Josh Allen accounted for five touchdowns — three passing, two rushing — as the Buffalo Bills beat the Detroit Lions 41-31 on Thursday night in the first regular-season game played at the new Highmark Stadium, a roughly $2.1 billion venue in Orchard Park, New York. The win pushed Buffalo to 2-0 to open the season, while Detroit fell to 1-1.
A crowd of 60,644 watched Allen go 20 of 31 for 248 yards and three touchdown passes, adding 69 yards and two more scores on 14 carries. Running back James Cook III added 135 yards on 21 carries and a touchdown as Buffalo piled up 446 total yards, 203 of them on the ground, and controlled the ball for nearly 34 minutes. The Bills scored touchdowns on each of their first three possessions to seize a 21-0 lead before Detroit found its footing.
The scoring breakdown
Allen opened the stadium's regular-season ledger with a 1-yard touchdown run, then hit Joshua Palmer for a 43-yard score and Dawson Knox for a 1-yard touchdown to make it 21-0 early in the second quarter. Detroit answered when quarterback Jared Goff found Jahmyr Gibbs for an 11-yard touchdown, but Buffalo pushed back ahead 27-7 on a 16-yard catch by Dalton Kincaid before Lions kicker Jake Bates closed the half with a 31-yard field goal, making it 27-10 at the break.
Detroit chipped away in the second half — Amon-Ra St. Brown's 2-yard touchdown catch cut the deficit to ten before Allen's second rushing score restored a 17-point cushion. The Lions kept swinging, getting a Sam LaPorta touchdown catch in the fourth quarter, but Cook's 1-yard touchdown run made it 41-24 before St. Brown's second touchdown, a 27-yard catch with 1:42 left, set the final margin. Goff finished 26 of 38 for 327 yards and four touchdowns with no interceptions, and St. Brown caught nine passes for 142 yards and two scores, according to the box score published by ESPN.
A new building, a familiar result
The game doubled as the christening of Highmark Stadium's regular-season era, a venue built next to the demolished Ralph Wilson/Highmark Stadium site and funded through a mix of New York State, Erie County and Bills ownership money. Buffalo's 41 points were reported by the Associated Press to rank among the highest-scoring totals in a stadium debut in NFL history, trailing only the Dallas Cowboys' 44 points at Texas Stadium in 1971 and the Miami Dolphins' 42 at Joe Robbie Stadium in 1987.
Bills coach Joe Brady pointed to the early scoring burst as a deliberate plan to set the tone in the building's first big moment.
I wanted us to take the ball in this environment and set the tone. That was the start that we needed.
Joe Brady, Bills head coach
Allen, who has now anchored the Bills' offense through the franchise's move into its new home, reflected on the moment after the game.
I caught myself taking it all in and understanding how cool what I get to do. My job is the coolest in the world.
Josh Allen, Bills quarterback
Detroit coach Dan Campbell and Goff both pointed to the slow start as the difference, with Buffalo building a three-touchdown lead before the Lions' offense got untracked.
You play an opponent as potent as this, you don't have the luxury of spitting and sputtering early.
Dan Campbell, Lions head coach
Against a team like that with the offense they have, it was really tough to get back in it.
Jared Goff, Lions quarterback
Detroit's defense also struggled to contain Buffalo on the ground, allowing 203 rushing yards and surrendering nine third-down conversions on 12 tries, a discrepancy the Lions will need to correct before facing another run-heavy attack. More analysis of what each team learned is available from NFL.com's Week 2 recap.
The Bills, who reached the AFC Championship game in each of the past two seasons, next play on the road, while the Lions return home looking to tighten a defense that gave up 31 points despite forcing no turnovers against Buffalo. Both teams will be measured over the coming weeks against whether Thursday's shootout was an aberration or a sign of the offensive firepower — and defensive questions — each is bringing into 2026.
