Squirrel's Nuts & Bolts: Lions - Bills TNF Showdown Strategy (Week 2 NFL DFS)

Sep 17, 2026

IMAGN IMAGES via Reuters Connect

Week 2 opens with a Showdown between two of the league's highest-scoring offenses. The Lions visit the Bills for the first regular-season game at the new Highmark Stadium, with kickoff at 8:15 p.m. ET on Prime Video. The Bills are favored by 4.5 points with the total set at 54.5.

The Bills' offense picked up where it left off last season, as Josh Allen threw for 334 yards and two touchdowns and ran for two more in a 36-31 win over the Texans. Dalton Kincaid was the surprise of the day with five catches for 130 yards on six targets, and D.J. Moore separated himself from Khalil Shakir and Keon Coleman in his Bills debut with five catches for 100 yards and a touchdown, a 43-yard strike from Allen. James Cook leads the backfield again after topping the NFL with 1,621 rushing yards last season, though the Texans held him to 57 yards on 13 carries in the opener, and Ty Johnson is on the injury report with a hamstring issue after limited practices this week.

With no David Montgomery, the Lions' offense leaned on Jahmyr Gibbs in Week 1, and he answered with 29 carries for 156 yards and two touchdowns plus five catches for 30 yards in a 31-30 overtime win over the Saints. Jared Goff went 26-of-39 for 206 yards and two touchdowns, both to Amon-Ra St. Brown, who caught 10 passes for 67 yards and the game-winner in overtime, while Jameson Williams finished with four catches for 45 yards. The bigger concern is up front, where right tackle Blake Miller and left guard Christian Mahogany did not practice early in the week, and center Cade Mays is already on injured reserve.

This Showdown pairs a Lions secondary missing Brian Branch and Kerby Joseph against Allen, and a Bills run defense that gave up 124 rushing yards to Houston against Gibbs. Let's break down this Thursday night interconference Showdown, highlight the key plays, and uncover the strategies that could help you climb the leaderboards.