The Buffalo Bills and the Detroit Lions faced off in Week 15 of the 2024 NFL season with both teams having punched their playoff spots already. However, that did not mean that nothing was riding on this matchup; in fact, it was quite the contrary.The Bills are 10-3 and three games behind the Chiefs after Kansas City won against the Cleveland Browns earlier in the day. If Buffalo were to lose today, their chances of overhauling the Chiefs would vanish, and with that the possibility of having a Wild Card bye and home advantage throughout the postseason.The Lions were 12-1 entering this matchup and leading the NFC. However, the Eagles were 11-2 and knew that a win would allow them to tie Detroit atop the conference if they lost to the Bills. With the top spot being crucial to home advantage and a bye in the playoffs, Philadelphia fans would have been rooting for Buffalo in this clash.With so much riding on the outcome of this game, here is how it turned out.Bills vs. Lions box scoresQuarter1234TotalBills147141348Lions01472142Bills box scoresPassingPlayerC/ATTYDSAVGTDINTSACKSRTGJosh Allen23/3436210.6200-0122.4Team23/3436210.6200-0122.4RushingPlayerCARYDSAVGTDLONGJames Cook141057.5241Josh Allen11686.2221Ray Davis7152.107Ty Johnson294.505Team341975.8441ReceivingPlayerRECYDSAVGTDLONGTGTSTy Johnson511422.80335Keon Coleman164640642Dalton Kincaid45313.30297Dawson Knox242210233Khalil Shakir6396.51107James Cook128280281Ray Davis2147192Mack Hollins177073Curtis Samuel111012Team2336215.726432DefensePlayerTOTSOLOSACKSTFLPDQB HTSTDTerrel Bernard10401000Taron Johnson8500100Christian Benford6511110Kaiir Elam6500100Cam Lewis6400000Cole Bishop5400000Ed Oliver4310030Greg Rousseau4311030Kareem Jackson3100000Baylon Spector3100000Matt Milano3000010Dorian Williams2200000AJ Epenesa2100010Jordan Phillips1100000Dawuane Smoot1101100Austin Johnson1000000DaQuan Jones0000010Team6540344100FumblesPlayerFUMLOSTRECMatt Milano001Team001KickingPlayerFGPCTLONGXPPTSTyler Bass2/366.7506/612Team2/367506/612Lions box scoresPassingPlayerC/ATTYDSAVGTDINTSACKSRTGJared Goff38/594948.4503-21118.9Team38/594738.4503-21118.9RushingPlayerCARYDSAVGTDLONGJahmyr Gibbs8313.9113Jared Goff2136.5010David Montgomery540.803Team15483.2113ReceivingPlayerRECYDSAVGTDLONGTGTSAmon-Ra St. Brown1419313.816618Sam LaPorta711115.903110Jahmyr Gibbs58316.61217Jameson Williams33712.31185David Montgomery4317.80144Tim Patrick4307.51128Dan Skipper199191Allen Robinson000001Team384941356654DefensePlayerTOTSOLOSACKSTFLPDQB HTSTDBrian Branch15802100Jack Campbell11800100Kerby Joseph8600000Ben Niemann5200100Ezekiel Turner4300010Terrion Arnold4200100David Long Jr.3101000Kindle Vildor3100100Sione Vaki2200000Kwon Alexander2100000Levi Onwuzurike2100000Craig Reynolds2100000Pat O'Connor2000000Jamal Adams2000000Carlton Davis III2000000Al-Quadin Muhammad1100000Amik Robertson1100000Za'Darius Smith1000000Khalil Dorsey1000000Josh Paschal1000020Alim McNeill1000000Team733803530FumblesPlayerFUMLOSTRECAmon-Ra St. Brown110Jared Goff100Kevin Zeitler001Team211KickingPlayerFGPCTLONGXPPTSJake Bates0/1006/66Team0/1006/66Bills vs. Lions game summaryWe expected this to be a game where offenses dominated and it proved that way. With two MVP-candidate quarterbacks playing, the match lived up to its expectations right from the start.The Lions punted on their first possession and the Bills took the game by the scruff of the neck immediately by scoring a touchdown on their first drive. After three rushing scores last time for Josh Allen against the Rams in a losing effort, he got the scoreboard moving after a short run near the goal line. The record was replayed on the next two drives as Detroit punted again on their next possession and the Buffalo quarterback got his second rushing touchdown of the day.With the score 14-0 going into the second quarter, the Lions needed an answer and they did so with a 70-yard scoring drive. Tim Patrick caught the pass in the endzone from Jared Goff to make it a one-score game.On the next drive, the Lions' defense managed to stop Josh Allen's runs but once the Bills were in the red zone, they could not halt James Cook. The running back managed to get his first touchdown of the day to make the score 21-7. Detroit, though, came straight back with a scoring possession of their own to make it 21-14. The offensive lineman Dan Skipper was reported eligible and he was the one who caught the pass from his quarterback.That is how the first half ended but there was no letting up in the second half. The Bills received the kickoff and James Cook took off on a 41-yard run to make the score 28-14. After a couple of punts by both teams, the crucial moment of the game arrived when a perfect pass from Jared Goff was dropped by the receiver and the visiting team recovered. It allowed the Bills to take a 35-14 lead.Even though the Lions came back with a touchdown of their own, it was an uphill ride from there. After Buffalo scored a field goal on their next drive, Detroit responded with another seven points to make the score 38-28. But with the home team trying to close the arrears, they attempted an onside kick which was recovered by their opponents and returned to make it a first-and-goal. Josh Allen did the rest with a pass to Ray Davis.The Lions were not to shy away, though, and scored a touchdown to make it 45-35. A Bills field goal extended that lead to 48-35 but a touchdown pass by Jared Goff with just more than 10 seconds remaining made it 48-42. That is how it ended, though, as Detroit's onside kick attempt was nearly successful but the Bills recovered it to close out the game.