The Buffalo Bills were never going to lose opening night at the new Highmark Stadium, were they? Not with Josh Allen playing like he’s going to win another MVP trophy.

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Allen threw for 248 yards and three touchdowns, ran for 72 yards and another two TDs, received plenty of “MVP, MVP, MVP” chants, and the Bills looked mostly unstoppable against the Detroit Lions in their 41-31 win Thursday night.

The Lions (1-1) fell into a 21-0 hole and played catch-up the rest of the way but could never quite get over the hurdle — or stop the Bills (2-0) when they really needed it. Jared Goff threw for 327 yards and four TDs and Amon-Ra St. Brown had nine receptions for 142 yards and two TDs, but they just couldn’t match the Bills’ firepower on a night when the new stadium was rocking and Buffalo looked like a Super Bowl contender.

Buffalo got off to such a fast start that at one point, it had 16 first downs and the Lions had just 10 total yards of offense. The Bills converted 9 of 11 third downs, totaled 446 yards of offense and averaged nearly 7 yards per play.

What do you do with that?

The Bills had most everything working in their favor all night. The only time the game really felt in jeopardy was when the inactives came out and star defensive lineman Ed Oliver was ruled out after suffering a hip injury in warmups. From there, it was all Buffalo. The second the lights went off and Josh Allen was announced to run on the field, the reverberations throughout the building were felt and never really ceased. The Bills felt inevitable on offense. Four straight touchdowns to start the game, then a fifth in only six series, set the tone for the entire evening: If the Lions were going to have a chance, they’d need a miraculous comeback against all odds.

Beyond football, the evening meant a lot to the whole of the region. It was the celebration of the end of the longstanding fear felt within the area that their beloved Bills would one day be taken from them in the money-hungry NFL. They were told long before ownership changed hands over a decade ago that a new stadium was necessary, and unless it happened, the threat of a move outside Western New York would linger. The second the Bills, the state and Erie County struck the agreement to build the new Highmark Stadium, that decades-long panic was gone with their brand-new $2.2 billion palace now standing tall across the street where their outdated old home used to be. So while, yes, in theory, the Lions had a chance to win the game before it started, the big-picture meaning behind a game like this one challenged that very notion the second the ball was kicked off.

It certainly felt like Buffalo’s night, well before the game started. If stadium traffic was any indication, you knew Bills fans would show up loud and proud for this one. When Josh Allen and James Cook ran all over the defense on the opening drive, it felt like that kinda night. We also saw a ton of self-inflicted errors from Detroit’s perspective in this game, so it’s possible the environment affected them. They didn’t show up ready to compete in this one.

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When Allen and the Bills dismantled the Texans — one of the best defenses in football — you had to wonder what they could do to, well, this Detroit defense. The answer? Anything he wanted. The Bills scored touchdowns on their first four possessions. They did it on the ground, in the air, against the blitz, in 12 personnel — it simply didn’t matter. We saw coverage busts, penalties, poor third-down defense and missed run fits galore in a brutal night for the Lions defense. If not for a clock-killing drive in the third quarter, the numbers could’ve been even worse. Over the last six quarters and an overtime period, the Lions have allowed 72 points to the Saints and Bills. The blitzes aren’t working, the secondary can’t compete and the defense collectively can’t get off the field when it matters. The Lions won’t play Josh Allen every week, but this effort is unacceptable. It’s officially time to worry, two weeks into the season.

Buffalo’s offense has been a juggernaut against two quality opponents. True, the Lions’ defense is banged up, but the Bills looked unstoppable against professional football players.

Didn’t matter who or how, the Bills did pretty much whatever they wanted. Any conversation begins with Allen, who had Highmark Stadium chanting “M-V-P! M-V-P!” from the opening possession until the end. He overcame an Aidan Hutchinson strip-sack to produce an otherwise flawless game. Allen had a hand — and in some cases his entire body — in Buffalo’s first five touchdowns: two by air, three on the ground.

James Cook had 100 rushing yards 3:30 before halftime and finished with 21 carries for 135 yards, including a 1-yard TD to ice it with 2:50 to play. Dalton Kincaid, one game after posting the most receiving yards by a Buffalo tight end in 61 years, logged seven catches for 95 yards and a TD. Wide receiver Joshua Palmer waited 18 months since he joined the Bills to score his first touchdown last week and then scored another on his very next reception.

The lone groan was receiver DJ Moore’s injury. His impact was obvious against Houston, and Allen was looking for him in the end zone when Moore dove, hurting his shoulder/neck with 2:56 left in the second quarter. Moore went straight to the locker room and didn’t return to the game. One play later, Allen fired a 16-yard TD to Kincaid instead.

Detroit’s offensive line had a rough night, but that was to be expected. The Lions were down left guard Christian Mahogany and right tackle Blake Miller — ruled out with injuries on Wednesday —and were already without starting center Cade Mays. It was a factor, of course. Right tackle Larry Borom had a brutal night protecting Goff, as Buffalo tallied six sacks. The Lions settled in a bit offensively in the second half, but it was too little, too late. The script called for a shootout and the Lions couldn’t hang. The final score was much closer than this game felt.

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This article originally appeared in The Athletic.

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