The Buffalo Bills are 2-0, and the first two weeks have already told a pretty clear story: Josh Allen is rolling, the offense is humming, and the defense has enough star power up front to survive some rough patches on the back end.
Buffalo’s 41-31 win over the Detroit Lions on Thursday night came down to the kind of start that can bury a team before it ever finds its footing. The Bills punched in touchdowns on their first four drives and built a lead Detroit never fully erased. By the time the game settled in, Buffalo had already put the Lions in a deep hole.
Allen was at the center of it all again. He guided the Bills to 27 first-half points and finished with five total touchdowns, throwing for three and running for two. After what he did against the Texans in Week 1, this was another night that made the case loud and clear.
There’s also been no shortage of production from the supporting cast. Dalton Kincaid followed up his 130-yard outing against Houston with another big night, leading Buffalo in receiving for the second straight week with 95 yards and a touchdown on seven catches. Joshua Palmer has made the most of his early opportunities, scoring his second touchdown in as many games after opening the season with the game-winner against Houston.
Keon Coleman also delivered when the Bills needed him. With DJ Moore leaving Thursday’s game with a shoulder injury and stinger, Coleman caught all six of his targets for 63 yards and helped move the chains in key moments.
James Cook kept the ground game on schedule and then some. He got to 100 yards quickly and finished with 25 carries for 135 yards and a touchdown. Through two games, the only real eyebrow-raiser is that he hasn’t been much of a factor as a receiver.
The offensive line deserves its share of credit too. Pat Meyer’s group has held together well after replacing Aaron Kromer, opening lanes for Cook and giving Allen a mostly clean pocket. Alec Anderson, the lone new starter up front, has handled two solid fronts and chipped in a noticeable block or two in each game.
On the other side of the ball, Buffalo may already have its own defensive headliner in Deone Walker. The second-year lineman stuffed the stat sheet against Detroit with seven pressures, a sack, three quarterback hits and three batted passes. He was joined by Dewayne Carter, who stepped into a bigger role after Ed Oliver was hurt in pre-game warmups and responded with strong work against the run and the pass.
Greg Rousseau kept his hot start going with two more sacks, making him the first Bills player since Bruce Smith to record two sack games in his first two games. Rousseau already led Buffalo in sacks last season with seven, and he has an early lead in that race again.
Bradley Chubb was disruptive too, finishing with 1.5 sacks, two quarterback hits and four tackles. The Rousseau-Chubb pairing has quickly become a major bright spot.
Not everything was clean, though. Buffalo’s secondary has been exposed in both games, and the Bills need more from Christian Benford, the rest of the cornerbacks and the safety group. Cole Bishop was also not at full strength, but he still has to make a bigger jump soon.
Oliver’s absence didn’t stop Buffalo from pressuring Jared Goff, but it does raise the question of how long that front can keep carrying the load if he misses more time.
Even with the defensive concerns, the Bills did enough on third down to keep control of the game. Detroit went just 4-for-11 on third-down conversions, and Buffalo also piled up 34 first downs on 69 offensive plays. Take away three kneel-downs, and the Bills were converting a first down on more than half of their snaps.
In Other News...
Deone Walkers Rise Is Creating A Big Bills Decision
Deone Walker has gone from intriguing young piece to a player the Bills have to keep thinking about every week. The second-year defensive tackle has turned heads since the start of the 2025 season with disruptive play, and his work carried into the playoffs and the early part of 2026, where he kept showing the kind of pass-rushing ability that changes the feel of a defensive front.
For Buffalo, the question is no longer whether Walker belongs in the conversation. It is how long the Bills can wait before they start planning beyond his current deal, which runs through 2028. When other NFL players and scouts are taking notice this early, the front office has a decision to make about whether to simply enjoy the rise or move to lock it in sooner. [Read more 🡒]
Bills Win Got Overshadowed By A Pregame Criticism Fans Will Debate
The Bills 41-31 win over the Lions at Highmark Stadium should have been the main takeaway from a busy Week 2 Sunday, but Breiden Fehoko managed to inject a different kind of conversation before kickoff. The defensive tackle went to Twitter to voice frustration over the Canadian national anthem being played before the game, turning a pregame ceremony into an unexpected point of debate for fans already focused on Buffalos first home stretch of the season.
The football still delivered plenty for the home crowd to talk about, with Buffalo handling Detroit in a game that fit the early-season tone of a team trying to establish itself before the schedule stiffens. But the anthem complaint lingers as one of those side stories that can follow a team for a while, especially when the win itself comes with enough momentum to keep attention on the Bills and an AFC picture that also includes Joe Burrows Bengals looming on the horizon. [Read more 🡒]
Bills 2-0 Start Is Hiding A Defensive Issue Jim Leonhard Sees
The Bills 2-0 start has mostly been a showcase for Josh Allen and an offense that has carried the early conversation, but the first two weeks have also left enough behind the scenes for the defense to keep checking itself. Under new defensive playcaller Jim Leonhard, Buffalo has shown flashes of sharp execution mixed with stretches where the unit has given up too much yardage and too many points, the kind of unevenness that can get buried when the record is perfect.
Leonhard has already put a label on the problem, calling the defense boom or bust, and the challenge now is turning that into something steadier before the season gets deeper. The Bills know the margin for error shrinks quickly, and Leonhards push has centered on emotional stability and cleaning up penalties, two areas that can decide whether this defense settles in or keeps living on the edge. [Read more 🡒]