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Buffalo returns to Detroit on a short week for a Thanksgiving Day showdown with the resurgent Lions

The Buffalo Bills (7-3) open as 10-point favorites over the host Detroit Lions (4-6) on Thanksgiving Day, per DraftKings Sportsbook, and this very much feels like a line not based on current events.

Buffalo has had a trying month of November. They dropped a 20-17 decision to the New York Jets on November 6, and star quarterback Josh Allen sprained his elbow in that loss; his practice time has been severely limited since, though he is playing through the injury. Then the team dropped a gut-wrenching, 33-30 overtime decision at home to Minnesota the following weekend. In Week 11, an expected home game against Cleveland was re-located to Detroit after a lake effect snow event dumped 77 inches of snow on Orchard Park and Highmark Stadium; the Bills had just one full-team practice leading up to their gritty 31-23 win over the Browns. Now, a banged-up Bills squad gets a four-day turnaround in which they’ll need to return to Ford Field to battle a suddenly-hot Detroit Lions team.

The Lions, Hard Knocks darlings, have won three straight games following a 1-6 start, including two straight on the road. Four of their six losses have been by one score or less, and to some of the better teams in the league—Philadelphia (38-35), Minnesota (28-24), Seattle (48-45), and Miami (31-27) all squeaked by this Lions team. They play hard each week, have quality talent on both sides of the ball, and are very much not a team to be taken lightly.

And yet, despite Buffalo’s recent struggles and Detroit’s hot streak, the road team comes in as a double-digit point favorite. Something feels off about that, even as the Bills look to course-correct their season and escape November with two straight wins and their Super Bowl aspirations still very much intact.

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