DETROIT >> The other shoe has officially dropped.

After weeks of the Detroit Lions holding the line with a banged-up front seven, Buffalo Bills quarterback and MVP frontrunner Josh Allen put Detroit’s depleted defense in a blender all Sunday afternoon at Ford Field.

If this was, indeed, a Super Bowl preview, as many suggested in the buildup, the Lions (12-2) better hope they have a better plan and personnel to stop Allen and Co. the second time around.

Allen threw for 362 yards and two touchdowns on 23-for-34 passing and ran for 69 yards and two touchdowns. Buffalo’s rushing attack gashed the Lions’ defense for 198 yards, including 105 and two touchdowns from running back James Cook. Bills running back Ty Johnson — a former sixth-round pick (2019) by the Lions — had a career day with 114 receiving yards, further adding insult to injury in a 48-42 Lions loss that snapped the team’s win franchise-best win streak at 11 games and was the highest-scoring game of the NFL season.

The Lions made a valiant comeback effort, almost recovering an onside kick with 12 seconds remaining that would’ve given the Lions a chance at one or two more heaves to the end zone, but the Bills ultimately came up with it to seal the win.

Detroit’s secondary — which lost cornerbacks Carlton Davis III (concussion protocol/jaw) and Khalil Dorsey (ankle) — was often asked to cover for what felt like an eternity, as the Lions’ pass rush lacked the juice it had in previous games despite the return of several starting defensive linemen. Allen made play after play; with his legs, with his arm, with his unique vision that seems to view the NFL football field as some sort of backyard playground.

Even when things went right for Detroit, they seemed to eventually go wrong.

After the Lions forced their first punt of the day with 7:12 left in the third quarter, defensive tackle Alim McNeill came up limping and went into the medical tent. As the cart came out to bring McNeill to the locker room, Lions receiver Amon-Ra St. Brown fumbled — just the second of his career — in Detroit territory, giving the Bills (11-3) the football right back. McNeill was immediately ruled out with a right knee injury, another deadly blow to the Lions’ Super Bowl aspirations.

Sure, bad days happen. The Lions marched to the NFC Championship a season ago despite some ugly losses. This team is undoubtedly better than a season ago, but its injury outlook is far, far worse.

For good measure, Lions center Frank Ragnow was assessed a face mask penalty on St. Brown’s fumble, furthering the Bills’ at