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Lions vs Bills winners and losers: Detroit's Super Bowl 2025 chances take big hit
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- Lions vs Bills winners and losers: Detroit's Super Bowl 2025 chances take big hit
Free Press sports writer Dave Birkett highlights the best and worst performances of the Lions ' 48-42 loss to the Buffalo Bills on Sunday at Ford Field.
The Lions (12-2) lost for the first time in exactly three months — when they also lost at home to Tampa Bay, 20-16 , in Week 2 on Sept. 15 — and had their franchise-record 11-game win streak snapped. The Lions will have to wait a week to get a second shot at setting the franchise single-season wins record when they visit division rival Chicago Bears in Week 16.
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Lions- Bills winners
Bills QB Josh Allen
Allen was phenomenal Sunday, passing for 362 yards and two touchdowns and running for two more scores. He has five rushing and five passing touchdowns with zero turnovers in the Bills' past two games and made a handful of improbable throws after extending plays with his legs.
Buffalo Bills quarterback Josh Allen (17) throws the ball during the second half at Ford Field in Detroit on Sunday, Dec. 15, 2024. Allen threw for 362 yards and two touchdowns in the Bills 48-42.
With his performance, Allen cemented his place as this year's probable MVP .
"Josh Allen just doing Josh Allen things, man," Lions cornerback Amik Robertson said. "I don't think they got any standout dog rec(eiver). They didn't do nothing — for me they didn't do nothing special, we just didn't play Lions football today, man, but we're going to be all right"
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Lions S Brian Branch
Branch was one of the few bright spots on a defense that gave up its most points since Week 4 of the 2022 season.
The second-year safety had 15 tackles, two for loss, and a pass breakup. He had a TFL on a first-and-10 play in the third quarter that helped force the Bills' only punt of the game and a pass breakup in the end zone that forced the Bills to settle for a short field goal they missed late in the second quarter.
The Lions defense has been decimated by injury and is hemorrhaging talent in the front seven , but they still have two of the best safeties in football in Branch and Kerby Joseph .
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Lions-Bills losers
Lions OL
The Lions have one of the best rushing offenses in the NFL, but couldn't run the ball a lick Sunday — 48 yards on 15 carries — and that's part of why they found themselves in a big early hole. They went 0 yards, 1 yard, minus-2 yards on their first three carries and gave up two sacks in their first six pass attempts.
From left, Detroit Lions center Frank Ragnow (77), offensive tackle Penei Sewell (58), guard Kevin Zeitler (71), and guard Graham Glasgow (60) look on from the visiting team tunnel before taking the field for the first half against Green Bay Packers at Lambeau Field in Green Bay, Wis., on Sunday, Nov. 3, 2024.
While the failures were a collective effort, Frank Ragnow (two holding penalties) and Graham Glasgow (a face mask) had especially rough days on the interior trying to block Bills defensive tackle Ed Oliver (one sack, three QB hits).
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The Lions still rallied for 42 points, so the line wasn't all bad. But one of the league's best groups hasn't been its sharpest in a few weeks and that's not what this team needs heading into the home stretch.
Lions' Super Bowl 2025 chances
The Lions are still one of the best teams in the NFL , but it's indisputable their Super Bowl 59 chances took another hit (or four) with injuries Sunday.
Already down defensive starters Aidan Hutchinson , Marcus Davenport , Derrick Barnes and Alex Anzalone , the Lions lost two more defensive starters to major injury Sunday in Alim McNeill and Carlton Davis , gunner/cornerback Khalil Dorsey to a broken leg and running back David Montgomery to an MCL injury .
Detroit Lions cornerback Carlton Davis III is looked at after getting injured during a play against the Buffalo Bills at Ford Field in Detroit Sunday, Dec. 15, 2024.
As good as they've been, the Lions are starting to run out of capable bodies, especially on defense. They could lose all four of the players who got injured Sunday for the remainder of the season, and good teams like the Bills and good quarterbacks like Allen are more than capable of exploiting their holes.
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On Sunday, the Lions' decimated linebacking corps struggled to get off blocks and cover Buffalo's running backs and tight ends in the pass game. Anzalone should return soon, but it might not be enough to save the league's most injury-ravaged defense.
Dave Birkett is the author of the new book, " Detroit Lions : An Illustrated Timeline." Order your copy here. Contact him at dbirkett@freepress.com . Follow him on Bluesky, X and Instagram at @davebirkett .
This article originally appeared on Detroit Free Press: Detroit Lions' Super Bowl 2025 chances take hit as injury woes mount
