Tonight, at 7 p.m. ET, the Detroit Lions (2-1) travel to Buffalo to take on the Bills (2-1) at Ralph Wilson Stadium as both teams wrap up their respective preseasons looking for a victory. The game can be live streamed here. Lions fans can listen to the action by turning their dials to WXYT (1270 AM), while Bills fans can do the same by accessing WGR (550 AM) on their radios.
The Lions are looking to build momentum off of an impressive 40-9 victory over New England last Thursday while Buffalo looks to bounce back from a 30-7 loss at the hands of the Washington Redskins in Week 3. For Detroit, tonight is the final tune up before the team clashes with the Minnesota Vikings at home Sept. 8 and for the Bills, it's the final preseason game before the team tangles with the New England Patriots at home that same Sunday.
For the Bills, all eyes will be focused on quarterback Jeff Tuel as a barrage of injuries have pushed him into the limelight. Tuel has taken over at signal caller due to Bills 2013 first-round draft pick (No. 16 overall) E.J. Manuel being sidelined by a knee operation and backup quarterback Kevin Kolb going down with a concussion during last Saturday's preseason game for the Bills.
The Bills acquired Thaddeus Lewis and Matt Leinart to help fill the void, but reports indicate the team will be going with Tuel Thursday night. Tuel has gone 31-for-43 for 299 yards with two touchdowns and no interceptions through Buffalo's first three preseason games. Manuel, who went 263-for-387 for 3,397 yards with 23 touchdowns and 10 interceptions in his senior year at Florida State last season, is expected to be back for the Bills in Week 1 of the regular-season.
Buffalo will be without running back C.J. Spiller, who will not return to the team until Sunday after an excused absence to be with his family following the death of his step-grandfather, who allegedly went on a shooting spree where he killed two men and wounded two others before killing himself. Last season, Spiller had a career year, rushing for a career-high 1,244 yards on 207 carries for six touchdowns.
The Lions, meanwhile, don't plan to rest their starters for the whole game or even most of the game as is customary in Week 4 of the preseason. Lions head coach Jim Schwartz told the media Monday that as long as his players are 100 percent healthy, they'll get at least a couple of snaps tonight.
"I think that all the guys that are 100-percent healthy will get out and get some playing time," Schwartz said per The Detroit Free Press. There will be some guys that won't play, like guys that have been nursing some minor injuries and things like that."
This would indicate that quarterback Matthew Stafford will get a couple of snaps in tonight's preseason finale in his final preparation for the match-up against the Vikings in Week 1. Last year, Stafford completed his most passes ever, going 435-for-727 for 4,967 yards with 20 touchdowns and 17 interceptions. Stafford enters his fifth year under center for the Lions this season.
Thursday's match-up will be a battle of two teams with identical preseason records trying to turn it around after both finished fourth place in their respective divisions last year.
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