Buffalo Bills kicked off the use of their new stadium by defeating Detroit Lions 41-31.
Following up on their successful start in the season by defeating the Houston Texans 36-31 on Sunday, Bills made another excellent showing at their home opener.
Bills managed to notch up six touchdowns at their Highmark Stadium, which was built near their old stadium at a price tag of $2.2bn (£1.6bn), and quarterback Josh Allen made three passing touchdowns and two running touchdowns.
Buffalo Bills are considered to be one of the favorites of representing the AFC Conference in the upcoming Super Bowl and took the lead 21-0 early in the game.
Allen charged into the endzone and found Joshua Palmer for a 43-yard touchdown pass, followed by Dawson Knox, who scored early in the second quarter.
The Lions retaliated when Jared Goff found Jahmyr Gibbs, the NFL’s highest paid running back in the off-season, for an 11-yard touchdown reception.
However, Dalton Kincaid extended Buffalo’s lead, and the Bills remained comfortable throughout the second half of the match.
Detroit, who won against the New Orleans Saints in overtime last week, managed to narrow down their deficit with two touchdowns from Amon-Ra St Brown and another from Sam LaPorta.
However, Allen, the NFL’s MVP for the 2024 season, along with James Cook, scored for the Bills, ensuring that the Lions never came closer than 10 points.
Before the match in Buffalo, located on the United States border with Canada, the American as well as the Canadian National anthem was played.
The latter was performed by a Canadian rock band Barenaked Ladies, as the Bills wanted to pay tribute to their Canadian supporters in light of the tension that exists between the two countries, per BBC Sport.
