Josh Allen totals five TDs as Bills win 41-31 in first regular-season game at Highmark Stadium
Josh Allen threw three touchdown passes and ran for two scores as the Buffalo Bills beat the Detroit Lions 41-31 on Thursday night in the first regular-season game at Highmark Stadium.
The new facility, which has been called “The House that Allen built,” hosted its inaugural regular-season contest with a pregame fireworks celebration and a crowd that had begun arriving days earlier; Allen said afterward, “[We won in a] short week against a really good team who kept us fighting until the last second there.”
Allen opened the scoring with a one-yard run 5:51 into the first quarter for the first regular-season touchdown at the venue and engineered touchdown drives on Buffalo’s first four possessions, including a 43-yard scoring pass to Josh Palmer and first-half touchdown catches by Dalton Kincaid (16 yards) and Dawson Knox (one yard).
He finished 20 of 31 for 248 yards and added 72 yards on the ground, while James Cook rushed for 134 yards and sealed the game with a one-yard touchdown late in the fourth quarter; Allen also said, "I got a little emotional during the national anthem, feeling super blessed and lucky to do what I do. This is a great spot, we’re going to be here for a long time, hopefully the fans enjoyed it." Allen’s two rushing TDs raised his career total to 83, tying him for 18th on the NFL list with Jim Taylor, and the victory was his 90th regular-season win, making him one of four quarterbacks to reach that mark through their first nine seasons.
Detroit quarterback Jared Goff completed 26 of 38 passes for 327 yards and four touchdowns in defeat; Amon-Ra St Brown caught nine passes for 142 yards and two scores, Jahmyr Gibbs had an 11-yard receiving touchdown and finished with 52 rushing yards, and Sam LaPorta scored on a one-yard catch.
The Lions’ defense allowed Buffalo to score 27 points and gain 299 yards in the first half, and Detroit’s offense, hampered by a banged-up line, rallied from a 21-0 deficit to cut the lead to 34-24 before stalling midway through the fourth quarter when, backed up at their own 10, they went three-and-out after two passes were tipped by Deone Walker and Gibbs was stopped for no gain; Goff had been sacked twice and a snap had gone over his head on Detroit’s first two series, and Buffalo’s second drive featured a play in which two defenders converged on DJ Moore, leaving Palmer open for the 43-yard score while a holding penalty on Rock Ya-Sin wiped out Skyler Gill-Howard’s interception on the following series.
The $2.1bn Highmark Stadium officially opened last month across the street from the Bills’ former home, has a capacity of just over 60,000—about 12,000 fewer seats than the previous facility—uses a steeper seating structure to place spectators closer to the action, and includes a canopy intended to project crowd noise; Bills fans had begun arriving two and three days before the game, with a private lot nearly filled with RVs by Tuesday.
The performance was Allen’s fourth five-TD outing and followed a four-touchdown game (two passing, two rushing) in Buffalo’s season-opening win at Houston.