If you told me last week that the Buffalo Bills would hold the duo of David Montgomery and Jahmyr Gibbs to a combined 35 rushing yards, I would have laughed in your face.
But here we are, and that's the reality of how things played out between the Bills and the Lions on Sunday. After a season of the Bills' defense showing that the ground game is their biggest weakness, they came out and dominated the line of scrimmage from the very beginning.
Almost most surprisingly, it started up front. Last week, the defensive line was consistently blown off the ball, with both Josh Allen and Sean McDermott saying after the game that the team, as a whole, didn't show up with enough urgency.
That could not have been more different against the Lions.
"I thought they came out ready to play. They really did," McDermott said after the game when asked about his team. "You could tell there was an attitude and a focus about them, even in the week, during the week, and then last night, and then pregame warm up. You could tell there was just something in the locker room. That's what I'm used to feeling. That's what I'm used to seeing."
Buffalo had one thing going for them that helped their biggest weakness not become a major issue in this game — they got out to a huge lead in a hurry, starting with three straight touchdown drives as a part of Josh Allen's monster game. The offense set the tone, putting Detroit behind in a hurry.
Forced to play catch-up, the Lions handed the ball to their running backs only three times in the second half. Buffalo dictating the pace of the game and controlling the line of scrimmage in the early going put Detroit in a situation where they had to abandon their ground attack.
Chalk this one up to a "the best defense is a good offense" sort of game for Buffalo's run defense, which absolutely worked.
Buffalo now returns to Orchard Park to host the New England Patriots, where they will get their first view of the Patriots' new franchise quarterback, rookie Drake Maye, who has a little bit of Josh Allen in his game.
