Buffalo Bills have a major advantage over the Lions after the latest injury report that gives the defense a big boost
The Bills are playing the Lions on a short week and they were just handed a very important update in the form of some injury news surrounding a key starter.
The Buffalo Bills released the final injury report of the week and by all accounts, things look pretty good on the health front heading into a big game against the Detroit Lions.
Starters Terrell Bernard and Bradley Chubb didn’t have a designation, which means they are completely good to go, along with defensive back Jordan Hancock. Safety Cole Bishop, running back Ty Johnson, and defensive lineman T.J. Sanders were all listed as questionable. Therefore, no one on the report was ruled out for the game.
That’s good news for the Bills defense, even if a couple of guys are questionable. As we know, the NFL ditched the “probable” tag a few years ago, so one of them (or all of them) could’ve easily fit into that category if it were still around.
We’ll get a full understanding of their official status once inactives are released an hour-and-a-half before kickoff, but things look pretty good right now.
They look even better when you flip over to the Lions’ side of things, as not just one, but two starters in left guard Christian Mahogany and right tackle Blake Miller have been ruled out ahead of Thursday night’s game.
This bodes well for a Bills defense that, while it sacked CJ Stroud three times in Week 1, was only able to pressure him on 21.6% of dropbacks, per Next Gen Stats. The Bills also held Texans running backs to just 102 yards on 29 carries, although David Montgomery did break off an 18-yard touchdown run at one point.
Miller is about to miss his first game maybe ever. He didn’t miss a game at Clemson and said he didn’t miss one in high school. This doesn’t seem like a long term thing, it’s screams the Lions being overly precautionary on a short week in which they didn’t have a practice. The expectation is Miller returns in Week 3, but that doesn’t change the fact he’ll miss this game.
As for his replacement, Larry Borom has shown to be a starting caliber tackle in both Chicago and Miami and he should be able to fill in here nicely. That remains to be seen, however.
As for Mahogany, he’s been battling with Ben Bartch for the starting job for a while and when Bartch came in Week 1, he honestly looked better than Mahogany. At this point, it’s up in the air as to whether or not Bartch goes back to the bench when Mahogany returns.
Both the Lions and Bills have opportunities, here. For the Bills, it’s about taking advantage of two missing starters on the Lions offensive line. For Detroit, the idea of Borom and Bartch stepping up provides both a sense of relief and insurance in case this happens again or continues to stay the course.
We’ll see which side ultimately comes out on top, but it’s hard to dislike the opportunity that currently sits in front of the Bills.

