hutchinson
Hutchinson missed the Lions' most recent game against the Bills in 2024, where both teams scored a total of 90 points. The edge rusher had been out for a while at that point with a broken leg, so this'll be his first opportunity since the Lions became true contenders to be a game-wrecker.
Buffalo's offensive line is fairly elite - Dion Dawkins, Alec Anderson, Connor McGovern, O'Cyrus Torrence, and Spencer Brown make up one of the better trenches in the NFL. Hutchinson is going to have his hands full against Dawkins, especially, but Week 1 provided some evidence that the Lions' pass rush has enough weapons to make even better offensive lines pay for doubling him.
If he can throw Allen off his platform or out of the pocket consistently, Detroit increases the likelihood of generating turnovers off of one of Allen's patented circus passes.
D.J. Reed
Reed, at 29 years old, has begun to show some signs of slowing down in coverage. The Saints took full advantage of that in Week 1 once they began honing in on his matchup against Chris Olave downfield. It's what helped to get them back into the game in the first place.
Reed needs not just a bounce back game in Week 2 against D.J. Moore, but a bounce back season after missing some time in 2025 due to injury. He popped up on the Lions' injury report following another walkthrough on Tuesday with a foot injury, but he has yet to be ruled out of Thursday's game. Ideally not, as Detroit's secondary is already thin beyond belief.
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Jack Campbell
Campbell had a "quiet" season opener against the Saints, although seven total tackles and a stuff aren't anything to sneer at. He wasn't the game-wrecker linebacker of the day, with Derrick Barnes doing his best Spiderman impression throughout Week 1 with a lot of heroics.
Still, he can be a critical part to defending the Bills' passing game in this one, especially against their talented tight end room. Dalton Kincaid had a huge game against the Houston Texans in Week 1 to the tune of 130 receiving yards on five receptions, so Campbell's ability to turn his water off a bit will be big. He's one of few Lions defenders in the open field that's strong enough to stop him.
Jared Goff
Goff is going to be battling it out with Allen in this contest, there's no doubt about it. Detroit didn't have many explosive plays in Week 1, mostly due to some drops from Jameson Williams or missed targets by Goff. However, the Bills' secondary is a lot less intimidating than the Saints', which should open things up in the air for Detroit.
Obviously, they'll be looking to Jahmyr Gibbs to get them a ton of yards on offense with how small the Bills' defensive front is, but they should be looking to get the rest of their offense more involved. Goff is a big part of that, especially in a game that's likely to be determined by how many otherworldly plays Allen is able to get off in the air.
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