The Detroit Lions at one point had a 21-0 lead against the New Orleans Saints in Week 1, and they still needed overtime to escape with a 31-30 win. Detroit had to defend the pass against New Orleans, and they did not do a good job of stopping it. With them giving up 410 yards in the air in the first game of the season to Tyler Shough, it will not be any easier trying to slow down Josh Allen, Dalton Kincaid and the Buffalo Bills on Thursday night.
One position the Lions struggle to cover is tight end. Noah Fant caught four passes for 33 yards and a touchdown against Detroit, an average of 8.3 yards per reception. With him having a good game for New Orleans, can Bills tight end Dalton Kincaid be a problem for the Lions to slow down?
Mike Payton Believes the Detroit Lions May Struggle to Cover Dalton Kincaid
Mike Payton covers the Lions for A to Z Sports. He wrote about where the Lions could potentially lose the game against the Bills. Payton wrote:
“The Lions have an opportunity to stop James Cook and make Buffalo one-dimensional. But here’s the thing: the Bills go heavy on heavy personnel. They ran 12 and 13 personnel on 50% of their snaps against Houston. That is not a little bit. They’re going to utilize tight ends Dalton Kincaid and Jackson Hawes, and they’re going to lean on wide receiver DJ Moore, who had a big game. Moore and Kincaid combined for 230 yards against Houston.
The Bills are a confusing offense to go up against because they make it look like they’re lining up to run, and then they do a bunch of crazy stuff. They throw to the tight ends, they go to Moore, or Allen uses his feet and gets going. The Lions cannot fall into that trap. New Orleans did it a little bit on Sunday with their tight ends. Noah Fant got stuff done. Juwan Johnson got stuff done. Go back to last year: the Lions struggled with heavy personnel against Pittsburgh in their loss. They struggled against the Rams in their loss. Gotta watch that.”
Dalton Kincaid Led the Bills in Week 1
Kincaid caught five passes for 130 yards on six targets in Week 1 for the Bills, an average of 26.0 yards per reception. He did not find the end zone, but he led Buffalo in receiving yards in the 36-31 win over the Houston Texans. Allen will no doubt be looking to target him again in Week 2 against a bad Lions defense.
Kincaid Was Quiet the Last Time These Teams Met
When the Lions last played the Bills on Dec. 15, 2024, Kincaid caught four passes for 53 yards and no touchdowns, an average of 13.3 yards per reception. Buffalo won that game over Detroit by a final score of 48-42.
What It Means on Thursday Night
There is a good chance that Kincaid is very much involved in the passing game on Thursday night for the Bills against the Lions. If Detroit can’t fix what went wrong against the pass, they will be involved in another shootout classic against Buffalo.
