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Detroit Lions
9-8 last yr · #10 Elo
at
Thu, Sep 17, 8:15 PM ET
Highmark Stadium
Buffalo Bills
13-6 last yr · #2 Elo
Spread BUF -3Total 52.5Moneyline DET +136 · BUF -162
The read
On rating alone Buffalo Bills are 2.5 points better (#2 vs #10 of 32), and BUF add 0.0 for home field.
Who has the edge
Rating
Slight edge
BUF
BUF rated 2.5 points better on Elo (#2 vs #10).
Home & rest
Even
—
BUF gets 0.0 points for home field.
Quarterback
not priced
—
Usual starters on both sides — Josh Allen and Jared Goff — no adjustment.
Passing game
Even
—
BUF passing ranks #4, DET defends it at #14; the other way DET #5 into BUF's #10.
context · not in the margin
Rushing game
Even
—
BUF rushing ranks #1, DET defends it at #18; the other way DET #16 into BUF's #29.
context · not in the margin
Third down & red zone
Even
—
BUF third-down conversion ranks #3, DET defends it at #9; the other way DET #19 into BUF's #24.
context · not in the margin
Form (last 5)
Clear edge
BUF
BUF +5.8 per game over the last five, DET −1.6.
context · not in the margin
Market
Slight edge
BUF
Consensus has BUF by 3.
context · not in the margin
The margin, factor by factor
Detroit LionsBuffalo Bills
1553 Elo · #10
RatingThe Elo gap in points — the model's core read on who is better, before the situational pieces below.
BUF +2.5 pts
1609 Elo · #2
road
Home field
not priced
home
—
Rest
even
—
Goff · +5.4 EPA/g
QuarterbackStarter's value against what the team usually gets at quarterback. Only moves when someone other than the usual starter plays.
even
Allen · +7.6 EPA/g
+2.6 pts vs BUF D
Offense vs defenseEach offense's scoring rating against the other defense's — what drives the model total. Shown as an edge, though the winner call runs on Elo.
BUF +2.0 pts
+4.6 pts vs DET D
W L L L W · −1.6
Form (last 5)Average margin over the last five games. Already inside the ratings — listed so you can see when recent form and the rating disagree.
BUF +3.7 pts
L W W L W · +5.8
8 out/IR
InjuriesCount of players listed Out or on IR. Not priced beyond the quarterback.
not priced
2 out/IR
DET +3
MarketThe consensus spread, read as points. Compare with the model margin above it.
BUF +3.0 pts
BUF -3
Bars are in points toward the favored side. Blue factors are inside the model's margin; grey ones are context it does not add on top (form and offense/defense are already in the ratings; injuries beyond the quarterback are not priced).
Dissect the matchup
nflverse play-by-play + FTN charting · 2025 season (last season until three games are in)Biggest mismatches
- ▸DET yards / rush (#5) against a BUF defense ranked #30 at stopping it
- ▸BUF explosive pass rate (#4) against a DET defense ranked #26 at stopping it
- ▸BUF explosive rush rate (#3) against a DET defense ranked #23 at stopping it
- ▸BUF yards / rush (#4) against a DET defense ranked #24 at stopping it
- ▸BUF red-zone touchdown rate (#2) against a DET defense ranked #22 at stopping it
A mismatch is a rank gap of at least a fifth of the league between an offense and the defense it faces on the same measure. Descriptive rows (pass rate, pace, direction) are shown for reading the game, not ranked. ▲▼ mark where the last three games sit clearly above or below the season number, in the direction that helps that side.
