Buffalo Bills Stock Up, Stock Down Entering Week 2 of the 2026 NFL Season

The moment is nearly here. After more than half a century at "The Ralph," the Buffalo Bills will christen their new home Thursday night against the Detroit Lions.

They're carrying plenty of momentum into the historic occasion after edging the Houston Texans in a 36-31 Week 1 thriller. That wild shootout featured unforgettable performances from key playmakers, but it also exposed some alarming flaws on both sides of the ball.

As a result, there are quite a few extremes to explore in our Bills stock report entering Week 2.

It's hard to believe the MVP favorite's stock could be higher than it was entering the season, but it had to grow at least a little as Allen willed the Buffalo offense to life in his first game as a 30-year-old.

In a heroic performance, Allen posted a 140.0 passer rating on throws that traveled at least 15 yards and was 6-for-8 for 111 yards on third down. He generated a combined four passing and rushing touchdowns, turning the ball over zero times and absorbing just two sacks against one of the best defenses in the NFL.

Last year's leading rusher looked like he was picking up where he left off when he ran for 20 yards on his first two carries, but Cook compiled just 26 rushing yards on nine attempts over the course of the next three and a half quarters.

He salvaged the performance to an extent with a big 12-yard gain with Buffalo backed up late in the game, but even that carry resulted in a fumble that might have cost the Bills the victory had O'Cyrus Torrence not jumped on it.

Again, the Bills were up against an elite defense in a challenging road environment. And the offensive line was not crisp (more on that unit in a moment). Cook has also earned the benefit of the doubt, but the pressure is on against Detroit.

Against said stellar defense, Moore made an immediate impact as the new No. 1 receiver in Buffalo.

The 29-year-old veteran caught five passes for 100 yards and a touchdown while drawing a huge defensive pass interference penalty to set up another score and attracting double teams that opened up the rest of the field for fellow pass-catchers to go to work.

It was one of the top dozen or so games of Moore's career, which is saying a lot considering that he came into the league in 2018.

2026 NFL Trade Block Big Board Entering Week 2 🏈

Coleman was on the field for 29 snaps but made a clear positive impact on just one play—a catch and lateral that went into the books as a one-yard reception. He was also the intended receiver on a failed two-point conversion attempt late in the fourth quarter.

It was the third-least productive game of his career.

That said, have we mentioned this was a tricky opponent? When you're not a regular starter, these types of outings sometimes happen. Let's give Coleman some time.

But what really hurts Coleman's stock is the fact Palmer was targeted twice and scored a huge touchdown despite playing far fewer snaps than his third-year teammate against the Texans.

The 26-year-old Canadian was held without a touchdown in 2025, but he actually started strong as well before injuries marred much of his first campaign with the Bills. If he can stay healthy this time around, Palmer could outperform Coleman and become a consistent producer for the first time since his early seasons with the Chargers.

On several occasions in Houston, this veteran unit looked unprepared and disorganized. On some of those occasions, it appeared guys were schemed into disadvantageous positions.

But even beyond that, nobody had a great day.

Left tackle Dion Dawkins whiffed on a critical fourth-down block and lost several battles on the edge, new left guard Alec Anderson was overmatched often, center Connor McGovern had a sloppy performance, right guard O'Cyrus Torrence was PFF's seventh-lowest-rated qualified guard, and right tackle Spencer Brown put his quarterback in a really bad spot on a critical second-half third-down play.

It's a miracle they gave up just two sacks, although they were penalized four times.

This group is not young, and it lost some continuity with the departure of David Edwards. The competition was fierce on Sunday, but it's fair to be somewhat concerned about this line entering another tough spot against Detroit.

As in, few players in the league saw their stock climb like Kincaid in Week 1.

In the best game of his career to date, the former first-round pick caught three 35-plus-yard passes in a span of 30 minutes in Houston. Prior to that 30-minute window, he had made just two 35-yard grabs in his entire career!

In fact, no tight end in the league had more 35-yard receptions in the entirety of the 2025 season than Kincaid had in a span of seven drives against the Texans.

For all intents and purposes, Chubb is being paid $853,000 per game.

In his debut game for the Bills, the two-time Pro Bowler missed at least a pair of tackles and didn't come particularly close to a sack while generating just a few pressures all afternoon.

Considering the damage Greg Rousseau was doing on the other side against a mediocre offensive line and an oft-confused quarterback, that's a far-from-ideal start for Chubb.

Buffalo's Week 1 victory in Houston was essentially bookended by strip sacks from Rousseau, who in addition to those plays registered three hits on Stroud and shined when dropping into coverage.

It was one of the top three performances of his career to date, and a strong sign that the 26-year-old will flourish and become an elite defender in Jim Leonhard's system.

Yikes. We knew this might have been a soft spot headed into the season, but the three-man cornerback crew of Christian Benford, Maxwell Hairston and Dee Alford did very little to inspire confidence in the opener.

Benford was beaten routinely throughout the game, ultimately giving up eight catches for 85 yards, according to PFF . He and Hairston missed a combined four tackles, while Hairston and Alford got their signals crossed on a blown coverage that nearly cost the Bills the game.

Alford signed a three-year, $15.8 million contract to join the Bills in the offseason, but the 28-year-old vet looked lost for much of his debut in support of two overmatched boundary starters.

Unfortunately, that group will have its hands full again with Detroit's stacked pass-catching corps on Thursday night.

Two momentous tackles for loss and a sack highlighted one of the finest performances of Walker's young career, as the sophomore fourth-round pick gave us a strong indication that his promising rookie season was not a fluke.

The massive 22-year-old nose tackle has an extremely bright future, and it's easy to envision him showing the progress he's made to a national audience with a stellar performance Thursday night against Detroit.

Defensive Coordinator Jim Leonhard: DOWN

On far too many occasions during Leonhard's debut in this role, his personnel appeared to be confused. That unit attacked as expected, but not a lot got home beyond a few key sacks from Rousseau and Walker, leaving the secondary vulnerable while the off-ball linebackers scrambled to keep up with lost leverage.

The Bills were crushed in the time-of-possession battle as the defense once again failed to get off the field on third down, continuing a trend that the team hoped would die out with the conclusion of the Sean McDermott era.

This is Leonhard's first time running an NFL defense, so it would be unfair to condemn the hire one week in. That said, it was a discouraging start that saw a relatively talented unit give up 31 points to C.J. Stroud's offense. And if not for some hero plays by a few standout players, it might have been a lot worse.

Let's see what adjustments Leonhard makes and how much his guys can cut down on communication errors against the unforgiving Lions in Week 2.

In the 2023 playoffs, Bass missed a game-tying 44-yard field goal attempt as the Bills fell to the Chiefs by three points. In 2024, he missed four attempts between 40 and 49 yards as well as five extra points. In 2025, he missed the entire season due to a hip/groin injury.

With all of that in mind, a 6-for-6 season opener (three field goals, three extra points) including a 46-yarder to open the scoring on the season is quite encouraging.