ORCHARD PARK, N.Y. — The Buffalo Bills opened the new Highmark Stadium with a bang. And then another. And another. And another. And another. And another.
All the helpless Detroit Lions defense could do was pull up a chair and watch as superstar quarterback Josh Allen and the Bills offense celebrated the inaugural game in their new home with a show that rivaled the explosiveness of the Detroit fireworks in a 41-31 Bills win.
Allen accounted for five touchdowns, throwing for 248 yards and three touchdowns and running for another 72 yards and two touchdowns; running back James Cook took 21 carries for 135 yards and a touchdown, and the Bills were 9-for-12 on third down in the demolition.
The Lions’ offense, down three starters on the offensive line, took too long to get going. By the time Detroit got on the board with a second-quarter touchdown, they had only stopped the bleeding and cut the deficit to 21-7. And the Bills responded right away, using runs of 20 and 35 yards from Cook to kickstart a four-play touchdown drive. The Bills outgained the Lions 169-10 in the first quarter.
Every time the Lions’ defense took the field, they drifted further from any chance of a victory. Since shutting out the New Orleans Saints in the first half of their opener, the Lions have given up 730 yards and 71 points in six quarters, plus an overtime drive in Week 1. The Lions took 10 penalties on Thursday night, resulting in 58 yards lost.
The Lions had injury added to the insult when safety Avonte Maddox (foot) was knocked out of the game in the first half, further straining their shorthanded secondary.
Buffalo took advantage of a banged-up Lions offensive line to bottle up running back Jahmyr Gibbs, who got 16 carries for 52 yards; eight of those carries went for a loss or no gain. In addition to center Cade Mays (wrist), Detroit was also without starting right tackle Blake Miller (knee) and left guard Christian Mahogany (hip).
Lions quarterback Jared Goff was sacked four times and completed 26 of 38 passes for 327 yards and four touchdowns, but Detroit’s imbalanced offense couldn’t keep up with the Buffalo avalanche, even though Bills defensive tackle Ed Oliver was ruled out with a hip injury he suffered in warmups.
Wide receiver Amon-Ra St. Brown caught nine passes for 142 yards and two touchdowns, including one with 1:42 remaining to make the score look a little more respectable.
On a night when the Bills faithful in Highmark could be heard from the other side of Niagara Falls, Buffalo took the ball after winning the coin toss, overcame an early strip-sack by Aidan Hutchinson that the Bills recovered, and let Allen run wild all over Detroit’s defense on the opening drive. The MVP hopeful ran for 39 yards on the first series of the game, capping the scoring drive with a 1-yard rushing touchdown to put the Bills up 7-0 at 9:09 in the first quarter.
The Lions, meanwhile, looked helpless on their opening series. Gregory Rousseau sacked Goff on third-and-8, immediately turning the ball back over to the Bills. After finally getting Buffalo to third-and-long, nobody picked up Josh Palmer on a downfield route, and Allen found him easily for a 43-yard touchdown, giving the Bills a 14-0 lead with 3:42 left in the opening frame.
Detroit couldn’t catch a break. The Lions had back-to-back red-zone plays — an interception by defensive lineman Skyler Gill-Howard and a sack by linebacker Devin White — nullified by defensive holding penalties on cornerback Rock Ya-Sin and linebacker Jack Campbell. Safety Avonte Maddox was carted to the locker room on the latter penalty, further adding to Detroit’s secondary woes.
Buffalo made it 21-0 on a 1-yard pass to tight end Dawson Knox with 11:48 to go in the second quarter.
The Lions stopped the bleeding with a 12-play touchdown drive capped by an 11-yard touchdown pass from Goff to Gibbs.
But Buffalo immediately responded, as Cook ripped off two long runs to reach the red zone in two plays. Buffalo found the end zone in four plays, retaking its three-score lead (27-7 after a missed extra point) on a 16-yard touchdown pass to Kincaid.
The Lions forced the Bills’ first punt with under a minute to go in the first half. Detroit capitalized by quickly moving downfield and setting up a 31-yard field goal by Jake Bates to cut its deficit to 27-10.
Out of halftime, the Lions scored a much-needed touchdown. Sam LaPorta picked up 18 yards on a fourth-down conversion from the Buffalo 40, and St. Brown finished the drive with a 2-yard touchdown catch to make it 27-17 with 9:29 left in the third quarter.
But after the Lions made it a 10-point game, the Bills put together a masterful time-killing drive. They ran 15 plays, took 8:22 off the clock, and finished things off with 7 points on a 2-yard run by Allen to make it 34-17 with 1:07 left in the third quarter.
The Lions finally caught a handful of breaks offensively as Bills penalties — including one on fourth-and-8 — extended a touchdown drive, allowing the Lions to climb back within 10 points, 34-24, on a 1-yard touchdown catch by LaPorta.
The Lions were given life on a third-down drop by Shakir with 8:25 to go in a 10-point game. But the Bills’ defensive line batted down Goff’s passes on first and third down, and Gibbs’ second-down run barely got back to the line of scrimmage. The Bills added an exclamation point with a rushing touchdown from Cook.
The Lions added a 27-yard passing touchdown to St. Brown with 1:42 to go, but it was too little, too late.
This story will be updated.
nbianchi@detroitnews.com
@nolanbianchi
This article originally appeared on The Detroit News: Lions demolished by Bills, 41-31, in Highmark Stadium opener
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