Thursday night in Week 2 has all the ingredients for a shootout, and the betting market is leaning hard that way.
The total for Bills-Lions sits at 53.5 points, a number that makes sense after both teams opened the season with offenses that came out firing. Buffalo and Detroit each cleared 30 points in Week 1, and the prop board reflects that kind of pace. Three names sit at the top of the anytime touchdown market: Jahmyr Gibbs, James Cook and Josh Allen.
There’s value deeper down the list too, and Sam LaPorta stands out as the Lions pass catcher worth circling.
LaPorta saw eight targets in Detroit’s opener and turned them into five catches for 48 yards. He didn’t score, but the usage was there, and the price is appealing at better than 2/1.
Buffalo allowed 274 passing yards and two touchdowns to CJ Stroud in Week 1, and Detroit should be able to work through the air again on Thursday night. Jared Goff has leaned on Amon-Ra St.
Brown in the red zone, but LaPorta brings a different kind of problem for a defense to solve. His size and movement make him a tough cover on the outside, and he played 62 snaps, which was 80.5 percent of Detroit’s offense in Week 1.
Gibbs is the obvious headline play, but the only real way to get value with him is to back a multi-score night. He’s listed at -320 to score, so the price on a single touchdown is too thin.
Two or more, though, is a different story. Gibbs handled 29 carries for 156 yards and two touchdowns against New Orleans in Week 1, and he added five catches for 30 yards on five targets.
With David Montgomery gone, Gibbs was on the field for 74 percent of Detroit’s snaps and handled the red-zone work. Montgomery also found the end zone three times against this Buffalo defense in Week 1, which only adds to the appeal.
The Bills were one of the league’s worst run defenses in 2025 and ranked 26th in EPA/Rush after Week 1. If Gibbs is living near 30 touches, the touchdown ceiling is massive.
Dalton Kincaid is another Bills weapon that fits this game script. The former first-round pick has become a real piece of Joe Brady’s passing attack, and his Week 1 numbers jumped off the page: five catches on six targets for 130 yards.
He didn’t score, but he already showed the kind of big-play upside that makes him dangerous in this spot. Kincaid scored five times in just 12 games in 2025, and this matchup looks friendly.
Detroit struggled to contain Juwan Johnson in Week 1, when the Saints tight end posted three catches for 54 yards and a touchdown. Kincaid also played 72.4 percent of Buffalo’s offensive snaps in Week 1 after spending most of 2025 below the 50 percent mark, which only strengthens his case as a touchdown option against a Lions defense that gave up 410 passing yards in its opener.
Odds refresh periodically and are subject to change.
In Other News...
Lions Face A Prime-Time Problem As Jahmyr Gibbs Heads To Buffalo
The Lions are heading into a short week with a little less stability up front than they probably wanted. Detroit visits Buffalo on Thursday night in Week 2, and the matchup comes with both teams sitting at 1-0 after opening wins, the Bills over Houston and the Lions in overtime against New Orleans. It will also be Buffalos home opener at the new Highmark Stadium, with the game set for Prime Video, which gives the stage an early-season feel before either side has much time to settle in.
For Detroit, the bigger concern may be how it handles the trenches without starting left guard Christian Mahogany and right tackle Blake Miller, both out because of injuries. That puts even more attention on a Lions offense that is already expected to lean on Jahmyr Gibbs, especially in a game that could turn physical quickly under the lights in Buffalo. Prime-time road games are one thing when a line is intact, and another when the protection and run-game pieces are already shifting before kickoff. [Read more 🡒]
Lions Could Catch A Break In Buffalo's First Outdoor Test
The Lions are heading into one of the more interesting road setups on their schedule, with Buffalo set to host them at the Bills new Highmark Stadium, a building that still does not have a roof. Forecast rain before kickoff could turn the surface slick and make this as much a test of footing and ball security as it is of talent, which is exactly the kind of wrinkle that can change how both teams script their first few drives.
For Detroit, the weather could tilt the game away from a pure trench battle and toward a more pass-heavy approach if the ground game becomes harder to trust. Wet conditions always raise the stakes on exchanges, cuts and catches, and if the field plays fast but slippery, the Lions may have to lean on cleaner operation through the air while both sides try to avoid the kind of mistakes that rain can manufacture. [Read more 🡒]
Lions Stars Got Snubbed After Putting Detroit In The Spotlight
Week 1 put Detroit in the national spotlight in more ways than one, and the Lions had more than enough star power to earn some leaguewide recognition. Jahmyr Gibbs was electric on the ground for Detroit, piling up 156 yards and two touchdowns, while Aidan Hutchinson kept making his presence felt on defense as the Lions opened the season with a performance that looked every bit like a team built to matter.
The weekly awards, though, went elsewhere. Chicago Bears running back D'Andre Swift was named NFC Offensive Player of the Week over Gibbs after rushing for 124 yards and three touchdowns, and Philadelphia Eagles linebacker Zack Baun took Defensive Player of the Week ahead of Hutchinson. It leaves Detroit with the kind of early-season slight that tends to stick in a locker room, especially when the production was right there for everyone to see. [Read more 🡒]