{"id":262937,"date":"2026-09-16T16:36:09","date_gmt":"2026-09-16T16:36:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/sports.runfyers.com\/index.php\/2026\/09\/16\/nfl-week-2-prime-time-predictions-bills-qb-josh-allen-delivers-against-lions-in-grand-opening-for-2-2b-highmark-stadium\/"},"modified":"2026-09-16T16:36:09","modified_gmt":"2026-09-16T16:36:09","slug":"nfl-week-2-prime-time-predictions-bills-qb-josh-allen-delivers-against-lions-in-grand-opening-for-2-2b-highmark-stadium","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/sports.runfyers.com\/index.php\/2026\/09\/16\/nfl-week-2-prime-time-predictions-bills-qb-josh-allen-delivers-against-lions-in-grand-opening-for-2-2b-highmark-stadium\/","title":{"rendered":"NFL Week 2 prime-time predictions: Bills QB Josh Allen delivers against Lions in grand opening for $2.2B Highmark Stadium"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><\/p>\n<div>\n<p>Each week, Yardbarker looks at prime-time <a href=\"https:\/\/www.yardbarker.com\/nfl\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">NFL<\/a> games on Thursday, Sunday and Monday nights, predicting the result of each. Here are picks for Week 2.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>Buffalo plays its first regular-season game at Highmark Stadium \u2014 which cost approximately $2.2B to build \u2014 on Thursday night. Lions head coach Dan Campbell expects Bills quarterback Josh Allen to deliver in the grand opening.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;I can&#8217;t say enough about this quarterback,&#8221; <a href=\"https:\/\/www.yardbarker.com\/nfl\/articles\/bills_open_palatial_home_in_primetime_lions_prepared_for_shootout\/s1_17049_44309863\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Campbell said Tuesday\u00a0<\/a>(h\/t Field Level Media). &#8220;He&#8217;s the catalyst for them.&#8221;\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>Allen was the catalyst for Buffalo in a 36-31 win over the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.yardbarker.com\/nfl\/teams\/houston_texans\/36\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Houston Texans<\/a> in Week 1, totaling 357 yards (334 passing, 23 rushing) and four touchdowns (two passing, two rushing). <a href=\"https:\/\/www.yardbarker.com\/nfl\/articles\/josh_allen_enters_rare_territory_with_milestone_that_puts_him_alongside_nfl_legends\/s1_17313_44310182\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">With that performance,<\/a> he became the sixth QB in NFL history with at least four combined passing and rushing TDs in at least 25 career games.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>Perhaps Allen will make it 26 to kick off Buffalo&#8217;s new building in style. The Lions \u2014 who feature standout running back Jahmyr Gibbs \u2014 should keep it close in a high-scoring matchup. Detroit&#8217;s defense, however, should flounder after struggling to stop <a href=\"https:\/\/www.yardbarker.com\/nfl\/teams\/new_orleans_saints\/55\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">New Orleans Saints\u00a0<\/a>second-year QB Tyler Shough in Week 1. In the 31-30 Detroit overtime win, Shough finished 35-of-56 passing for 410 yards, three touchdowns and two interceptions.\u00a0<\/p>\n<h3>Prediction: Bills, 31-27\u00a0<\/h3>\n<p>Colts RB Jonathan Taylor called the team&#8217;s 41-23 home loss to the<a href=\"https:\/\/www.yardbarker.com\/nfl\/teams\/baltimore_ravens\/31\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">\u00a0Baltimore Ravens<\/a><a href=\"https:\/\/www.yardbarker.com\/nfl\/articles\/afc_notes_jonathan_taylor_parker_washington_colts_jaguars_texans\/s1_17039_44308760\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">\u00a0&#8220;a wake-up call.&#8221;<\/a> Indianapolis may not wake up at Arrowhead Stadium on Sunday.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>Baltimore RB Derrick Henry ran for 144 yards and three TDs on 24 carries in Week 1. Like &#8220;King Henry,&#8221; Chiefs RB Kenneth Walker III has a catchy nickname: &#8220;K9.&#8221; He&#8217;s also a game-breaking runner.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>After running for a career-high 173 yards in a 31-10 win over the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.yardbarker.com\/nfl\/teams\/denver_broncos\/35\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Denver Broncos,<\/a> Walker should continue rolling against the Colts. That would take more pressure off QB Patrick Mahomes, who went 15-of-27 passing for 184 yards, two TDs and one interception in his first game since tearing the ACL\/LCL in his left knee in December 2025.