There are still three weeks left in the 2024 NFL season, but given the performances, the stakes, and the two teams involved, it's possible that the Buffalo Bills and Detroit Lions have locked up the distinction of having played the Game of the Year. Understandably, Buffalo's 48-42 win in Detroit has fans pining for a rematch two months from now in New Orleans at Super Bowl 59.

Even though it admittedly helped my cause, the 90-point fireworks display at Ford Field on Sunday afternoon wasn't necessarily what prompted a piece like this to be written. Well before the Bills and Lions delivered the highest-scoring game of the 2024 NFL season, this was already the matchup that offered the most intrigue for Super Bowl 59… for all the reasons you're aware of, and for the ones that you've likely overlooked.

The NFL is the only sport in America where teams in Buffalo and Detroit could make up the ideal matchup for the league's championship. Even though the Buffalo and Detroit would never be mistaken as “sexy” cities, the dynasties of the Kansas City Chiefs, Pittsburgh Steelers and Green Bay Packers have proven that interest in the NFL doesn't necessarily peak when the biggest markets have success. History often trumps location, and in this case, tortured history could create a ratings bonanza.

Josh Allen giving Bills fans reason to party like it's 1993

Bills Josh Allen leaps to the end zone in a nine-yard touchdown run after getting the ball passed back to him from Amari Cooper during second half action of their home game against the San Francisco 49ers in Orchard Park on Dec. 1, 2024.
© Tina MacIntyre-Yee/Democrat and Chronicle / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images

It's now been three decades since the Buffalo Bills have made an appearance in the Super Bowl, which likely seems like an eternity if you were a Bills fan who was there for four straight Super Bowl losses in the early 90s. But Josh Allen — the MVP front-runner who may have clinched the honor for the first time in his career on Sunday — and a Bills squad that is far deeper and more talented than anyone will give them credit for, have fans Billieving that this could be the year they get over the hump.

With that said, no team has been closer to getting over the hump and winning a Super Bowl without getting there over the last half-decade than the Bills, and unfairly, it's this fact that probably defines the Josh Allen era in Buffalo. Allen has long been considered the NFL's second-best quarterback behind Patrick Mahomes, though this year the pendulum may be swinging in Allen's favor. If he were able to lead the Bills to their first Super Bowl title, it would officially start that conversation.

It would also make him a full-blown folk hero in Western New York.

Few players are as beloved by their fanbase as Josh Allen is, but in fairness, that applies to this entire Bills team. To a man, people in Buffalo adore this team. And given the franchise's tortured history — Wide Right, Music City Miracle, 13 Seconds, Wide Right II — it feels like just about every unbiased fan will get behind the Bills if they're playing in New Orleans on February 9th.

That is, unless the Lions are there too.

Lions on the hunt for their first shot at the Lombardi Trophy 

Lions quarterback Jared Goff (16), defensive tackle DJ Reader (98), wide receiver Amon-Ra St. Brown (14), running back Jahmyr Gibbs (26) and linebacker Al-Quadin Muhammad (69) celebrate their win against the Bears with a turkey drumstick Thanksgiving Day in Detroit.
© Kimberly P. Mitchell / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images

Bills fans have been waiting for just over 30 years for another shot at the Lombardi Trophy, but for fans in Detroit, the wait has been even longer. The Bobby Layne-led Lions won three NFL Championships in the 1950's, the last of which came in 1957. So that means unless you're 67 years old, you weren't alive the last time the Lions played in a title game. They're one of just four teams — along with the Cleveland Browns, Jacksonville Jaguars, and Houston Texans — that have never played in a Super Bowl.

For the majority of the season, it's looked like a foregone conclusion that the Lions — yes, the Lions — would be Super Bowl bound for the first time in franchise history. Until after Sunday's game against Buffalo, Detroit had been the Super Bowl favorite for nearly a month, and the fact that they dropped out of that top spot has just as much to do with the injuries ravaging the team as it does the loss to the Bills.

The Lions injury report reads like the starting line-up of a team on their way to the postseason, and that's because the Lions have lost nearly a dozen starters to long-term injuries over the course of the season. In Sunday's game against Buffalo alone, David Montgomery, Carlton Davis and Alim McNeil all exited with serious injuries. Aidan Hutchinson has been out since October, though there is some optimism the former 2nd overall pick could make a return in the Playoffs.

No matter what sort of skeleton crew the Lions are throwing out there, if they get to the Super Bowl, it will be one of the great stories in recent NFL history. Since Dan Campbell has arrived, the Lions have improbably ascended to the top of the NFL. But everything about this run feels improbable. Jared Goff's career makeover? Improbable. Amon-Ra St. Brown's path from 4th round pick to superstar receiver? Improbable. Detroit in the Super Bowl?

Suddenly, that doesn't seem so improbable.

In fact, it actually feels somewhat probable. And ideal, too.