There may not be two more successful yet snake-bitten teams in the NFL than the two facing off on "Thursday Night Football" in Week 2: the Detroit Lions (1-0) and the Buffalo Bills (1-0). Both squads are tied with the Philadelphia Eagles for the best record in the entire league since 2023 at 37-15. Detroit is the only team to play every season in the Super Bowl era (since 1966) and never reach the title game, while Buffalo has the best record in the NFL since 2020 (73-27, .730 winning percentage) and has not reached the Super Bowl since 1994.
The Bills' 73 wins from 2020 to 2025 are the most in a six-season span ever without a Super Bowl appearance. Thursday night's matchup, which will kick off the opening of the Bills' new Highmark Stadium, is guaranteed to have points. The last time these two teams met, Buffalo won 48-42 in a game with 90 combined points and 1,080 combined yards.
Bills quarterback Josh Allen racked up 430 total yards and four total touchdowns, while Lions quarterback Jared Goff threw for 494 yards and five touchdowns. That made Goff the only quarterback in NFL history to lose a game with 400-plus passing yards, five-plus passing touchdowns and no interceptions, per CBS Sports Research. The entire football world and their grandmas know Thursday night will be an offensive laser show, but is this game also a battle of teams that already blew their best Super Bowl window?
Let's look at each team's best chance over the last decade to win it all and project who will get the closest to the Vince Lombardi Trophy in 2026. Season they blew their best chance: 2023 Detroit went 12-5 and won the NFC North in 2023 with the NFL's No. 5 scoring offense (27.5 points per game) and Pro Bowl seasons from the following players: running back Jahmyr Gibbs, wide receiver Amon-Ra St. Brown (also first team All-Pro), right tackle Penei Sewell (also first team All-Pro), center Frank Ragnow (also second team All-Pro), edge rusher Aidan Hutchinson and linebacker Jalen Reeves-Maybin (also second team All-Pro).
Head coach Dan Campbell also had two current 1-0 NFL head coaches as his offensive coordinator (Ben Johnson of the Chicago Bears) and defensive coordinator (Aaron Glenn of the New York Jets). The Lions beat their former face-of-the-franchise quarterback Matthew Stafford and the Los Angeles Rams 24-23 in the wild card round for their first playoff win since the 1991 season. They followed that with a 31-23 divisional-round victory over the Tampa Bay Buccaneers.
In the NFC Championship Game at the San Francisco 49ers, Detroit led 24-7 at halftime, appearing well on its way to its first Super Bowl appearance. But the wheels came off the wagon in the second half, with their first four possessions ending with: a turnover on downs at the 49ers' 28, a lost fumble, a punt, and a turnover on downs at the 49ers' 30. That dry spell helped the 49ers rip off 27 consecutive points (a field goal, two consecutive touchdown drives, a field goal and another touchdown drive).
Extract — continue reading at the source.
