6:31 PM ET
Alaina GetzenbergESPN
DETROIT -- It's successful the biggest moments, Buffalo Bills wide receiver Stefon Diggs said portion wearing a Dog bony necklace, erstwhile helium feels the astir comfortable.
And that paid disconnected for the Bills successful a large mode successful the team's 28-25 Thanksgiving Day triumph implicit the Detroit Lions. After surrendering a five-point pb successful the 4th quarter, the Bills' discourtesy responded with back-to-back scoring drives, including a 21-second game-winning thrust that ended successful a 45-yard tract extremity by kicker Tyler Bass.
Bass made the footwear aft missing an other constituent effort connected the erstwhile thrust that allowed the Lions to necktie the score.
"I don't deliberation you recognize however large it is for a feline to bash that successful this league," backmost Josh Allen said. "For [Bass] conscionable to consciousness that roller coaster of emotions to spell measurement up and physique up for our squad and nail it."
Bass made the footwear with 7 seconds remaining. He made each six of his tract extremity attempts the erstwhile week and went 2 for 2 successful the triumph implicit the Lions with 2 kicks implicit 45 yards. It was the archetypal clip helium had missed an other constituent effort successful the regular play since 2020.
"I conscionable knew we were going to person different chance, you know, fixed our offense," Bass said. "I conscionable knew different accidental is going to popular up and I got to beryllium acceptable for it. And I conscionable rapidly reset and conscionable got to my adjacent process."
The Bills archetypal took the pb acknowledgment to a coagulated thrust by Allen that went 90 yards successful 14 plays and took implicit six minutes. On that drive, everything that the Bills had been struggling with each crippled seemingly disappeared. Allen went 7 of 8 for 49 yards and a people and was pressured conscionable erstwhile connected 8 dropbacks aft being pressured 36% of the clip anterior to the drive. The Bills were without starting halfway Mitch Morse, and near tackle Dion Dawkins missed the 2nd fractional with an ankle injury.
Diggs and Allen connected successful a mode they had not each crippled (4-of-4 for 29 yards and a 5-yard touchdown pass), and the squad did not request a azygous 3rd down.
"You don't request to accidental overmuch to Diggs. You tin spot it successful his eyes," close defender Ryan Bates said of the receiver connected the last 2 drives. "He gets successful the huddle, he's locked in, he's acceptable to go. So, there's not overmuch you request to accidental to him. You look astatine him, 'Hey, emotion you guys, let's f---ing bash it.' But erstwhile helium gets that look successful his eye, you can't archer him anything. He's going retired there, he's going to bash his thing."
Allen's scoring walk to Diggs was his 4th vocation go-ahead touchdown successful the last 3 minutes of regulation, tying him with Kirk Cousins and Justin Herbert for the astir by immoderate backmost successful the past 3 seasons. Allen finished 24 of 42 for 253 yards, 2 touchdowns and 1 interception. He was besides the team's starring rusher with 10 carries for 78 yards and a score.
After the Lions scored the tract extremity connected a 10-play, 42-yard thrust that took 2:17, Allen responded quickly. The archetypal play from the Bills' 25-yard enactment was a 36-yard walk to Diggs that was the longest play from scrimmage for either team.
"I was anticipating not getting down them, but possibly getting a one-on-one," Diggs said of the play. "If I got a one-on-one, I was, Josh was going to instrumentality it, I felt like. Him having assurance successful me, getting down the defense, oregon seeing the aforesaid thing. If they are playing top-down coverage, I benignant of dilatory down a small bit, like, damn possibly the shot is coming, and it was. He threw different missile. You retrieve past week, helium threw it and astir fell. I deliberation that was a akin ball, it was coming [at] the aforesaid velocity. So, nary heightened anxiousness successful the moment."
Allen said the play was thing they had thought of due to the fact that of a akin look successful a erstwhile game.
"They played similar a small two-man conception and maine and [offensive coordinator Ken] Dorsey benignant of talked astir that a fewer days ago," Allen said. "When I saw the aforesaid look successful a erstwhile crippled and conscionable said, 'Hey, let's enactment this play successful conscionable successful lawsuit we mightiness request it.' We recovered it and Stef ran a heck of a way and conscionable gave him a accidental and helium made a heck of a play."
Two runs by Allen followed and past the game-winning footwear by Bass. The Bills became the archetypal squad to commencement a thrust successful the past 25 seconds of regularisation astatine their ain 25-yard enactment oregon deeper to people since the Kansas City Chiefs' 13-second scoring thrust successful the 2021 divisional playoffs against the Bills to unit overtime.
Buffalo is present 22-1 erstwhile Allen has a rushing and passing touchdown successful the regular season. Diggs caught each 5 of his targets connected the last 2 drives for 65 yards aft catching lone 3 of 9 targets the remainder of the game.
"That's what large players bash -- they measurement up successful those large moments," manager Sean McDermott said. "And they marque large plays successful large moments of games similar this."
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