The Buffalo Bills remained undefeated this preseason with a 24-13 victory over the Detroit Lions.
While it wasn’t pretty at times, the Buffalo Bills did what they needed to do to secure their third preseason victory in as many tries. This time it was a 24-20 win on the road against the Detroit Lions.
The third preseason game is usually the one that the starters would see the most time in the preseason. This was the case as the Bills had their starters in for most of the first half.
The offense, behind Josh Allen, did not look as sharp as they did against the Carolina Panthers. The Bills first three drives to start the game ended with two three and outs and a turnover, a fumble by Cole Beasley, that set the Lions up with a short field. They were able to capitalize and get on the board first with a Matt Prater field goal.
The two teams then traded touchdown drives with the Bills scoring on an Isaiah McKenzie rushing touchdown and the Lions answered with a Matt Stafford passing touchdown.
It wasn’t until the closing minutes of the first half that the Bills offense really started to look in rhythm. They were able to go 95 yards on eight plays and got into the end zone behind Devin Singletary with a nine-yard run. The Bills took a 14-10 lead and never relinquished the lead the rest of the game.
While the Bills did have a halftime lead, Josh Allen’s performance left something to be desired as he only went 3 of 6 for 49 yards, with another 17 yards rushing.
In the second half, Matt Barkley once again moved the offense up and down the field, completing 12 of 14 passes for 142 yards with a touchdown pass to Duke Williams.
The third quarter was controlled by the Bills with 10 straight points, thanks in large part to Barkley, the Lions made it a game late in the fourth. They added a one-yard rushing touchdown with a little over six minutes left in the game to cut the lead to 24-20.
However, rookie Jaquan Johnson came up with the play of the game that ended the Lions’ comeback. The Lions had just converted a fourth down to keep their drive alive and on their next play, Johnson was able to force a fumble and recovered it to secure the third preseason win.
The Buffalo Bills will now head home to prepare for their final preseason game against the Minnesota Vikings at New Era Field on Thursday night.