Buffalo Bills vs Detroit Lions: Box score, player stats and summary feat. Josh Allen, Jared Goff face off in MVP race

The Buffalo Bills and the Detroit Lions faced off in Week 15 of the 2024 NFL season with both teams having punched their playoff spots already. However, that did not mean that nothing was riding on this matchup; in fact, it was quite the contrary.

The Bills are 10-3 and three games behind the Chiefs after Kansas City won against the Cleveland Browns earlier in the day. If Buffalo were to lose today, their chances of overhauling the Chiefs would vanish, and with that the possibility of having a Wild Card bye and home advantage throughout the postseason.

The Lions were 12-1 entering this matchup and leading the NFC. However, the Eagles were 11-2 and knew that a win would allow them to tie Detroit atop the conference if they lost to the Bills. With the top spot being crucial to home advantage and a bye in the playoffs, Philadelphia fans would have been rooting for Buffalo in this clash.

With so much riding on the outcome of this game, here is how it turned out.

Bills vs. Lions box scores

Quarter	1	2	3	4	Total
Bills	14	7	14	13	48
Lions	0	14	7	21	42

Bills box scores

Passing

Player	C/ATT	YDS	AVG	TD	INT	SACKS	RTG
Josh Allen	23/34	362	10.6	2	0	0-0	122.4
Team	23/34	362	10.6	2	0	0-0	122.4

Rushing

Player	CAR	YDS	AVG	TD	LONG
James Cook	14	105	7.5	2	41
Josh Allen	11	68	6.2	2	21
Ray Davis	7	15	2.1	0	7
Ty Johnson	2	9	4.5	0	5
Team	34	197	5.8	4	41

Receiving

Player	REC	YDS	AVG	TD	LONG	TGTS
Ty Johnson	5	114	22.8	0	33	5
Keon Coleman	1	64	64	0	64	2
Dalton Kincaid	4	53	13.3	0	29	7
Dawson Knox	2	42	21	0	23	3
Khalil Shakir	6	39	6.5	1	10	7
James Cook	1	28	28	0	28	1
Ray Davis	2	14	7	1	9	2
Mack Hollins	1	7	7	0	7	3
Curtis Samuel	1	1	1	0	1	2
Team	23	362	15.7	2	64	32

Defense

Player	TOT	SOLO	SACKS	TFL	PD	QB HTS	TD
Terrel Bernard	10	4	0	1	0	0	0
Taron Johnson	8	5	0	0	1	0	0
Christian Benford	6	5	1	1	1	1	0
Kaiir Elam	6	5	0	0	1	0	0
Cam Lewis	6	4	0	0	0	0	0
Cole Bishop	5	4	0	0	0	0	0
Ed Oliver	4	3	1	0	0	3	0
Greg Rousseau	4	3	1	1	0	3	0
Kareem Jackson	3	1	0	0	0	0	0
Baylon Spector	3	1	0	0	0	0	0
Matt Milano	3	0	0	0	0	1	0
Dorian Williams	2	2	0	0	0	0	0
AJ Epenesa	2	1	0	0	0	1	0
Jordan Phillips	1	1	0	0	0	0	0
Dawuane Smoot	1	1	0	1	1	0	0
Austin Johnson	1	0	0	0	0	0	0
DaQuan Jones	0	0	0	0	0	1	0
Team	65	40	3	4	4	10	0

Fumbles

Player	FUM	LOST	REC
Matt Milano	0	0	1
Team	0	0	1

Kicking

Player	FG	PCT	LONG	XP	PTS
Tyler Bass	2/3	66.7	50	6/6	12
Team	2/3	67	50	6/6	12

Lions box scores

Passing

Player	C/ATT	YDS	AVG	TD	INT	SACKS	RTG
Jared Goff	38/59	494	8.4	5	0	3-21	118.9
Team	38/59	473	8.4	5	0	3-21	118.9

Rushing

Player	CAR	YDS	AVG	TD	LONG
Jahmyr Gibbs	8	31	3.9	1	13
Jared Goff	2	13	6.5	0	10
David Montgomery	5	4	0.8	0	3
Team	15	48	3.2	1	13

