The Buffalo Bills and Detroit Lions go at it on Thursday Night Football to kick off Week 2, so it's time to make some bold predictions for the game. This is the regular-season debut of the Bills' new Highmark Stadium, so the atmosphere should be incredible, but the Lions will come in looking to ruin Bills Mafia's party.
These two teams both come in 1-0 on the 2026 NFL season, but they got there in wildly different ways. Josh Allen and the Bills traveled to play a tough Houston Texans team and came away with a late 36-31 victory in a hard-fought game against one of the best teams in the AFC. Meanwhile, the Lions jumped out to an early 21-0 lead over the New Orleans Saints but coughed that up before winning in overtime.
With the Lions playing an extra quarter of football and the Bills banging with one of the toughest and most physical teams in the league, both these teams could struggle playing on a short week. Who will come out on top in the end? Here are our Bills vs. Lions bold predictions for Week 2 of the 2026 NFL season.
Jahmyr Gibbs will test the Bills' run defense
The Bills' new-look defense had its ups and downs on Sunday against the Texans. There were plenty of struggles, giving up 398 yards of total offense and 31 points, but they also came up big when it mattered most with two sacks to win the game.
On the rushing front specifically, Buffalo gave up 124 total yards, but did hold former Detroit running back David Montgomery to just 60 yards on 20 carries. However, Montgomery's old backfield-mate, Jahmyr Gibbs, is a different beast entirely.
Gibbs had 159 rushing yards and two touchdowns on 29 carries, showing off the fact that he is arguably the best back in the league right now, even after Montgomery moved on. This represents a huge challenge to the Bills' D, and our first of our Bills-Lions bold predictions is that Gibbs again has a monster fantasy numbers day.
Josh Allen will continue to build his MVP resume
Like the Bills, the Lions' defense also struggled in a specific area on Sunday. One of the biggest reasons for the Saints' massive comeback was that Tyler Shough threw for 410 yards and three TDs. With all due respect to Shough, Allen represents a major step up in class for the Detroit D.
Article Continues BelowAllen kicked off his 2026 NFL MVP campaign with a typically incredible performance in Week 1. His final stat line was 20-of-29 for 334 yards passing with two TDs and no INTs, with six carries for 23 yards and two rushing touchdowns. And that was against one of the best defenses in the league.
The Buffalo signal-caller should have a field day against the Detroit defense and put up some incredible highlight plays to celebrate the opening of the House That Josh Built.
Bills Mafia will help Buffalo start fast
As mentioned above, both of these teams are coming off tough games, so a Thursday nighter is not doing either squad any favors. But one of these teams is going to come out with 60,000 table-jumping, Labatt Blue-drinking, championship-starved fans in rare form behind them.
By the middle of the second quarter, everything will settle in, and this should become a relatively normal Buffalo home game with a rowdy crowd, albeit with no snowballs to throw (probably). But for those first 20 or so minutes of game time, the Bills Mafia will be the 12th Man the home team needs to get off to a fast start.
Bills 34, Lions 24
In the end, this should be a fun offensive game, with both teams putting up numbers on that side of the ball. But ultimately, the Bills just have too much going in their favor. They are the better overall team offensively, and defensively, it's probably a push. Playing at home on a short week is also a big advantage. And when you pair that with the energy that comes with opening a new stadium, this outcome seems relatively clear.
The last time these two teams faced off, it was an instant classic. Buffalo won the game 48-42, as the two sides combined for 1,101 yards of total offense. Our final Bills-Lions Week 2 bold prediction is that this game will also have some big offensive numbers, but this time, the home team will prevail by a relatively comfortable margin.