The Buffalo Bills beat the Detroit Lions 41-31 Thursday night at Highmark Stadium because Detroit could not get them off the field. Buffalo converted 9 of 12 third downs and turned all 5 red-zone trips into touchdowns.

Josh Allen threw 3 touchdown passes and ran for 2 more. Jared Goff answered with 4 scoring throws, but the Lions spent the night chasing an early three-touchdown hole.

How It Happened

Buffalo scored the game's first 3 touchdowns before Detroit found the end zone. Allen punched in a 1-yard run at 9:09 of the first quarter, then hit Joshua Palmer for a 43-yard score at 3:42 to make it 14-0.

Allen found Dawson Knox from 1 yard out early in the second quarter to stretch the lead to three scores. Detroit finally broke through at 5:03 when Goff hit Jahmyr Gibbs for an 11-yard touchdown.

Buffalo answered with a 16-yard Allen pass to Dalton Kincaid, though Tyler Bass missed the extra point. Jake Bates hit a 31-yard field goal as the half expired, sending Detroit into the locker room down 27-10.

The Lions pulled within 10 in the third quarter on a 2-yard Goff pass to Amon-Ra St. Brown. Allen restored the cushion with a 2-yard run at 1:07, making it 34-17 heading to the fourth.

Goff hit Sam LaPorta from 1 yard out to cut it to 34-24. James Cook III's 1-yard run with 2:50 left effectively ended it, and St. Brown's 27-yard catch at 1:42 only set the final margin.

Key Performers

Josh Allen, BUF: 3 passing TD (43, 1, 16 YDS), 2 rushing TD (1, 2 YDS)
Bills rushing: 36 ATT, 203 YDS, 15 rushing first downs
Jared Goff, DET: 4 passing TD (11, 2, 1, 27 YDS)
Lions passing: 26-38, 289 net YDS, 4-0 (TD-INT), 4 sacks for 38 YDS lost
Amon-Ra St. Brown, DET: 2 REC TD (2, 27 YDS)

The ground game is what separated these offenses. Buffalo averaged nearly 6 yards a carry and picked up as many first downs on the ground as through the air.

Detroit had no such balance. The Lions managed just 2 rushing first downs and barely 3 yards per carry, which left Goff throwing into a defense that sacked him 4 times.

That imbalance showed up on the clock. Buffalo held the ball for nearly 34 minutes, and neither team turned it over, so Detroit had to match Buffalo score for score and never did.

What It Means

Buffalo moves to 2-0, with a win at home and a win on the road. The Bills have answered every early test so far.

Detroit falls to 1-1, and the split is stark. The Lions are 1-0 at home and 0-1 away, and Thursday's loss came in their first trip of the season.

The offense itself traveled fine — 31 points and no turnovers. The problem was a defense that gave up too many third downs and could not keep Buffalo out of the end zone once it got close, and that is the issue Detroit has to fix before its next road date.