Dan Campbell didn’t need to say a word after James Cook punched in the Bills’ seventh touchdown in Buffalo’s 41-31 win over the Lions. The Prime Video cameras caught the look on his face, and it said plenty: this defense was spent, frustrated, and out of answers.
That was the same story Detroit told in Week 1, when Tyler Shough and the Saints carved up the Lions in the second half and overtime before nearly stealing the game. Two weeks into the season, the clearest problem on a team with real expectations is the unit on the other side of the ball. The Lions’ defense has become the obvious weak spot, and four numbers explain why.
Start with the simplest one: 35 points per game allowed. Detroit has given up 70 points across its first two games, and while that kind of number can move around over a small sample, it’s a rough opening for a team that came in with high hopes.
Last season, no defense allowed more than 31 points per game. Right now, the Lions are forcing themselves into a style they probably don’t want - winning shootouts - and that’s a shaky path, especially with three offensive linemen missing.
The problems get worse when opponents get close to the goal line. The Saints and Bills combined for 10 red-zone trips against Detroit, and the Lions gave up touchdowns on 90% of them.
Buffalo was perfect in the red zone on Thursday night. That’s not bend-don’t-break football; that’s breaking.
Detroit has also had trouble getting teams off the field on third down. Buffalo moved the chains on 9 of 12 third-down tries, a 75% conversion rate. That kind of efficiency keeps drives alive, wears down a defense, and makes it awfully hard for the Lions’ offense to climb out of a hole if it gets behind early.
The Bills’ ground game put the issue in bold. Buffalo ran for 212 yards against Detroit, with Cook going for 135 yards and a touchdown on 6.4 yards per carry, and Josh Allen adding 69 yards and two scores on 14 carries.
The Lions also had a hard time against heavier sets. Per Sumer Sports, Buffalo posted a 71.4% rushing success rate out of 12 personnel, with 14 carries for 115 yards, and a 55.6% success rate out of 13 personnel, with nine carries for 39 yards.
Campbell said the defense had multiple busts in both run support and coverage, including plays where two defenders ended up in the same gap or were simply in the wrong spots.
The passing game has been a problem too. In Week 1, Shough threw for a career-high 323 yards against Detroit. Against Buffalo, Allen wasn’t as flashy through the air, but he was ruthlessly efficient: 248 yards and three touchdowns, plus a 54.8% passing success rate, which would have ranked eighth in the league in Week 1, according to Sumer Sports.
Detroit tried to speed Allen up with pressure, blitzing him on 55.3% of his dropbacks, a high for defensive coordinator Kelvin Sheppard. It didn’t work. Next Gen Stats showed Allen completing 12 of 17 passes for 137 yards and two touchdowns against the blitz, and he also scrambled for 49 yards and a touchdown.
“If you don’t keep him in the pocket, if you don’t keep him contained, he can hurt you,” Campbell said of Allen. “He did that multiple times.”
The Lions do have talent on that side of the ball, with Jack Campbell in the middle and Aidan Hutchinson off the edge. What they don’t have yet is a clear strength they can count on as a unit. That matters, because right now they’re surviving more than they’re controlling anything.
There is some room for optimism. Kerby Joseph and Branch Branch are still expected back this season after opening the year on the physically unable to perform list, and their return should help the secondary.
Detroit also may have been running on fumes after an overtime game against the Saints and a short-week trip to Buffalo. The Lions get extra time before their next game against the Jets in 10 days.
And the schedule does offer some relief. The Bills were one of the toughest matchups on the slate, especially with Allen rolling the way he was.
The Lions have the easiest schedule in the NFL, which gives them a chance to clean this up. But through two games, the concern is real, and it’s coming from the same place every time: this defense has to get a lot better, fast.
In Other News...
Lions Got Caught In Buffalo's Big Night For One Clear Reason
The Bills turned the first game at the new Highmark Stadium into a full-scale celebration, and the Lions ended up playing the role of the visiting team in Buffalos spotlight. It was a night built for pageantry as much as football, with fan events, live mascots, Bills Mafia breaking tables and even the Barenaked Ladies singing O Canada before kickoff. Detroit still made it a real game, but the atmosphere belonged to Buffalo long before the final score settled in at 41-31.
Josh Allen made sure the on-field side matched the occasion, piling up five total touchdowns and giving the Bills the kind of signature performance that fits a stadium-opening night. For the Lions, it was a reminder that sometimes the biggest obstacle is not just the opponent but the moment itself, especially when everything around the game is designed to lift one side and sweep the other into the background. [Read more 🡒]
Lions Could Catch A Break In Buffalo's First Outdoor Test
Buffalos new Highmark Stadium is about to give the Lions a very different sort of road test. In their first trip to the open-air building, Detroit could be greeted by a rainy setup before kickoff, which would leave the turf slick and put a premium on footing, timing and clean execution for both teams. For a Lions offense that likes to keep defenders honest on the ground, it could be a game where the field conditions matter as much as the matchup itself.
The weather also has a way of nudging play-calling in one direction or another, and a wet afternoon can make coaches lean more heavily on the pass while still worrying about every handoff and exchange. For Detroit, that creates an intriguing wrinkle in what should already be one of the more closely watched games on the schedule, because a little less certainty underfoot can change the rhythm for both sides in a hurry. [Read more 🡒]
Lions Stars Got Snubbed After Putting Detroit In The Spotlight
Week 1 gave the Lions plenty to brag about, but not much in the way of individual hardware. Jahmyr Gibbs was one of the biggest reasons Detroit opened the season with such a bright spotlight, piling up 156 yards and two touchdowns, yet the NFC Offensive Player of the Week nod went elsewhere despite his big opening statement. It was the kind of early-season reminder that team success and award voting do not always move in lockstep.
Aidan Hutchinson had a similar experience on the defensive side, where his performance also put Detroit in the conversation but did not land him the weekly honor. Instead, the NFC Defensive Player of the Week recognition went to Zack Baun after Philadelphias opener, leaving the Lions with two standout efforts and no awards to show for them. For a team trying to turn strong starts into a larger season-long narrative, it was a small but noticeable snub. [Read more 🡒]