Buffalo Tames The Lions, Beating Detroit 41-31 In Home Opener

A day that the people of Buffalo and Western New York have been waiting on for years has finally come and gone, and the Buffalo Bills not only knocked it out of the park with a great grand opening of the new $2 Billion Highmark Stadium, New York State’s only NFL team handed the Lions a big defeat on Thursday Night Football.

Before kickoff in the Orchard Park stadium happened at 8:15, Bills organization put on an amazing slate of events and activities to keep the people entertained and give more than 60,000 people who were on site for the stadiums regular season grand opening a sight to see and memories to keep for the rest of their lives.

Not only did kids in Orchard Park get out of school early, inside the stadium the team had actress and singer Auliʻi Cravalho on hand to sing the American National Anthem, the Barenaked Ladies to sing the Canadian Anthem, and OneRepublic to do the first ever halftime performance at a Bills home game. Outside of the stadium there were all sorts of fun activities happening around the stadium and along the Highmark Trail.

But, as great as all of that was, the thing people, were there to see was the Bills take on the Detroit Lions and the team handled business on the field.

In the first half, Josh Allen and the Bills offense jumped out to a big 27-10 lead, with big plays coming from the Bills on both sides of the ball.

Getty Images

Joe Brady and the game plan were firing on all cylndiers as the team scored on each of its drives during the first 30 minutes of play.

While the Lions were able to score a few more points in the second half, it wasn’t enough to stop the Bills as they continued to perform well on offense, and the defense came up with a big play in the closing minutes to seal the deal for the hometown team.

In the end Josh Allen scored 5 touchdowns, two on the ground and three through the air, finishing the day with 248 yards passing and 69 yards rushing. James Cook also went over 100 yards rushing in this game, also adding a rushing touchdown to the teams total.

With this 41-31 win Thursday night, the Bills get a few well earned days off before getting ready to host the Chargers on September 27, 2026, at Highmark Stadium.

Get our free mobile app