The Buffalo Bills and the Detroit Lions meet Thursday night at the new Highmark Stadium in Orchard Park, New York, with kickoff set for 8:15 p.m. ET on Prime Video. Both teams are 1-0, and the man charged with keeping Buffalo’s home opener from turning into a shootout is first-year Bills defensive coordinator Jim Leonhard.
It would not be a surprise to see this game be high scoring. Detroit scored 31 points in an overtime win over the New Orleans Saints, and Buffalo put up 36 in its win over the Houston Texans. Leonhard knows that slowing a talented Lions offense is going to be a daunting task for his defense.
Jim Leonhard Knows What Detroit Brings
Leonhard is a first-year defensive coordinator for the Bills under head coach Joe Brady. That defense gave up 381 yards of total offense in week one against Houston. The Lions had 369 yards of total offense against the Saints.
Tim Twentyman of DetroitLions.com wrote about what the Bills players and coaches are saying about the week two matchup against Detroit. Leonhard said,
“They provide some big issues. They are extremely talented. They are an explosive offense and have been for years. (Jared) Goff’s been playing at an extremely high level now for a long time. It’s not fun to watch them on tape, but you do know what the issues are and we’re going to solve that problem.”
Jared Goff will look to air it out against the Bills defense. He threw two touchdown passes in the opener, both of them to Amon-Ra St. Brown. It would not be a surprise to see him have close to 300 yards and three touchdowns against Buffalo’s defense.
St. Brown, LaPorta and Williams Stretch a Defense Thin
With this Lions offense being loaded, it comes with trying to slow down Jameson Williams, Sam LaPorta, Amon-Ra St. Brown and Jahmyr Gibbs all at once. Leonhard said,
“It’s difficult because there are four of them. They have that talent and it’s spread all over the place and you have to understand where they are because there’s such a unique skillset out of each one.”
St. Brown is the top wide receiver option in this offense, and he caught both of Goff’s touchdown passes against New Orleans. Williams caught four of his nine targets for 45 yards in week one and left several throws on the field, but expect Goff to keep going back to him in Buffalo.
Jahmyr Gibbs Is the Real Headache
The hardest part about trying to stop this offense is trying to contain Jahmyr Gibbs. He ran 29 times for 156 yards and two touchdowns against the Saints and added nine catches on top of it. If Gibbs gets 30-plus touches again on Thursday night, he could very well go over 100 yards on the ground a second straight week. Gibbs is the most talented player on this offense, and Leonhard knows that slowing Detroit starts with stopping the run.
