Josh Allen leads last-second drive; Bills move ahead in AFC East race

DETROIT -- The Buffalo Bills might want to play on Thanksgiving every season. They improved to 3-0 in Thanksgiving games over the past four seasons, the latest a 28-25 thriller over the Detroit Lions.

After the Lions tied the score late, the Bills took over with 23 seconds left. Quarterback Josh Allen led a four-play, 48-yard drive to set up kicker Tyler Bass for a 45-yard game-winning field goal with just seconds left.

The Lions haven't won on Thanksgiving since 2016 and have just six victories on the holiday since 2000.

The Bills' win was overshadowed by a knee injury to pass-rusher Von Miller, who did not return after getting hurt in the first half.

Buffalo Bills

After Allen and wide receiver Stefon Diggs struggled to connect for much of the game, the two got on the same page when the team needed them most.

For the first eight drives of the game, Diggs caught three of nine targets for just 12 yards. Allen's lone interception in the game also came when targeting Diggs. But on the final two drives, Allen and Diggs connected on all five targets for 65 yards and a score. Allen finished the game 24-of-42 for 253 yards with two passing touchdowns and another one rushing.

With the win, the Bills went against their own recent history. The team was 1-9 when trailing in the fourth quarter over the past two seasons.

Describe the game in two words: Impact injuries. The Bills came into the game without center Mitch Morse and lost left tackle Dion Dawkins (ankle) while allowing 15 pressures on Allen. When Miller left the game, the defense gave up a first-half lead.

Buy a breakout performance: Yes, defensive tackle Ed Oliver broke out a long time ago, but this was his best performance of the season by far when the Bills needed it due to injuries on the defensive line. Oliver forced a fumble, recovered a fumble, sacked Lions quarterback Jared Goff for a safety and had two tackles for loss. His fifth-year option has already been picked up, and Oliver continues to show he's a key part of this defense.

Troubling trend: Allen is throwing too many red zone interceptions. He has now thrown a red zone interception in four of the past five games and has the most red zone picks in the league with four. Before this stretch, he had thrown two in his career (first 67 games). No quarterback had thrown that many in an entire season since 2019 (Mitch Trubisky and Sam Darnold each had four). The trend started before Allen's right elbow injury, but he has to find a way to be more careful with the football. -- Alaina Getzenberg

Underrated statistic to know: Josh Allen now has 23 career games with a passing touchdown and a rushing TD, tied for the fifth most in NFL history.

Next game: at Patriots (8:15 p.m. ET, Dec. 1)

Detroit Lions

Detroit entered as 9.5-point underdogs and were on the verge of snapping its five-game losing streak on Thanksgiving, but despite going toe-to-toe with Buffalo -- one of the league's best teams -- the Lions couldn't get a critical stop at the end of the game.