The Buffalo Bills defeated the top team in the NFC, taking down the Lions 48-42 in a shootout at Ford Field. Buffalo improves to 11-3 on the season.

Here's what we learned from Bills-Lions:

1 — Bills flip the script en route to historic offensive showcase

In a game that the NFL history books will remember, the Bills racked up 559 yards of offense — the most in a single game of the Josh Allen era and fifth-most in team history. Buffalo scored on 8 of its 11 possessions and racked up over 40 points for the second consecutive week.

So how'd the Bills do it? By reversing the script from a week ago.

Instead of having to play catch up like most of last week at the Rams, the Bills benefited greatly from playing in front for over 55 minutes and controlling the game. Buffalo made a statement immediately, opening up a 14-0 lead.

"We knew they would have a sense of urgency coming off of that tough loss out there on the West Coast," Lions coach Dan Campbell said. "We just couldn't quite match it."

Two defensive stops with only three total yards allowed, followed by two scoring drives totaling 151 yards of offense put Buffalo in the driver's seat of what turned into a shootout. The Lions punted on both of their opening drives for the first time all season, while Allen got into the end zone on two QB rushes.

"The mindset we had this week was to win every play," QB Josh Allen said. "Whatever the play was, find a way to execute it at the highest level. We were just focused on the next one and guys made really good plays out there."

Having a two-score lead before the Lions had gained more than one first down allowed the Bills to play fast and free. The record-setting numbers started appearing in bunches.

Cook's rushing touchdown in the second quarter helped Buffalo become the 6th team in NFL history to have 3 rushing TDs in four straight games in a season. Buffalo led 21-14 at halftime.

Stop me if you've heard this before, but Allen broke more NFL records Sunday, most notably becoming the first player in NFL history to record multiple pass TD, multiple rush TD, 350+ passing yards & 60+ rushing yards in the same game

The performance helped Allen reach 35+ pass and rush TD in four consecutive seasons, the only NFL player ever to do so.

"It's the best I've seen him play and not surprised," head coach Sean McDermott said. "When he sets a goal for himself, for the team, he's hard to stop."

The MVP candidate was virtually unstoppable at Ford Field, finishing the day with 362 yards passing, two touchdowns, along with 68 rushing yards and two touchdowns. OC Joe Brady and Allen were as in sync as ever, particularly when facing the Lions' man coverage which they play at the highest rate in the NFL.

Allen completed 14 of 18 passes, racked up 221 total yards (pass+rush) and added two touchdowns when facing man coverage, according to TruMedia.

Allen also dominated from playing outside the pocket. The Bills QB averaged 3.4 seconds per time to throw accumulated 171 passing yards on throws outside the pocket, the most in a game by a QB in three seasons.

"That's just kind of who he is, that's what he do," said WR Keon Coleman.

In the win, the Bills tied an NFL record scoring 30+ points in eight straight games in a single season.

2 — 'Attitude and focus' stuffs Lions' ground game

The Lions entered Sunday averaging over 150 yards on the ground; they finished the game with 100 yards less than their season average as Buffalo held Detroit to 48 yards rushing and 3.2 yards per carry.

Outside of a 10-yard scramble by QB Jared Goff, the Lions did not have a rush longer than 7 yards.

"You could tell there was an attitude and focus about them, during the week, and then last night and then in pre-game warmup, you could tell there was something in the locker room," McDermott said of the team's defense.

While allowing 40+ points in back-to-back weeks isn't something Buffalo is happy with, there are still plenty of reasons to give compliments to the defensive unit this week. In addition to their ability to shut down Detroit's run game, the Bills forced a turnover and three different players recorded a sack.

DE Greg Rousseau, CB Christian Benford and DT Ed Oliver all got to Goff.

"You've always got to respond in life. When you get knocked up, you've got to get back up. We were amped, we were ready to go. We were trying to come out here and get the W and that's what we did," Rousseau said.

Benford came off the edge on a corner blitz on the second drive of the game to bring down Goff, the first sack of his career. The third-year CB also forced a game-changing fumble on Pro Bowl WR Amon-Ra St. Brown in the third quarter. Buffalo took a 35-14 lead on the ensuing drive.

On their first seven possessions of the game, the Lions punted three times, missed a field goal and lost a fumble.

Buffalo's defense saw the effects of having a potent offense try to rally from behind, just as their offense had to a week ago as the Lions tried to mount a comeback late in the game. Goff passed for over 200 yards and two touchdowns in the fourth quarter, but the Bills stayed in front.

"It's kind of weird, because the offense, they're in catch-up mode, so they're going to take shots and take shots. It's just a little different than a regular football game. I feel like we could have done a little bit better," CB Taron Johnson said.

DT Ed Oliver had his best outing of the season with 10 QB pressures, the most by any defensive tackle this season.

"The dude can really be playing some good football and not have the flashy numbers but still be playing good ball and I feel like Ed's been playing good ball for a minute," Rousseau said.

3 — A trio of RBs to lean on

Buffalo's staple of running backs were excellent all night as James Cook, Ty Johnson and Ray Davis combined for 285 yards and three scores.

Johnson was a nightmare for the Lions to defend in pass coverage as he racked up a team-high 114 yards receiving on five catches. Allen showed his confidence in the RB in critical situations and trusting him to beat his defender in man coverage on multiple deep routes out of the backfield.

"He's really smart. I think he's the best third down back in the game," Allen said of Johnson. "The way that we communicate, the way that he sees protections, it's quarterback-like. He just plays the game the right way."

Cook provided a lift for the offense in the middle part of the game with a 6-yard TD run in the second quarter and a 41-yarder on the first drive of the second half, even managing to stay upright after a Lions defender yanked him by the hair as he was being chased. He finished with 105 rushing yards, his third 100+ yard performance of the season.

"Just keeping our foot on the gas, and that's what we did. Played a great game today," Cook said.

Cook and Johnson became the first duo to have one RB with a 100+ yard rushing game and a different RB have a 100+ yard receiving game since New Orleans RBs Pierre Thomas and Darren Sproles in 2012.

Rookie RB Ray Davis added 29 scrimmage yards and a receiving TD.

"We've got guys that are bought in. That's what it comes down to in the run game that sets up in the pass game and vice versa," Josh Allen said.