The Detroit Lions defense has plenty it needs to be concerned about with a Week 2 matchup at the Buffalo Bills. That’s pretty standard when facing a former MVP quarterback.
But Bills signal-caller Josh Allen appeared to indirectly put the Lions on notice for what might be one of the biggest keys of the game Thursday night.
“Heck yeah, yeah. We love chunk plays. That’s how you score 36 points,” Allen said after Buffalo’s Week 1 victory. “You give yourself the opportunity to score on four or five plays in a drive instead of the long methodical you know 13, 14, 15 plays.
“That’s also a way to win football games. So we don’t want to just try to live off the chunk plays. We want to be smart, and we want to take our opportunities when they’re there.”
Josh Allen Led Buffalo’s Big-Play Offense to Week 1 Win
Red zone performances often determine a lot of results in today’s NFL. How effective an offense is at scoring touchdowns, not field goals, and how great a defense is in the small portion of the field decides the outcome of games.
But that’s not necessarily the case with the Bills. Or put another way, the red zone for Allen starts just about when the Bills reach their opponent’s territory.
In Week 1, Buffalo scored three touchdowns greater than 20 yards. One of those scores was an Allen 21-yard run. That’s not unusual. But Allen also had two touchdown passes each 34 yards or longer.
Allen has always been a big-play machine. The Lions preparing for a Bills offense, though, who has a big running quarterback and a signal-caller capable of hitting splash plays from about the 40-yard line, is particularly challenging, especially on the short week.
That would have been the case regardless of whether Allen tipped his preference for big plays or not in his postgame answer. That’s really the case because the last point Allen made is also true. The Bills also don’t have to rely on big plays. They still have Allen to smash into the end zone inside the 5-yard line.
And the more a defense worries about that, the more susceptible they could be to giving up a big play.
Lions Secondary to Face Difficult Early Season Test
The Lions defense looked really strong early in Week 1 versus the New Orleans Saints. The secondary allowed just 159 net passing yards in the first three quarters combined.
But things fell apart for the Lions secondary in the fourth quarter and overtime. Detroit yielded nearly that amount of passing yards to New Orleans in the fourth quarter alone. Then in overtime, the Saints had 71 more passing yards on a touchdown drive.
Entering Week 2, the Lions defensive backfield is looking for a bounce back performance. At the very least, the unit is trying to prove it can put together 60 minutes of good defense.
Allen presents a tremendous challenge toward doing that. But it’s adversity the Lions will have to overcome to be a true Super Bowl contender this season.
The Lions hope they get to try and stop Allen with cornerback D.J. Reed. The starter was a late addition to the Lions injury report this week and was considered questionable Wednesday.
Josh Allen Presents Challenge to Lions Defense Through Clear Message