Detroit Lions offense vs Buffalo Bills defense
ranks of 32| DET off | BUF def | Edge | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Identity | |||
| Pass rate / Pass rate facedDropbacks as a share of plays. On the defense column: what opponents do against them. | 59% | 58% | · |
| Early-down pass rateFirst and second down only — the cleanest read on run-heavy vs pass-heavy. | 54% | 53% | · |
| Neutral-script pass rateEarly downs with win probability between 20% and 80%: intent, not catch-up mode. | 53% | 52% | · |
| Pass rate over expectedHow much more (or less) a team passes than the down, distance, score and clock predict. nflverse xpass. | −4.6% | −5.9% | · |
| Seconds per playTime of possession divided by plays — lower is faster. | 29.6 | 28.7 | · |
| No-huddle | 6% | 9% | · |
| Shotgun | 52% | 73% | · |
| Play-action rate / Play-action facedShare of dropbacks with a play fake (FTN charting). | 25% | 21% | · |
| RPO rate / RPOs faced | 4% | 7% | · |
| Screen rate / Screens faced | 10% | 8% | · |
| Pre-snap motion / Motion faced | 60% | 56% | · |
| Blitzes faced / Blitz rateFive or more pass rushers (FTN). On the offense column: how often opponents blitz them. | 27% | 26% | · |
| Pass rushers faced / Avg pass rushers | 4.34 | 4.27 | · |
| Passing | |||
| EPA / dropbackThe single best pass-efficiency number; on the defense column, what they allow. | +0.17#5▼ | −0.05#10▲ | · |
| Pass success rate | 48%#7 | 42%#7 | · |
| Explosive pass rateDropbacks gaining 20+ yards. | 10.7%#5 | 7.5%#9 | · |
| Yards / dropback | 7.0#6 | 5.7#7 | · |
| Depth of target (aDOT)Average air yards per attempt — how far downfield they throw, or get thrown at. | 6.4 | 7.6 | · |
| Deep-ball rate (20+ air) | 7% | 13% | · |
| Short throws (≤5 air) | 57% | 53% | · |
| Completion % over expectednflverse CPOE, per attempt. Defense column: what they allow. | +1.5#11▼ | −2.8#6▼ | · |
| YAC / completion | 6.1#2 | 4.7#8 | DET |
| Sack rate / Sack rate generatedSacks per dropback. Lower is better for an offense; the defense column shows sacks they create. | 6.3%#17▲ | 6.0%#19▼ | · |
| Scramble rate | 0.8% | 5.7% | · |
| Interception rate / Interceptions forced | 1.4%#4▲ | 3.0%#7 | · |
| Throws left / middle / rightDirection shares are shown in full on the row. | L 32 · M 32 · R 35 | L 37 · M 18 · R 45 | · |
| Rushing | |||
| EPA / rush | −0.05#16▼ | +0.04#29▼ | DET |
| Rush success rate | 41%#20 | 44%#24 | · |
| Explosive rush rateRushes of 10+ yards. | 10.1%#14▼ | 13.7%#30 | DET |
| Yards / rush | 4.7#5▼ | 4.9#30 | DET |
| Runs left / middle / right | L 32 · M 24 · R 44 | L 40 · M 23 · R 37 | · |
| Situational | |||
| Third-down conversion | 39%#19 | 43%#24 | · |
| Red-zone touchdown rateDrives reaching the 20 that end in a touchdown. | 63%#9▼ | 58%#19 | DET |
| Turnovers / game / Takeaways / game | 0.88#6▲ | 1.21#14 | DET |
| Plays / game | 62 | 56 | · |
Buffalo Bills offense vs Detroit Lions defense
ranks of 32| BUF off | DET def | Edge | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Identity | |||
| Pass rate / Pass rate facedDropbacks as a share of plays. On the defense column: what opponents do against them. | 56% | 61% | · |
| Early-down pass rateFirst and second down only — the cleanest read on run-heavy vs pass-heavy. | 52% | 56% | · |
| Neutral-script pass rateEarly downs with win probability between 20% and 80%: intent, not catch-up mode. | 53% | 55% | · |
| Pass rate over expectedHow much more (or less) a team passes than the down, distance, score and clock predict. nflverse xpass. | −3.0% | −0.5% | · |
| Seconds per playTime of possession divided by plays — lower is faster. | 31.9 | 29.2 | · |
| No-huddle | 6% | 11% | · |
| Shotgun | 51% | 64% | · |
| Play-action rate / Play-action facedShare of dropbacks with a play fake (FTN charting). | 26% | 25% | · |
