Week 2 of the 2026 NFL season will begin on Thursday night in Buffalo as the Bills welcome the Lions to their brand-new Highmark Stadium for an 8:20 p.m. ET kickoff.
Detroit enters this one happy to be 1–0 after a scare against the Saints. After holding the New Orleans offense scoreless through much of the first three quarters, the Lions allowed 24 points across the Saints’ final five possessions—sending the game to overtime. They ultimately came away with a 31–30 win thanks to a failed two-point conversion attempt from the Saints’ offense.
The Bills were also part of a last-minute, Week 1 victory, as they took down the conference-rival Texans 36–31. Quarterback Josh Allen was finally able to fend off his woes against the daunting Houston defense, accounting for over 350 total yards and accounting for four total touchdowns—including the game-winning pass to Josh Palmer with just 1:36 to go in the contest.
Now, both high-powered offenses will face off in what has the chance to be an epic showdown to open Week 2. Here are three bold predictions for Bills-Lions.
Josh Allen and Jared Goff will combine for seven total touchdowns
Lost in the Lions’ defensive collapse last weekend is the fact that their offense once again looked spectacular. Jahmyr Gibbs ran wild for 156 yards on 29 carries (while also catching five passes out of the backfield for 30 yards) and although quarterback Jared Goff posted a sub-100.0 passer rating, he threw two touchdowns to Amon-Ra St. Brown—who paced Detroit with 10 catches for 67 yards.
The Bills, as noted above, saw Allen tally four total touchdowns last week, which puts the pair of signal-callers at a combined six for the season.
Given the potential for this game to be high-scoring—which, trust me, we’ll get to—I’m predicting that Allen and Goff will combine for at least seven total touchdowns in this one.
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James Cook will bounce back with a 150-plus-yard, two-rushing-touchdown performance
While the Bills’ passing attack couldn’t be stopped last week, their performance on the ground left much to be desired.
Running back James Cook—who led the NFL in rushing yards last season with 1,621—was held to just 57 yards on 13 carries against the Texans, and fumbled (before the ball was recovered by guard O’Cyrus Torrence) on what was eventually their game-winning drive. Buffalo on the whole, meanwhile, logged just 86 rushing yards, which would have been its lowest single-game total all of last season.
Despite Cook’s less-than-ideal season debut, Bills coach Joe Brady says that the team won’t put any restrictions on giving him the football moving forward.
“I’m trusting him that he has to do his job and his 1/11th on the play,” Brady explained. “And there’s a reason he’s one of the best backs in football. He understands that when he has the ball, he has all of our jobs on the line.”
So, with what sounds like will be a full workload in front of him, I’m predicting a bounce-back game from Cook to the tune of 150-plus rushing yards.
This will be the highest-scoring game of the season so far, beating out last week’s Bears-Panthers 96-point barrage
Put all of the above together, and we’ve got ourselves a barn burner of a matchup to look forward to Thursday night in Buffalo. Nine touchdowns have already been accounted for in my first two predictions—what’s three more?
When you consider the fact that the Lions and Bills each scored 40-plus points three times last season, already have a 30-point game under their belts in 2026 and allowed 30-plus points in Week 1, the potential for this one to turn into an offensive explosion becomes increasingly obvious.
That’s why I’m predicting that Buffalo and Detroit will score six touchdowns apiece and combine for five field goals in what will eventually be a 51–48 Bills victory. The 99-point performance will pass last weekend’s Bears-Panthers game for the highest-scoring bout of 2026.
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