Buffalo came right back and scored on its third straight possession to open the game, this time on a 6-yard touchdown run by James Cook.

Trailing by 14, Detroit countered on its next possession and got into the end zone for the second time in the contest – this time thanks to a little tour de force from offensive coordinator Ben Johnson. The Lions had a swing tackle on Dan Skipper as an eligible receiver on the play and ended up throwing to him in the left flat, which turned into a 9-yard touchdown catch that cut the Bills’ lead to 21-14. Skipper joins Taylor Decker and Scott Conover as the third offensive lineman in franchise history to record a receiving touchdown.

The first half ended with both place kickers missing field goals in the final two minutes. Buffalo’s Tyler Bass missed from 24 yards and Detroit’s Jake Bates missed from 52 yards.

Buffalo opened the second half the same way they started the game, with a 70-yard scoring drive in just four plays, with a 41-yard touchdown by Cook being the exclamation point. It was Cook’s second touchdown run of the game.

Buffalo made it 35-14 late in the third quarter by taking advantage of an Amon-Ra St. Brown fumble in Lions territory and turning it into a 3-yard Allen touchdown pass through Khalil Shakir.

Detroit cut the lead to 35-21 late in the quarter on a 66-yard touchdown shot from Goff to St. Brown. It was the second-longest reception of St. Brown’s career.

After a Buffalo field goal that extended the lead to 38-21, Detroit marched down the field and scored on a 12-yard pass from Goff to running back Jahmyr Gibbs. After that touchdown, which cut the lead to 38-28, Lions head coach Dan Campbell attempted an onside kick that was intercepted by Buffalo and returned to the Detroit 5-yard line. Allen threw a 5-yard touchdown pass on the next play to extend the lead back to 17.

Detroit again extended its lead to 10 points midway through the fourth with a 1-yard touchdown run by Gibbs, but Buffalo increased the lead again with a 41-yard field goal just before the two-minute warning to 13 and made the lead 48 points. 35.

Detroit got a late 3-yard touchdown catch from wide receiver Jameson Williams to make it 48-42 with 12 seconds left, but failed to recover the onside kick and the Bills ran the clock from there.

St. Brown finished the game with 14 receptions for 193 yards and a touchdown. Tight end Sam LaPorta gained 111 yards on seven receptions for Detroit.