Receiving

Player	REC	YDS	AVG	TD	LONG	TGTS
Amon-Ra St. Brown	14	193	13.8	1	66	18
Sam LaPorta	7	111	15.9	0	31	10
Jahmyr Gibbs	5	83	16.6	1	21	7
Jameson Williams	3	37	12.3	1	18	5
David Montgomery	4	31	7.8	0	14	4
Tim Patrick	4	30	7.5	1	12	8
Dan Skipper	1	9	9	1	9	1
Allen Robinson	0	0	0	0	0	1
Team	38	494	13	5	66	54

Defense

Player	TOT	SOLO	SACKS	TFL	PD	QB HTS	TD
Brian Branch	15	8	0	2	1	0	0
Jack Campbell	11	8	0	0	1	0	0
Kerby Joseph	8	6	0	0	0	0	0
Ben Niemann	5	2	0	0	1	0	0
Ezekiel Turner	4	3	0	0	0	1	0
Terrion Arnold	4	2	0	0	1	0	0
David Long Jr.	3	1	0	1	0	0	0
Kindle Vildor	3	1	0	0	1	0	0
Sione Vaki	2	2	0	0	0	0	0
Kwon Alexander	2	1	0	0	0	0	0
Levi Onwuzurike	2	1	0	0	0	0	0
Craig Reynolds	2	1	0	0	0	0	0
Pat O'Connor	2	0	0	0	0	0	0
Jamal Adams	2	0	0	0	0	0	0
Carlton Davis III	2	0	0	0	0	0	0
Al-Quadin Muhammad	1	1	0	0	0	0	0
Amik Robertson	1	1	0	0	0	0	0
Za'Darius Smith	1	0	0	0	0	0	0
Khalil Dorsey	1	0	0	0	0	0	0
Josh Paschal	1	0	0	0	0	2	0
Alim McNeill	1	0	0	0	0	0	0
Team	73	38	0	3	5	3	0

Fumbles

Player	FUM	LOST	REC
Amon-Ra St. Brown	1	1	0
Jared Goff	1	0	0
Kevin Zeitler	0	0	1
Team	2	1	1

Kicking

Player	FG	PCT	LONG	XP	PTS
Jake Bates	0/1	0	0	6/6	6
Team	0/1	0	0	6/6	6

Bills vs. Lions game summary

We expected this to be a game where offenses dominated and it proved that way. With two MVP-candidate quarterbacks playing, the match lived up to its expectations right from the start.

The Lions punted on their first possession and the Bills took the game by the scruff of the neck immediately by scoring a touchdown on their first drive. After three rushing scores last time for Josh Allen against the Rams in a losing effort, he got the scoreboard moving after a short run near the goal line. The record was replayed on the next two drives as Detroit punted again on their next possession and the Buffalo quarterback got his second rushing touchdown of the day.

With the score 14-0 going into the second quarter, the Lions needed an answer and they did so with a 70-yard scoring drive. Tim Patrick caught the pass in the endzone from Jared Goff to make it a one-score game.

On the next drive, the Lions' defense managed to stop Josh Allen's runs but once the Bills were in the red zone, they could not halt James Cook. The running back managed to get his first touchdown of the day to make the score 21-7. Detroit, though, came straight back with a scoring possession of their own to make it 21-14. The offensive lineman Dan Skipper was reported eligible and he was the one who caught the pass from his quarterback.

That is how the first half ended but there was no letting up in the second half. The Bills received the kickoff and James Cook took off on a 41-yard run to make the score 28-14. After a couple of punts by both teams, the crucial moment of the game arrived when a perfect pass from Jared Goff was dropped by the receiver and the visiting team recovered. It allowed the Bills to take a 35-14 lead.

Even though the Lions came back with a touchdown of their own, it was an uphill ride from there. After Buffalo scored a field goal on their next drive, Detroit responded with another seven points to make the score 38-28. But with the home team trying to close the arrears, they attempted an onside kick which was recovered by their opponents and returned to make it a first-and-goal. Josh Allen did the rest with a pass to Ray Davis.

The Lions were not to shy away, though, and scored a touchdown to make it 45-35. A Bills field goal extended that lead to 48-35 but a touchdown pass by Jared Goff with just more than 10 seconds remaining made it 48-42. That is how it ended, though, as Detroit's onside kick attempt was nearly successful but the Bills recovered it to close out the game.