Thanksgiving provided the first exposure of the 2022 Detroit Lions for most of the national football audience. Playing against AFC darling Buffalo, the Lions were decided underdogs despite winning three games in a row.
The Lions went toe-to-toe with one of the NFL’s top teams. They looked like they belonged. More than that, Dan Campbell’s Lions acted like they belonged. Alas, a good effort came up short with the Bills winning 28-25 on a game-ending field goal from Buffalo kicker Tyler Bass with under five seconds remaining.
Detroit played well, but not quite well enough to win. A handful of crippling mistakes proved just a little too costly for the Lions. A missed field goal, a safety on Jared Goff, a Jamaal Williams fumble, a D’Andre Swift drop in the red zone — the self-inflicted wounds cut just a little too deep.
The Lions don’t quite have the level of talent or margin for error to make so many errors and beat a team like the Bills. They are closing that gap quickly, but it wasn’t quite there on Thanksgiving.
The game was back-and-forth all day. Detroit’s defense largely contained the Bills aerial attack for most of the game. Big plays from Alex Anzalone, James Houston and Jerry Jacobs provided real defensive lifts from unexpected sources. Jamaal Williams and Amon-Ra St. Brown played like the Pro Bowlers they deserve to be.
Detroit had one last chance to seize a potential victory, but a last-minute drive with some questionable clock management and play-calling stalled. Michael Badgley uncomfortably made a game-tying field goal, but 23 seconds still stood on the clock.
That was enough for MVP candidate Josh Allen to quickly move the Bills into field goal range, and Bass delivered.
With the tough loss, the Lions fall to 4-7. Buffalo improves to 8-4. The Lions now get an extended break before hosting the Jacksonville Jaguars a week from Sunday.
