DETROIT – From the first drive on Sunday, the biggest problem for the Detroit Lions was obvious: They had no way to contain Josh Allen. On third down, the Bills’ first possession, Allen put his MVP candidacy on full display, fleeing to his right, stopping about a foot inside the boundary, waiting, directing, reaching for the ball and then almost sidearming it over his body to Ty Johnson for 24 yards.

It’s the kind of game that belongs on the Allen highlight reel. And more than any other moment since the Bills’ 48-42 win on Sunday – more than the pass that Amon-Ra St. Brown failed to catch as the Lions took the lead late in the second quarter, more than Dan Campbell’s The decision to try and steal a possession with an onside kick with 12 minutes left in the game summed up why the Bills have earned the season’s two most impressive victories over the top seeds in each conference in a month. Allen and the Bills’ offense are playing at a level they hadn’t achieved before, and they’re doing so against the very teams they need to beat if they want to finally win a Super Bowl.

The Bills, like all teams, practice the scramble drill. Head coach Sean McDermott said it was the best he’s ever seen Allen play, and like everyone else, he marveled at the off-the-charts plays, like when Allen fled to his right, evaded an attempted ankle tackle and hurled a rope to Keon Coleman for 64 yards.

“That and the blackout, a little bit of both,” McDermott said of his reaction to those plays. “He’s incredible. He won’t do that if the offense isn’t doing its job. It takes a truly selfless approach, week in and week out, to achieve this type of performance.”

It’s worth remembering because it’s easy to forget now that this was supposed to be a bridge year for the Bills, with the departure of so many veterans and a star like receiver Stefon Diggs and the move to younger players and an almost complete redesign of the receiver room . Instead, Diggs’ departure seemed to free Allen from having to focus on passing the ball to Diggs and provided more balance on offense. Nine players caught passes on Sunday. The Bills rolled for 197 yards on the run. Allen said the players bought in. They led 14-0 and forced the Lions to play from behind throughout the game. They had a 21-point lead in the third quarter. They only stung once. In a game against the NFL’s top offense, the Bills knew they had to score and keep scoring. The Lions’ defense being weakened by injuries certainly helped the Bills – the Lions didn’t have a sack and rarely got in Allen’s face – but the Bills also developed a mindset that was especially evident after the 44-42 loss to him became the Rams last week.

“The mindset we had this week was to win every game, whatever the game was, and find a way to execute it at the highest level,” said Allen, who was 23 of 34 for 362 yards, two passing -Touchdowns, 68 yards rushing and more was two rushing touchdowns. “This will help us in the long run. We missed too many plays. Getting involved in a game like that sounds kind of stupid. But I still felt like we left some out.”