Report Card Grades for Bills' NFL Week 2 Game vs. Lions

The Buffalo Bills are the NFL's first 2-0 team of 2026.

Once again, Buffalo's offense was nearly unstoppable in a 41-31 victory over the Detroit Lions in the team's first-ever game at their shiny new stadium.

The Bills now get some time off to prepare for another home matchup with the Los Angeles Chargers on Sept. 27. Before turning the page, here is our report card from the Thursday nighter at the new Highmark Stadium.

The early-season MVP frontrunner carried the team on his shoulders, especially after top receiver DJ Moore went down with a shoulder injury in the second quarter.

Allen had already done plenty of damage before that, and the offense was sometimes disjointed without Moore, but Allen made elite plays with his arm and/or legs in enough key moments to keep Detroit from truly threatening to come back.

He produced five total passing and rushing touchdowns, bringing his season total to nine. It was a second consecutive turnover-free performance as well, and he rushed for 72 yards.

Altogether, that easily compensated for the fact he botched some shovel passes and threw a pick that was negated by a Detroit penalty.

The star running back was effective in all four quarters, compiling 134 yards on 20 carries without turning the ball over.

He broke off several back-breaking big-gainers that took a lot of pressure off a passing game that was short on wideouts for much of the evening.

He didn't really factor in as a receiver on Thursday, but you get the feeling the 26-year-old is going to put together another massive season overall.

Moore was held catchless before leaving the game with an injury in the second quarter. However, his absence was glaring. Without Moore drawing significant attention, the Buffalo offense was noticeably less crisp and efficient.

Shakir set the tone with a big catch on the first drive and helped put it away with a nice catch-and-run late in the fourth quarter but was pretty quiet outside of that, finishing with three receptions for 38 yards on six targets.

I don't know that he'll be charged with two drops, but he did fail to pull in two balls that were catchable.

Dude stepped up in a major way with Moore down, catching all six of the passes thrown his way for 63 yards. Two were key third-down conversions on touchdown drives, and several of those grabs were tough plays.

It was a clutch performance just when it was needed most.

That's two deep touchdown grabs in two games for Palmer, who made no obvious mistakes but didn't produce beyond that 43-yard first-quarter score.

Palmer was targeted three times. He won't be a consistent producer this year but the playmaking ability is definitely there.

A second consecutive A+ for the star-in-the-making. Kincaid caught seven of the eight passes thrown his way for 95 yards, scored his first touchdown of the season and delivered some critical blocks.

He's on a first-team All-Pro track early on.

The "other tight end" picked up just five yards on his two catches, but one was a touchdown that required a smooth route coming across the goal line and the other was a third-down conversion on a third-quarter scoring drive.

He also excelled on some key blocks but did take a holding penalty in the red zone.

Monster game from the veteran, who bounced back from a less-than-crisp Week 1 performance and was nearly perfect against a pass rush led by superstar Aidan Hutchinson.

The first-year starter experienced some growing pains in Houston but also took a major leap on Thursday evening. Stellar blocks from Anderson stood out on a key first-down completion to Kincaid in the first quarter and a big Cook run in the second quarter. Quality performance.

The veteran seemed more overmatched than usual on some pressure up the middle but there were no major mistakes.

The right side of the line had a strong performance for the second week in a row, with Torrence the highlight as a strong presence both in the passing and running game.

I liked some of his work on Allen's scrambles to the right, but the veteran did have more trouble than anyone else on this line when it came to pass protection. He surrendered a sack from Hutchinson and was nearly responsible for another one on the very next drive.

It goes in the books as a two-sack performance so I can't hate hard. That said, he's still not getting enough consistent pressure. His first sack came with a big assist from Deone Walker, and the other came in semi-garbage time.

It appears Jim Leonhard has tapped into something with Rousseau, who had two more sacks and six pressures in another standout performance. The man is eating in this 3-4 defense.

Speaking of eating, the big guy's presence is becoming something opposing offensive coordinators are going to have to start game-planning for in a major way. With seven hurries and three batted balls, the sophomore put on a show up front. For the second week running, he and Rousseau deserve Defensive Player of the Week consideration.

Playing an increased role with Ed Oliver and T.J. Sanders both inactive, the gently-used third-year third-round pick was extremely steady. He was seemingly always in the right place, and looked like a reliable starter. It's good to know you've got that depth.

It's not a great sign when a guy's name only comes up when he's overmatched and forced to commit a personal foul. He's not getting much in terms of push and he certainly didn't help the cause against Jahmyr Gibbs.

I actually think Gibbs does a lot more damage if not for a solid performance in the box from Bernard, who had five tackles and made no glaring mistakes. He also came close to intercepting Jared Goff twice in one defensive series.

He was completely duped on Sam LaPorta's fourth-quarter touchdown, but just prior to that, Williams led a group effort on a great stop on Gibbs that unfortunately came before a pass interference penalty in the end zone. He also laid a nice hit on Amon-Ra St. Brown which forced a fourth down early in the second half.

The team's top corner has had some very tough matchups the first two weeks, but that's life as a No. 1 cover guy. The truth is he's been beated far too often in man coverage. He did have a nice pass breakup to save a touchdown in the fourth quarter, but that was soon followed by a DPI in the end zone.

There wasn't a lot of action for Hairston, which isn't a bad thing. Still, he was notably beaten twice in a row on Detroit's scoring drive to finish the first half.

The veteran nickel had some decent plays handling Gibbs but had several brutal missed tackles and generally struggled in coverage for the second game in a row to start his Buffalo tenure.

Still waiting for a high-impact play for a guy who has two six-interception seasons on his resume. Throw in poor tackling and it wasn't great on Thursday night.

I mean, he had a fair bit of trouble with Gibbs. But who doesn't?

Not much to say about a kicker who makes zero field-goal attempts. Bass did miss an extra point, however.

The rookie was fine on his two punts, both of which nailed Detroit back inside the 25-yard line.

A 25-yard punt return helped set up a second-quarter touchdown drive and it was a mistake-free performance outside of that.