Thursday Night Football rolls into Week 2 with a marquee matchup: the Detroit Lions traveling to Buffalo to face the Bills, kickoff set for 8:15 PM ET. Two of the more dynamic passing attacks in the league share the field, and neither defense showed much ability to slow down the pass in Week 1. That combination has quarterback prop bettors circling the total yardage and touchdown markets all week.
Josh Allen and Jared Goff both come in fresh off strong Week 1 showings, and the matchup data lines up in their favor even more than the box scores suggest. Here are three QB passing props worth backing for Thursday night.
Josh Allen OVER 248.5 Passing Yards (-114)
Allen opened his season by torching one of the better defenses from a year ago, completing 20 of 29 attempts for 334 yards and two touchdowns against Houston in Week 1. That kind of efficiency — 11.0 yards per attempt — is hard to sustain against a top-tier defense, but Detroit is far from that. The Lions’ pass defense was gutted in their opener, surrendering big chunks of yardage through the air, and multiple defensive metrics have Detroit ranked dead last in the league against the pass early this season.
Buffalo’s offense also gets a boost from game script. Detroit’s defense allowed steady production even once it built a lead in Week 1, meaning Allen figures to keep throwing regardless of how the score shakes out. With a defense that struggled mightily in coverage in its first outing, 248.5 yards looks like a very clearable number for a quarterback who just posted 334 in his season debut.
Line movement backs this up — this number opened lower in the 219.5-223.5 range at some books before climbing as more information came in about Detroit’s defensive struggles, and sharp money continues to push it toward the 250-yard mark.
Jared Goff OVER 265.5 Passing Yards (-111, some books 270.5 at -114)
Goff enters Thursday with arguably the best history against this exact opponent of any quarterback prop on the board. Across his career meetings with Buffalo, Goff has averaged 352 passing yards per game — a number that dwarfs Thursday’s posted line by roughly 85-100 yards. That’s not a small sample fluke; it’s spanned multiple seasons and multiple Bills defensive personnel groups.
Last season, Goff put together one of the best statistical years of his career, throwing for 4,564 yards and 34 touchdowns for Detroit. He’s a high-volume, high-accuracy passer who leans on quick completions to Amon-Ra St. Brown and the rest of Detroit’s receiving corps to rack up yardage in bunches. Buffalo’s pass defense had real issues of its own in Week 1, and outside evaluations have the Bills ranked in the bottom third of the league against the pass early in the season.
Goff’s Week 1 output against New Orleans (206 yards) was a modest starting point, but that came against a defense playing conservatively with a lead for much of the second half. Against a Buffalo defense that projects to be in a track meet all night, and with his career track record against this exact opponent, betting the over here lines up cleanly with both recent form and long-term history.
Josh Allen OVER 1.5 Passing TDs (-166)
Allen has been remarkably consistent finding the end zone through the air. Over his last 10 relevant games, he’s thrown 10 total passing touchdowns — averaging right around one per game, but with a real track record of multi-touchdown performances mixed in, including his two-touchdown outing to open this season against Houston.
The matchup only strengthens the case. Detroit’s defense has allowed touchdowns through the air at a high rate early this season, ranking near the bottom of the league in passing touchdowns surrendered. A defense that struggles both to limit yardage and to keep opposing quarterbacks out of the end zone is exactly the type of matchup where a two-touchdown floor becomes realistic rather than aspirational.
Buffalo’s offense also figures to lean on structured red-zone concepts that get the ball in Allen’s hands near the goal line, whether through the air or design runs that set up quick strikes. Given his recent form and Detroit’s early-season struggles defending the pass in scoring situations, clearing 1.5 passing touchdowns looks like a strong bet heading into Thursday night.
Final Word on Thursday’s QB Props
Both quarterbacks in this game face defenses that have shown real vulnerability through the air early this season, and the recent form for both Allen and Goff supports betting the overs across the board. Here’s the full slate:
- Josh Allen OVER 248.5 Passing Yards (-114)
- Jared Goff OVER 265.5 Passing Yards (-111)
- Josh Allen OVER 1.5 Passing TDs (-166)
With two pass-funnel defenses on national television, don’t be surprised if Thursday night turns into a shootout that cashes all three of these tickets. For more live NFL odds, check our full odds hub before kickoff, and if you’re new to legal betting, our DraftKings promo code page has the latest sign-up offer.
