NFL DFS, Bills vs. Lions: Top daily Fantasy football picks, lineup advice for 'Thursday Night Football'

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DFS millionaire Mike McClure shares his top daily Fantasy picks and lineups for Buffalo vs. Detroit on 'Thursday Night Football'

Sep 17, 2026 at 1:04 pm ET • 3 min read

The 'Thursday Night Football' matchup between the Buffalo Bills and Detroit Lions -- which has an over/under of 54.5 -- is overflowing with offensive firepower, which creates a dilemma for NFL DFS contests. While it's a good thing to have the likes of Josh Allen, James Cook, Jahmyr Gibbs and Amon-Ra St. Brown available as NFL DFS picks, so many great options could cause a headache when deciding who to insert into daily Fantasy football lineups. 

Targeting those lower on the depth chart could help offset the high cost of star players in order to stay under the NFL DFS salary cap. Sione Vaki is the nominal replacement for David Montgomery in Detroit's backfield, while Josh Palmer found the end zone for Buffalo in Week 1. Kickoff at new Highmark Stadium is 8:15 p.m. ET. Before making Lions vs. Bills DFS picks on sites like FanDuel or DraftKings, be sure to check out the NFL DFS advice, strategy, and stacks from SportsLine daily Fantasy expert Mike McClure.

McClure is a legendary professional DFS player with more than $2 million in career winnings. He uses a powerful prediction model that simulates every snap of NFL action, taking factors such as matchups, statistical trends, and injuries into account. This allows him to find the best DFS values that he shares only with members at SportsLine. His methodology has led to enormous cashes on FanDuel and DraftKings, including finishing tied for first in the DraftKings Millionaire Maker twice and the FanDuel Million once. Anyone who has followed him could be way up.

Now, McClure has turned his attention to 'Thursday Night Football' and just locked in his top daily Fantasy football picks. You can only see his picks and analysis at SportsLine. 

Top NFL DFS picks for Bills vs. Lions

One of McClure's top NFL DFS picks for Lions vs. Bills on 'TNF' is Bills quarterback Josh Allen. He's finished first or second in positional Fantasy points each of the last six seasons and carved up Houston's No. 1 defense from a year ago in Week 1. Allen had 334 yards and 2 touchdowns through the air with another 23 yards and 2 scores on the ground. Detroit just allowed the Saints' Tyler Shough to go off for 410 yards and 3 touchdowns, as Allen should feast off a Lions defense coming off an overtime game in a short week.

McClure is also building lineups around Lions tight end Sam LaPorta, who had 5 catches for 48 yards in Week 1, with his 8 targets being the second-most among all tight ends in Week 1. Two of those targets were inside the redzone, as he's a weekly threat to score a touchdown. LaPorta's 2025 season was cut short after nine games due to back surgery, but he was on pace for a career high of 923 yards. He should find success on Thursday as the Bills gave up 8 receptions for 64 yards to Houston's tight ends in the season opener. See who else to roster at SportsLine.

How to set 'Thursday Night Football' DFS lineups

McClure is targeting another undervalued player who could go off for huge numbers on Thursday. This pick could be the difference between winning your tournaments and cash games or going home with nothing. You can only see who it is, and the rest of McClure's NFL DFS picks, at SportsLine.

So who is Mike McClure including in his optimal NFL DFS lineups for Bills vs. Lions, and which under-the-radar player offers huge value? Visit SportsLine now to see optimal NFL DFS picks, NFL DFS rankings, NFL DFS advice and NFL DFS stacks, all from a daily Fantasy expert with more than $2 million in winnings, and find out.