Game Recap

Josh Allen leads clutch drive for game-winning FG, Bills beat Lions 28-25 on Thanksgiving | Recap, highlights & stats

Nov 24, 2022 at 05:25 PM

Alec White

Content Coordinator

What a dramatic win in Detroit for the Buffalo Bills.

With the game tied at 25-25 with :23 seconds left, Josh Allen led a game-winning drive to set up a 45-yard Tyler Bass field goal with :02 second remaining. Allen had a 37-yard completion on the first play of the drive to Stefon Diggs to get into field goal range then gained 12 yards on two runs to put Bass in position.

Bass, who hit six field goals on Sunday in the same stadium, narrowly snuck the ball inside the uprights to deliver a thrilling 28-25 victory. Buffalo improves to 8-3 on the season and marks the franchises third win on Thanksgiving since 2019; Allen, Diggs and Bass were named the first annual John Madden Thanksgiving Players of the Game.

Diggs, who was bottled up until late in the game, finished the day with 8 catches for 77 yards and a touchdown, his 9th score of the season (1 shy of tying career-high). Allen threw for 253 yards, threw for 2 TDs and ran for another score.

The Bills went through another game where it was not pretty for much of the day. The offense again went nearly the entire second half without a touchdown. But trailing 22-19 in the fourth quarter, Allen engineered a 14-play, 90-yard drive capped off by a Stefon Diggs' touchdown with 2:40 left in the game. However, Bass missed a crucial extra point and the Bills led 25-22.

The Lions, entering the day riding a 3-game win streak, gave the Bills all they could handle and answered back. QB Jared Goff helped get the Lions in field goal range and kicker Michael Badgley made a 51-yarder to tie the game.

But :23 seconds was too much time for Allen and Co. who have now won back-to-back games at Ford Field in the span of five days. The Bills are the first NFL team to with 2 wins in 2 games at the same venue, that's not their home field, within a 5-day or fewer span.

Buffalo (8-3) will play at the New England Patriots (6-4) next Thursday night on Amazon Prime. The Patriots play at Minnesota in the Thanksgiving nightcap game.

Here's more stats, things to know and highlights from the win.

LB Von Miller left the game in the first half with a knee injury and did not return.
CB Tre'Davious White played for the first time this season and started on the Bills first two defensive drives.
DT Ed Oliver had a standout day for the Bills as he combined for 6 tackles and a sack that went for a safety against Goff in the third quarter.
Oliver is the first player to force a safety on Thanksgiving since 2013.
WR Isaiah McKenzie had a team-high 96 yards receiving yards on 6 catches. He also caught a TD, his fourth total TD this season.
QB Josh Allen had over 300 combined yards of offense (253 passing, 78 rushing). It's his 7th game doing so this season.

Buffalo Bills vs Detroit Lions, Week 12, November 24, 2022 at Ford Field.

Allen recorded his 23rd career game with at least one passing and one rushing TD.
Allen now has 161 combined TDs, the 2nd most by a player in his first five seasons in NFL history, trailing only Dan Marino.
K Tyler Bass' game-winning FG raised season point total to 101; he has 100+ in all 3 NFL seasons.
Bass is the 5th player in Bills history with 3+ straight 100+ point seasons.
The Bills now have a 6-4-1 record in Thanksgiving games and have won three in a row on the holiday. They are 7-4-1 in regular season games against the Lions.