| RPO rate / RPOs faced | 7% | 7% | · |
| Screen rate / Screens faced | 9% | 6% | · |
| Pre-snap motion / Motion faced | 61% | 50% | · |
| Blitzes faced / Blitz rateFive or more pass rushers (FTN). On the offense column: how often opponents blitz them. | 29% | 27% | · |
| Pass rushers faced / Avg pass rushers | 4.30 | 4.32 | · |
| Passing | |||
| EPA / dropbackThe single best pass-efficiency number; on the defense column, what they allow. | +0.20#4▲ | +0.01#14▼ | BUF |
| Pass success rate | 49%#6 | 42%#6 | · |
| Explosive pass rateDropbacks gaining 20+ yards. | 10.9%#4 | 9.1%#26▼ | BUF |
| Yards / dropback | 7.0#4 | 6.1#16 | BUF |
| Depth of target (aDOT)Average air yards per attempt — how far downfield they throw, or get thrown at. | 7.5 | 9.9 | · |
| Deep-ball rate (20+ air) | 11% | 15% | · |
| Short throws (≤5 air) | 56% | 44% | · |
| Completion % over expectednflverse CPOE, per attempt. Defense column: what they allow. | +4.2#5▲ | −1.1#9▼ | · |
| YAC / completion | 5.8#4 | 4.3#3 | · |
| Sack rate / Sack rate generatedSacks per dropback. Lower is better for an offense; the defense column shows sacks they create. | 6.6%#19▼ | 7.7%#8 | DET |
| Scramble rate | 8.5% | 4.9% | · |
| Interception rate / Interceptions forced | 2.1%#17 | 2.3%#13▼ | · |
| Throws left / middle / rightDirection shares are shown in full on the row. | L 38 · M 21 · R 42 | L 36 · M 21 · R 43 | · |
| Rushing | |||
| EPA / rush | +0.07#1▲ | −0.04#18▲ | BUF |
| Rush success rate | 48%#2 | 41%#13 | BUF |
| Explosive rush rateRushes of 10+ yards. | 12.0%#3 | 11.3%#23▲ | BUF |
| Yards / rush | 4.8#4 | 4.4#24▲ | BUF |
| Runs left / middle / right | L 34 · M 27 · R 39 | L 36 · M 26 · R 38 | · |
| Situational | |||
| Third-down conversion | 47%#3 | 37%#9 | BUF |
| Red-zone touchdown rateDrives reaching the 20 that end in a touchdown. | 67%#2 | 60%#22▼ | BUF |
| Turnovers / game / Takeaways / game | 1.21#18▲ | 1.12#19▼ | · |
| Plays / game | 63 | 61 | · |
Route-by-route data (which routes are run and how coverage plays them) is not published anywhere public — it is sold by PFF and NGS. Throw depth, direction, play-action, RPO, screens, motion and pass-rush counts above are the public pieces of the same picture.
Detroit Lions · key players
- Jared Goff QB23.1/34.0 · 268 yds/g · 34-8 TD-INT · +0.17 EPA/db
- Amon-Ra St. Brown WR10.1 tgt/g · 32% share · 82 yds/g · 11 TD · aDOT 8.1
- Jameson Williams WR6.0 tgt/g · 19% share · 66 yds/g · 7 TD · aDOT 12.6
- Sam LaPorta TEQuestionable5.4 tgt/g · 18% share · 54 yds/g · 3 TD · aDOT 5.7
- Kalif Raymond WR2.5 tgt/g · 7% share · 24 yds/g · 1 TD · aDOT 5.6
- Jahmyr Gibbs RB14.3 car/g · 72 yds/g · 5.0 ypc · 13 TD · −0.01 EPA/car
- David Montgomery RB9.3 car/g · 42 yds/g · 4.5 ypc · 8 TD · +0.00 EPA/car
2025 season, per game. Targets ranked by volume, rushers by carries.nflverse weekly player stats. Target share is the player's average share of his team's targets in the games he played. A player who changed teams carries his own games from last season.
Buffalo Bills · key players
- Josh Allen QB20.7/29.7 · 235 yds/g · 29-12 TD-INT · +0.15 EPA/db
- Khalil Shakir WRQuestionable6.4 tgt/g · 22% share · 49 yds/g · 4 TD · aDOT 3.4
- Keon Coleman WRQuestionable4.5 tgt/g · 15% share · 32 yds/g · 5 TD · aDOT 11.6
- Dalton Kincaid TE4.3 tgt/g · 15% share · 49 yds/g · 7 TD · aDOT 9.3
- Dawson Knox TE3.2 tgt/g · 11% share · 27 yds/g · 4 TD · aDOT 6.8
- James Cook RB18.3 car/g · 94 yds/g · 5.1 ypc · 12 TD · −0.00 EPA/car
- Ray Davis RB4.1 car/g · 20 yds/g · 4.7 ypc · 0 TD · +0.02 EPA/car
2025 season, per game. Targets ranked by volume, rushers by carries.nflverse weekly player stats. Target share is the player's average share of his team's targets in the games he played. A player who changed teams carries his own games from last season.
