Best NFL DFS Picks for Thursday Night Football: Lions vs Bills

Thursday Night Football kicks off Week 2 with the Detroit Lions traveling to Highmark Stadium to face the Buffalo Bills, and this one has all the makings of a shootout for daily fantasy purposes. Both teams put up video-game numbers in their openers, and neither defense looked ready to slow anything down. With Buffalo favored by 5.5 and the total sitting around 54.5, DFS players building single-game showdown lineups have plenty of reason to lean into the skill players on both sides.

Single-game slates live and die on correlation, and with only two teams to pull from, every roster decision matters more than usual. Below are five NFL DFS picks worth building around for tonight’s DraftKings and FanDuel Thursday Night Football contests, mixing premium anchors with salary-relief value plays.

Jahmyr Gibbs, RB — Detroit Lions ($12,000 DK)

Gibbs is the headline chalk play for a reason. In Detroit’s Week 1 win over New Orleans, he carried 29 times for 156 yards and two touchdowns, adding five catches for 30 yards to finish with 186 total yards from scrimmage. With David Montgomery now in Buffalo and Isiah Pacheco sidelined by back surgery, Gibbs handled 34 of the Lions’ 37 running back touches in the opener — this is no longer a shared backfield, it’s his workload outright.

The matchup only sweetens the pot. Buffalo’s run defense ranked among the worst in the league last season, finishing 28th in yards allowed per game (136.2) and 30th in yards per carry allowed (5.1). That same unit just gave up 124 rushing yards to Houston in Week 1, including three touchdowns to Montgomery — the same back Gibbs used to split carries with in Detroit. If Montgomery could do that kind of damage against this defense, the offensive centerpiece who now owns the entire workload is squarely in line for another monster outing.

At $12,000, Gibbs isn’t cheap, but on a two-team showdown slate his ceiling justifies the price. He’s a strong captain candidate for anyone building around bell-cow volume plus touchdown equity.

Josh Allen, QB — Buffalo Bills ($11,400 DK)

Allen enters as the highest-priced player on the board, and he earned it. He completed 20 of 29 passes for 334 yards and two touchdowns in the season opener against Houston, then added 23 rushing yards and two more scores on the ground — his ninth career game with at least two passing and two rushing touchdowns, an NFL record. That dual-threat scoring floor is exactly what makes him a premium DFS asset any week he suits up, and especially in a game projected to be this fast-paced.

Detroit’s defense gave up 30 points to New Orleans in the opener, so there’s little reason to expect Allen’s workload or scoring chances to shrink here. He capped his Week 1 performance by delivering a go-ahead 34-yard touchdown throw to Joshua Palmer with under two minutes to play, showing he’s still fully comfortable operating in two-minute, high-leverage situations — a useful signal for anyone projecting a back-and-forth script tonight.

Allen’s rushing equity alone gives him a scoring floor most quarterbacks simply don’t have, and in NFL odds markets that keep tightening toward a shootout, that floor matters even more.

Amon-Ra St. Brown, WR — Detroit Lions ($10,400 DK)

St. Brown was as good as advertised in Week 1, hauling in 10 of 14 targets for 67 yards and two touchdowns against the Saints. The raw yardage total looks modest, but the target volume tells the real story — a 36 percent target share with real red-zone involvement is exactly the profile DFS players want locked into their lineup on a short week.

St. Brown has posted three straight seasons with at least 115 catches, 1,250 receiving yards, and 10 touchdowns, and there’s no reason to expect a slowdown against a Bills defense that just allowed 257 passing yards and two touchdowns to C.J. Stroud. His touchdown equity alone makes him one of the safer plays on the board, and he’s priced appropriately below Gibbs and Allen while still offering a legitimate ceiling if Detroit needs to throw to keep pace.

Dalton Kincaid, TE — Buffalo Bills ($6,800 DK)

Kincaid quietly put together one of the better tight end performances in the league during Week 1, catching five of six targets for 130 yards — good for roughly 21 fantasy points on DraftKings scoring. That included a long catch of 40 yards, showing he’s not just a possession target underneath but a legitimate explosive-play threat working the middle of the field against linebackers and safeties.

At $6,800, Kincaid represents real salary relief for anyone spending up on Gibbs and Allen at the top of a roster. Detroit’s defense struggled to contain New Orleans through the air in Week 1, and Kincaid’s role in an offense that just posted 409 total yards gives him a legitimate path to another big target share tonight. He’s a strong pivot off the more obvious Buffalo pass-catching options for anyone trying to differentiate their DraftKings lineup.

DJ Moore, WR — Buffalo Bills ($7,800 DK)

Moore made an immediate impact in his Buffalo debut after the trade from Chicago, catching five passes for exactly 100 yards and a touchdown on eight targets in Week 1. That’s a strong opening statement for a receiver still building chemistry with Allen, and the touchdown reinforces that offensive coordinators are already trusting him in scoring position.

Moore’s $7,800 price tag sits comfortably below the slate’s premium tier while still offering legitimate touchdown upside in what projects as a track-meet environment. Detroit’s secondary allowed New Orleans to move the ball consistently through the air, and with Buffalo spreading targets across Kincaid, Moore, and Keon Coleman, there’s enough volume to go around for Moore to hit value again. He’s a sensible flex piece for lineups that already committed premium salary to Gibbs or Allen.

Building Your Lineup

With only Lions and Bills to choose from tonight, correlation is everything. Pairing Gibbs or St. Brown with Allen creates game-script exposure on both sides of a matchup that already looks like it’s trending toward a high-scoring finish, while stacking Allen with Kincaid or Moore captures the Buffalo passing attack that torched Houston for over 320 yards in the opener. Weather shouldn’t be a major factor — forecasts call for mild temperatures in the upper 60s with only a slight chance of rain and light wind at Highmark Stadium, so this should play out as a clean, uninterrupted passing environment for both quarterbacks.

Salary-cap discipline matters most on a two-team board. Spending up on one of Gibbs, Allen, or St. Brown as your captain, then rounding out the roster with a value piece like Kincaid or Moore, leaves enough room to grab a cheap secondary skill player without gutting your overall projection. Popular DFS picks will cluster around the obvious top options tonight, so differentiating with a Moore or Kincaid captain in tournament formats is a reasonable way to create separation if the shootout script plays out as expected.