Detroit's first road game of 2026 doubled as the first regular-season game in Buffalo's new Highmark Stadium.
Buffalo jumped out to a 21–0 lead and made sure its new stadium opened with a Bills win. Detroit's offense eventually got moving and kept trying to work its way back into the game, but the early hole was too much to overcome in a 41–31 Thursday night loss.
Detroit Lions at Buffalo Bills
Thursday, September 17, 2026
Highmark Stadium · Orchard Park, New York
Buffalo Bills 41 · Detroit Lions 31
Detroit loss · Lions move to 1–1
The Bills scored touchdowns on their first three possessions and built a 21–0 lead early in the second quarter. Detroit kept answering and Jared Goff threw four touchdown passes, but Buffalo continued putting points on the board and never let the Lions complete the comeback.
Goff completed 26 of 38 passes for 327 yards, four touchdowns and no interceptions.
St. Brown finished with nine catches for 142 yards and two touchdowns.
Allen accounted for five of Buffalo's six touchdowns, throwing three and running for two more.
The Bills scored touchdowns on their first four possessions and finished the game with 446 yards of offense.
Buffalo finished with 34 first downs and 203 rushing yards. The Bills punted only twice all night.
This wasn't just another Lions road game in Buffalo. Detroit was the first regular-season visiting team to play in Buffalo's new stadium.
Highmark Stadium
Orchard Park, New York
2026
Approximately 60,000
Natural grass
Open-air stadium with partial coverage over portions of the seating bowl rather than a full roof.
The Lions-Bills Thursday night game was the first regular-season game played in the new stadium.
Buffalo is a different kind of NFL road trip. The football atmosphere and tailgating are a major part of the experience, but the stadium's Orchard Park location means the hotel and transportation decisions matter.
Staying closer to Orchard Park can make game day easier if tailgating and the stadium experience are the main reason for the trip.
Staying in Buffalo gives you more restaurant and city options, but you need a real transportation plan for getting to and from Orchard Park.
If you have enough time, a Buffalo football trip can also be an excuse to add Niagara Falls before or after the game.
You aren't going to walk out of a downtown Buffalo hotel and stroll a few blocks to the stadium. Plan the location and game-day transportation together.
If you're going all the way to Buffalo for football, give yourself enough time to actually experience Buffalo football.
The tailgate is part of the trip. Showing up shortly before kickoff misses a big piece of what makes a Buffalo road game different.
Know where you're parking or how you're getting to the stadium before game day instead of figuring it out while everyone else is arriving.
Expect getting out of Orchard Park to take time. That matters even more for night games.
Don't create an unrealistic early departure if you're attending a primetime game that could keep you in Orchard Park until close to midnight.
The hotel area that's best for restaurants and city time may not be the easiest choice for game day.
This is one of those road trips where what happens before kickoff can be almost as memorable as the stadium itself.
Highmark Stadium is open-air. For later-season trips, weather should be part of the planning instead of an afterthought.
Hotel, transportation, tailgating, game time and anything else you want to do in Western New York should fit together as one plan.
The Lions didn't get the result in Week 2, but Buffalo still showed why it's an interesting road trip for football fans. I wouldn't book this one based on the hotel price alone. Decide whether you want the full Buffalo weekend or a football-first Orchard Park trip, then build the hotel and transportation around that.
Tell me which game you're considering, who's going and what kind of trip you want around it. I can help look at the hotel, transportation and the rest of the trip instead of treating the game as the only part that matters.
Start Planning My Lions Road Trip →This is an independent fan-focused travel guide from Rob Sturdy Travels. It is not an official Detroit Lions, Buffalo Bills, NFL or Highmark Stadium page.