\u00a0<\/p>\n<h3>Prediction: Chiefs, 30-20\u00a0<\/h3>\n<p>As of Wednesday morning, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.espn.com\/nfl\/game\/_\/gameId\/401872947\/giants-rams\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">ESPN Analytics gives\u00a0<\/a>the Rams a 66.1 percent chance to win this matchup. We&#8217;re still picking the upset.<\/p>\n<p>While there&#8217;s a <a href=\"https:\/\/www.yardbarker.com\/nfl\/articles\/ian_rapoport_shares_crucial_aaron_donald_update_ahead_of_week_2\/s1_13132_44310406\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">&#8220;realistic chance&#8221;\u00a0<\/a>that Rams defensive lineman Aaron Donald returns in Week 2, the three-time Defensive Player of the Year shouldn&#8217;t be nearly as impactful after two seasons in retirement. He may also face more double-teams now that defensive end Myles Garrett (knee) is being placed on injured reserve.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>Outside of Garrett and Donald, L.A.&#8217;s pass-rush appears to lack another impact player after logging no sacks in a 27-7 Week 1 loss to the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.yardbarker.com\/nfl\/teams\/san_francisco_49ers\/58\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">San Francisco 49ers<\/a> in Melbourne. The Rams may blame the embarrassing Week 1 showing on jet lag. L.A. arrived in Melbourne just 28 hours before kickoff.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>While they&#8217;ll no longer be feeling drowsy on &#8220;MNF,&#8221; L.A. will still struggle to corral Giants QB Jaxson Dart, who appears to be taking a Year 2 leap under new HC John Harbaugh. In a 28-20 win over the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.yardbarker.com\/nfl\/teams\/dallas_cowboys\/51\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Dallas Cowboys<\/a>, Dart had 284 yards (230 passing, 54 rushing) and three TDs (all passing).<\/p>\n<h3>Prediction: Giants, 27-21<\/h3>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<p><script type=\"text\/plain\" class=\"optanon-category-C0004\">\n    !function(f,b,e,v,n,t,s)\n    {if(f.fbq)return;n=f.fbq=function(){n.callMethod?\n    n.callMethod.apply(n,arguments):n.queue.push(arguments)};\n    if(!f._fbq)f._fbq=n;n.push=n;n.loaded=!0;n.version='2.0';\n    n.queue=[];t=b.createElement(e);t.async=!0;\n    t.src=v;s=b.getElementsByTagName(e)[0];\n    s.parentNode.insertBefore(t,s)}(window, document,'script',\n    'https:\/\/connect.facebook.net\/en_US\/fbevents.js');\n    fbq('init', '1324276914788316');\n    fbq('track', 'PageView');\n  <\/script><br \/>\n<br \/><a href=\"https:\/\/www.yardbarker.com\/nfl\/articles\/nfl_week_2_prime_time_predictions_bills_qb_josh_allen_delivers_against_lions_in_grand_opening_for_22b_highmark_stadium\/s1_13132_44310482\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Source link <\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Each week, Yardbarker looks at prime-time NFL games on Thursday, Sunday and Monday nights, predicting the result of each. Here are picks for Week 2.\u00a0 Buffalo plays its first regular-season game at Highmark Stadium \u2014 which cost approximately $2.2B to build \u2014 on Thursday night. Lions head coach Dan Campbell expects Bills quarterback Josh Allen [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":262938,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"tdm_status":"","tdm_grid_status":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[6806],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-262937","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-gossip"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/sports.runfyers.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/262937","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/sports.runfyers.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/sports.runfyers.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sports.runfyers.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sports.runfyers.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=262937"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/sports.runfyers.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/262937\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sports.runfyers.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/262938"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/sports.runfyers.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=262937"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sports.runfyers.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=262937"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sports.runfyers.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=262937"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}