The Buffalo Bills and Detroit Lions gave us absolute brilliance on Sunday afternoon. The marquee game of a stacked 4 p.m. slate was the best the NFL has to offer for three hours of incredible football.
At this point it’s abundantly clear: Unless you’re a fan of a playoff-destined team, you want, need to have the Bills and Lions face off in the Super Bowl. For years we saw the Bills and Chiefs combine for football brilliance with the sad knowledge that there was no way we’d get to see them in the NFL’s biggest game, but Detroit and Buffalo are capable of just that.
The 48-42 Bills’ win was endemic of everything these teams can offer on a football field. We had explosive plays, chess-like moves and counter-moves, onside kicks, critical defensive stops. Everything these teams left on Ford Field was incredible, and the best part is that we don’t know what either team left hidden from their opponent, prepared to show it off in the playoffs.
At the center of this cross-conference rivalry is the duality of how similar and different these teams are. Defensively both the Lions and Bills employ complicated, exotic blitz packages to throw off their opponents without leaning on specific marquee defensive players to make it all tick, especially in the secondary. Both teams win through schematics and knowledge, which made it so fun to watch them try and counter each other of defense.
Offensively is a slightly different story, but still really compelling. The Bills are all about playing hero ball, without Josh Allen this team would be totally sunk. You could say the same about a lot of quarterbacks, but Allen is such an integral red zone scoring threat with his legs that it’s difficult to imagine anyone replacing him under center.
Meanwhile the Lions tend to run everything by committee a lot more. Jared Godd, Amon-Ra St. Brown, and Sam LaPorta are the nucleus of the chunk plays, and we saw against the Bills that this team can still run a solid offense without Jahmyr Gibbs and David Montgomery going off, which bodes well for their future.
Ultimately we got an absolutely stellar offensive game. Two teams just delivery haymaker after haymaker to each other, with both offensive coordinators in Joe Brady and Ben Johnson coming up with unique ways to attack the defense and get big gains. It primes things for a fantastic potential rematch between these teams in the Super Bowl, and honestly it would be incredible.
The amount of drama in the Detroit vs. Buffalo Super Bowl would be unparalleled. Two absolutely desperate fanbases dying for a championship, and no matter who wins or loses it will be a stunning victory or crushing defeat. The stakes may never be higher in the Super Bowl, and that drama alone is worth being the ending to this season.
Obviously nothing is a foregone conclusion, especially as we enter the playoffs. One misstep could send either team to an early vacation, and there are plenty of teams to watch out for in both conferences who could become spoilers. As it stands though nobody has a better claim than the crown that Detroit and Buffalo. Now we’ll see how it all pans out.
Winner: Lamar Jackson
It’s so wild that Lamar Jackson is having the season of his career and really isn’t being talked about that much. On the one hand there’s nothing that impressive about beating the Giants, the worst team in the NFL — but that shouldn’t take anything away from throwing FIVE touchdowns during a season where the NFL’s best have all struggled at times when it comes to putting the boots to their opponents.
Josh Allen is getting a lot of MVP hype, but if we’re being forced to award this to a quarterback then it’s a very tough to draw much of a difference between Allen and Jackson.
Josh Allen: 255-for-378, 3,395 yards, 25 TD, 5 INT — 484 yards rushing, 11 TD
Lamar Jackson: 254-for-379, 3,290 yards, 29 TD, 3 INT — 678 yards rushing, 3 TD
I don’t know if you could find many more profound drop offs offensively than if the Ravens had to move from Lamar Jackson to Josh Johnson. There’s a serious argument to be made that Baltimore would be one of the worst teams in the NFL if they had to make a switch a QB and make their entire offense about Derrick Henry.
Regardless of how the award season pans out, the Ravens have one of the best offenses in the NFL and it’s entirely because of their QB.
Loser: The Chiefs
Kansas City is unquestionably the weirdest elite team in the NFL — and their story only gets more dicey with an injury to Patrick Mahomes. So it’s nice this team won its first game by three possessions in 2024. It’s less great when you’re against the 3-11 Browns in a game where Jameis Winston threw three interceptions.
Andy Reid and Co. are just not convincing this season. They haven’t been at any point. It’s one thing to be able to fight through and win close games, but you’re lying to yourself if you think this iteration of the Chiefs is anything like 2022 or 2023. This team just feels like it doesn’t have the fight, the will, the all-encompassing desire to finish the job as they have in the past. Which is part of the reason they’ve been more or less content to coast on talent alone without pushing their ability to the max this year.
I’ll print and eat these words if the Chiefs manage to pull off another Super Bowl win. Mark it down, because I just don’t see it happening in 2024.
Winner: Cooper Rush
Cooper Rush is playing really great football in Dak Prescott’s stead, and making a case that he could have a future beyond just being a backup in the NFL. On Sunday he really took it to the Panthers, finishing with 213 yards passing and three touchdowns.
At this point there’s no way he’ll win the starting job in Dallas, that’s silly — but it wouldn’t be surprising to see a team pursue him in a Ryan Fitzpatrick-esque role. It’s simply clear that Rush is able to make plays with a decent cast around him, and that would be good enough on a lot of NFL teams currently in dire need of a quarterback.
Loser: The Dolphins offense
This could also really apply to Tua Tagovailoa. The Dolphins aren’t officially eliminated from the playoffs — but they’re on death’s door. A lot of that comes down to the egg this team laid against Houston, a team they should be able to have some success against offensively.
Tagovailoa threw three picks, the team managed to score just one touchdown, and the running game broke down. The Texans allow over 22 points per game, and the once-vaunted Dolphins defense couldn’t manage it.
It’s feeling like a lot of the magic is gone from this team, and perhaps that can change in 2025 — but for now, there’s no reason to think the Dolphins are a serious team down the stretch this season.