Season
| DET | BUF | |
|---|---|---|
| 9-8 | Record | 13-6 |
| 28.3 | Points for / game | 28.3 |
| 24.3 | Points against / game | 22.2 |
| 5-3 / 4-5 | Home / road | 7-2 / 6-4 |
| 8-9 | Against the spread | 9-10 |
| 10-7 | Over / underOvers–unders in this team's games. A tendency, not a lean. | 10-9 |
| W L L L W | Last 5 | L W W L W |
Season numbers are from 2025 until this season has games.
Power ratings
| DET | BUF | |
|---|---|---|
| 1553 | Elo | 1609 |
| #10 of 32 | Rank | #2 of 32 |
| +2.7 | Offense ratingPoints per game above league average scored, opponent-adjusted. | +4.0 |
| −0.6 | Defense ratingPoints per game below league average allowed, opponent-adjusted. Positive is good. | +0.2 |
| — | Strength of scheduleMean Elo of opponents faced this season. | — |
Elo drives the winner call. Offense/defense ratings drive the total.
Efficiency
| DET | BUF | |
|---|---|---|
| 0.075 | EPA / play (offense)Expected points added per offensive play, nflverse. The single best efficiency number. | 0.129 |
| -0.005 | EPA / play allowed | -0.008 |
| 269 | Pass yards / game | 239 |
| 120 | Rush yards / game | 157 |
| 237 | Pass yards allowed | 178 |
| 115 | Rush yards allowed | 134 |
| 0.7 / 1.6 | Turnovers / takeaways | 1.1 / 1.5 |
| 2.3 / 2.8 | Sacks allowed / made | 2.3 / 1.9 |
| 19.4 | First downs / game | 20.5 |
| 42 | Penalty yards / game | 50 |
| +5.4 · #10 of 52 | QB EPA / gameThe listed starter's passing + rushing EPA per game, ranked among starters with three or more games. | +7.6 · #2 of 52 |
Efficiency is from the 2025 season until this one has games. Source: nflverse.
Head to head
| 2024 | BUF 48 at DET 42 | BUF · BUF covered |
| 2022 | BUF 28 at DET 25 | BUF · DET covered |
| 2018 | DET 13 at BUF 14 | BUF · DET covered |
| 2014 | BUF 17 at DET 14 | BUF · BUF covered |
How the margin was built
- Rating gap
- BUF +2.5 pts
- Home field
- BUF +— pts
- Rest
- Even
- Quarterback
- Usual starters — no adjustment
- Weather / roof
- — pts on the total
- Model margin
- —
- Model total
- —
Market
- Spread
- BUF -3
- Total
- 52.5
- Moneyline
- DET +136 · BUF -162
| Book | BUF spread | Total | DET ML | BUF ML |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| betmgm | -3 (-115) | 52.5 (-115/-105) | — | +140 |
| betonlineag | -3 (+100) | 53.5 (-110/-110) | — | — |
| betrivers | -3 (-118) | 52.5 (-112/-112) | — | +133 |
| draftkings | -3 (-110) | 52.5 (-110/-110) | — | +130 |
| fanatics | -3 (-110) | 52.5 (-110/-110) | — | +130 |
| lowvig | -3 (+105) | 53.5 (-107/-107) | — | — |
| williamhill_us | -3 (-110) | 52.5 (-113/-107) | — | +134 |
Detroit Lions injuries
- Brian Branch SOut
- Giovanni Manu OTOut
- Kerby Joseph SOut
- Cade Mays CInjured Reserve
- Damone Clark LBInjured Reserve
- Isiah Pacheco RBInjured Reserve
- Michael Niese GInjured Reserve
- Payton Turner DEInjured Reserve
- Derrick Moore DEQuestionable
- D.J. Reed CBQuestionable
- Ennis Rakestraw Jr. CBQuestionable
- Jimmy Rolder LBQuestionable
From ESPN's report. The model prices the quarterback; other absences are context it does not yet price.
Buffalo Bills injuries
- Tyrell Shavers WROut
- Zane Durant DTInjured Reserve
- Jedrick Wills Jr. OTQuestionable
- Jude Bowry OTQuestionable
- Keon Coleman WRQuestionable
- Khalil Shakir WRQuestionable
- Ty Johnson RBQuestionable
From ESPN's report. The model prices the quarterback; other absences are context it does not yet price.
Informational only. Winner probabilities are backtested and calibrated; spread and total calls are tracked leans. 21+, 1-800-GAMBLER.