Sports Mole previews Thursday’s NFL duel between the Detroit Lions and Buffalo Bills, including predictions, team news and possible lineups.
Ford Field welcomes the buffalo bills on Thursday when they fight the Detroit Lions for a special Thanksgiving affair.
The Lions caught fire this month, winning three straight games, while the Bills ended a two-game losing streak with a 31-23 win over the Cleveland Browns.
game preview
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A season that looked dead in the water at the Motor City suddenly picked up steam when the Lions went undefeated in November.
Before their game against the New York Giants, head coach Dan Campbell stressed the importance of generating sales, and his unit responded in a big way by intercepting Daniel Jones twice and bounced back after a fumble with a 31-18 win.
Another encouraging sign is that their win on Sunday was their first against a team with a track record, which should give them plenty of confidence for Thursday.
Not only do they have a chance to beat another team with a winning record this week, but they can also earn their first win against an AFC opponent since beating the Jacksonville Jaguars 34-16 in October 2020.
While they find ways to win, their defense still allows for their share of significant wins, conceding over 400 total yards against opponents in three of their last four games.
The Lions played clean football for most of November, not conceding sacks in two of their last three games and failing to turn the ball in their last two games.
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On Sunday, the Bills managed to get their season back on track, improving to 7-3 and drawing level with the Miami Dolphins to take first place in the AFC East.
Like Detroit, they had no sales last weekend, their biggest problem was plaguing them Sean McDermott‘s team against the Browns was a penalty shootout, with Buffalo being tagged for 89 yards eight times.
While they minimized errors for the most part last weekend, they were a little underwhelming on offense, throwing for just 186 yards against Cleveland, well below their 294.2 per game average, which is the second-highest in the NFL.
Thursday will be crucial to keep up in the hard-fought AFC East as just one win currently separates the bottom-placed New York Jets from the top-ranked Dolphins and Bills.
Their next three games after Thursday are against division opponents, so that stretch could decide whether or not the Bills win the AFC East for a third straight season.
Detroit Lions Form:
Buffalo Bills Form:
Team News
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Jared Goff went 17/26 for 165 and no picks for the Lions vs the Giants, Aidan Hutchinson garnered his second interception of the season, Jamal Williams ran for three scores and DeShon Elliott led all players with eight tackles.
Amon-Ra St. Brown has become a prime target for Goff over the past few weeks, catching 10 passes in each of his last two games. Justin Jackson averaged over seven yards per carry against New York and Jerry Jacobs had six tackles.
Matt Nelson has a sore calf Josh Reynolds still suffers from back problems Josh Paschal missed their previous game due to a problem in his knee and Karl Harris also dropped out with a groin injury.
Invoice QB Josh Allen followed up 18/27 for 197 yards and a touchdown pass Stefan Diggswhile Devin Singletar averaged 4.8 yards per carry against the Browns and scored a touchdown.
Tyrell Dodson and Matt Milan combined for 17 tackles last Sunday, with Milano also conceding a sack in the process Dawson Knox led her into the receiving department and made seven catches for 70 yards.
Gregory Rousseau it has to do with a sprained ankle, Reggie Gilliam has an illness Kaiir Elam is in question with an ankle sprain and Tremaine Edmunds continues to recover from a groin injury.
head to head
We’re used to these sides scoring few goals as each team has scored less than 20 points in their last three games since 2010.
The last time they met was in 2018 when they met Robert Forest caught an Allen touchdown pass in the fourth quarter as Buffalo won 14-13.
Detroit last beat the Bills in 2006 Jon Kitna blow Roy Williams for a 28-yard touchdown pass, Jason Hanson kicked two field goals and Kevin Jones ran for a seven-yard score as the Lions gained the upper hand, 20-17.
We say Detroit Lions 17-24 Buffalo Bills
With the knowledge of the games ahead, Buffalo should realize the importance of keeping up in the division and we believe they will be able to move the ball efficiently against a Lions defense unit that isn’t already up to par faced a receiving corps or running attack as dangerous as the bills possess.
For a data analysis of the most likely outcomes, goal scores and more for this game, please click here.
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