DETROIT – The Detroit Lions (12-2) lost 48-42 to the Buffalo Bills (11-3), ending their 11-game winning streak in Week 15.

This post features MLive Lions hitter Ben Raven’s grades after the loss.

Quarterbacks: Jared Goff and the Lions found themselves in a hole early, stumbling on their first two possessions. Goff took a few sacks and seemed to miss most of the first half. While the quarterback played a role in having to play from behind in desperation mode most of the day, he also did his best to give the Lions a chance. Goff made a great play on the scramble and threw to Tim Patrick for their early touchdown. And he found a killer rhythm with Amon-Ra St. Brown and Sam LaPorta that came late in the game.

Goff made unfortunate history in the loss, becoming the first quarterback to lose a game in which he had over 400 yards, five touchdowns and no interceptions. Detroit’s rushing game was ineffective and then didn’t matter because of the flow. Goff threw 59 times in the loss, and that will never be a recipe for success for these Lions. Grade: A-

Running backs: In that sense, it was the team’s worst rushing game of the season. The Lions ran just 15 times for 48 yards, with Goff being their second-leading rusher.

David Montgomery was banged up and worked through some things against the Bills. He only had 4 yards on five carries, but had 31 yards on four catches. Jahmyr Gibbs was a key factor in the Lions showing signs of life, contributing 83 receiving yards and a touchdown in the loss.

Gibbs scored a big gain on a perfectly designed screen that helped pull the offense out of its early trouble. But he only had 31 yards on eight rushing attempts. Efficiency, effectiveness and opportunities were far off the mark in this defeat. Grade: C

Wide receiver: Similar to Jared Goff’s performance, Amon-Ra St. Brown filled the stat sheet while the memories of a mistake outweighed any big plays. St. Brown lost a fumble at midfield midway through the third quarter and the Bills scored five plays later to make the score 35-14.

Plus, similar to Goff’s performance, St. Brown did his best to make amends. On the very next drive, he managed a 66-yard touchdown to the house and finished with the best results of his career. St. Brown caught 14 passes on 18 targets for 193 yards and a touchdown.

Tim Patrick had another four catches for 30 yards and an impressive run for the touchdown. But Jameson Williams stayed calm and appeared to miss his quarterback, catching three balls for 37 yards and a late touchdown. Grade: B

Tight ends: Sam LaPorta also had his best statistical game of the year. Notice a theme here? LaPorta had seven balls for 111 yards and was there for Goff more than once when the Lions were in air-it-out mode. Grade: B

Offensive line: This is where things take a darker turn. Detroit’s second drive of the game came to an abrupt end when Goff was sacked on first and second down, and the Bills took a 14-0 lead as the Lions tried to gather the pieces.

The offense didn’t have a chance to get a foothold on the floor, but didn’t make good use of fleeting opportunities early in the game. The pass protection got better as the game went on, but on some of Goff’s best plays, the quarterback bought time and escaped trouble. Frank Ragnow had to accept three penalties on an unusually tough day and also took a few hits from Ed Oliver and Co.

Heck, Dan Skipper even caught a touchdown after returning to his normal role with Taylor Decker. But that wasn’t enough, and this group’s early mistakes left them struggling to compete for a long day. Grade: C

Defense line: Josh Allen wasn’t under much pressure and whenever the Lions had a chance at the Bills quarterback, they failed. DJ Reader and Josh Paschal were on the hard side in some of those cases in their return to action. But this was an all-round failure that cannot be attributed to a single player.

Allen is the least sacked quarterback in the NFL. His escape ability and fearlessness were on full display in Detroit and he was not sacked Sunday.

And on top of that, James Cook became the first running back to top 100 yards against this defense since the 2022 season. Cook ran 14 times for 105 yards and a score, with the Bills averaging 5.8 yards per attempt on 34 carries. Grade: D

Linebackers: It’s one of those games where you feel sorry for the linebackers. Allen was able to give himself time to throw all day, forcing the linebackers to decide whether to stay in full coverage/at home or try to contain the dual-threat monster of a quarterback. He was on the run, stopped near the line of scrimmage after running like a charging buffalo, and hit a leaky running back or tight end for a huge play.

Cook also broke through the second level a few times. Allen had more than enough success with scrambles and designed runs against this linebacker unit that was missing Alex Anzalone, Derrick Barnes, Malcolm Rodriguez, Jalen Reeves-Maybin and Trevor Nowaske.

Jack Campbell played every snap, recording 10 tackles and a pass breakup. He was joined by Ben Niemann (44 snaps), David Long (29), Ezekiel Turner (28) and Kwon Alexander (12) in the makeshift rotation. Grade: F

Secondary: This grade isn’t a complete disaster, as most of the damage comes on plays that took far too long, with leaky running backs and tight ends doing the most damage.

The Lions also lost cornerbacks Khalil Dorsey and Carlton Davis III for the game and possibly the entire season. Davis is a key part and leader of this group and missing him is a huge blow. The veteran was beaten deep on an impressive scramble by Allen for a 64-yard bomb to Keon Coleman. But that’s pretty much it from big plays to wideouts.

Brian Branch flew across the field and got into trouble with Bills receiver Mack Hollins a few times. Branch finished the game with a game-high 15 tackles. Grade: C-

Special teams: The Lions had a chance to reduce their deficit to just 4 points before halftime. But Jake Bates’ second missed field goal of the season marked a day full of missed opportunities and disappointing results in crucial moments. The miss came from 52 meters away.

They also failed on two onside kick attempts, with Hollins nearly returning the first one to the house early in the fourth quarter. It’s a tough jump, but it can’t happen at this moment. Grade: C-

Coaching: Far too much time will be wasted discussing the first of these two onside kick attempts. Please do yourself a favor and turn off these segments as they are completely over the top.

Detroit’s defense was banged up and couldn’t stop Allen. On the other hand, Goff and the offense had more than found their rhythm and fought back, making it a 38-28 game. Dan Campbell will always try to steal a possession when he feels judged, especially when his defense is suffering a generational defeat.

Yes, the result of this game had the Lions trailing by 17 points in the blink of an eye. But it once again showed a head coach with absolute conviction, doing everything he could not only to get back in the game, but also to give the Bills a lead.

Would I personally have chosen the first onside kick? No, probably not. There was still a lot of time left and the fact that you have to call an onside in these new kick-off rules eliminates the element of surprise. But I see the vision here and understand the motivation from Campbell’s perspective.

Ben Johnson deserves credit for finding creative ways to get the offense out of its early funk. The touchdown pass to senior lineman Dan Skipper was something wonderful. He also made the difficult decision to abandon his beloved rushing attack, which was the right decision given the flow of the game and what the Lions needed to do.

Campbell blamed himself for that loss, saying he clearly didn’t have the time necessary to match Buffalo’s sense of urgency. In reality, they got into trouble when an MVP quarterback took advantage of every opportunity and every mistake the opposition made. Aaron Glenn’s defense could use another bye week to get everyone on the same page after this game. But they are in an extremely tight battle for the No. 1 seed and the NFC North crown in Chicago. Grade: C

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