The Lions struck first and did it with a drive that looked like a reminder of what this offense can be when it gets rolling. After the Saints deferred following the coin toss, Detroit opened with a quick three-and-out, but once the Lions got the ball back, Jared Goff and Jahmyr Gibbs helped flip the tone fast.
New Orleans had its own early problems moving the chains. The Saints converted one third-and-1, then came up empty on another when Tyler Shough sailed a pass well over Noah Fant’s head. That forced a punt and left Detroit starting at its own 11.
From there, the Lions settled in and started layering the offense. Goff worked out of pressure and hit Sam LaPorta for 19 yards, then Gibbs began slicing through the defense with gains of 21 and 11 on back-to-back snaps. The second of those runs came with a cost, though, as Lions starting left guard Christian Mahogany went down and was replaced by Ben Bartch.
Detroit kept pressing once it reached the red zone. On a key third down, Goff found Jameson Williams all the way down to the 1-yard line, and Gibbs punched in the next snap for the first touchdown of the game. That made it 7-0 Lions.
The defense then backed it up with a three-and-out of its own. On third down, the Lions brought extra pressure and safety Thomas Harper got a strong break on the ball to force the incompletion.
Detroit’s next possession also started with movement, as the Lions picked up a pair of first downs. A deep shot to Jameson Williams was dropped in between those chain-moving plays, and the first quarter ended with Detroit at its own 47-yard line.
In Other News...
Lions Escape Saints But A Bigger Concern Just Took Center Stage
The Lions left New Orleans with a win, but it came with a lot of noise attached to it. Detroit needed overtime to get past the Saints, and while the offense leaned hard on Jahmyr Gibbs, who piled up 156 rushing yards and two touchdowns, the bigger takeaway was how much the secondary struggled to hold up for much of the night. The defensive line did its part with five sacks, and special teams flashed better coverage with several key tackles, but the back end was exposed repeatedly.
Jameson Williams also had a rough outing with multiple drops, adding to the uneven feel of a game Detroit controlled only in stretches. For a team with bigger expectations than simply surviving close ones, the concern is less about the win itself than the way the Saints were able to test the Lions through the air. The front seven gave them enough chances to escape, but the secondarys performance is the sort of issue that tends to linger after the postgame celebration fades. [Read more 🡒]
Lions Suddenly Have A Joey Porter Jr. Question Worth Watching
The cornerback market suddenly has a name that would have to get the Lions attention. Joey Porter Jr. has reportedly asked the Steelers for a trade as extension talks have stalled, and Pittsburgh is at least willing to listen, even if its current asking price appears steep. For Detroit, it is the kind of opening that is hard to ignore: a young defensive back with upside becoming available, and a team that still has a clear need at the position.
Nothing formal is happening yet, but that is part of what makes this worth watching. The Lions have the cap flexibility to explore a move if the price softens, and Porters situation could become one of the more interesting fallback options on the market. For now, it is simply a question of whether the Steelers lower their demands enough for Detroit, or anyone else, to get serious. [Read more 🡒]
Lions Already Have A Backfield Problem Fans Didnt Expect
The Lions spent the spring reshaping their backfield around Jahmyr Gibbs, moving on from David Montgomery and planning for a new pecking order behind their lead runner. The idea was simple enough: Gibbs would handle the featured work, Isiah Pacheco would fill the Montgomery role, and Detroit could keep the ground game balanced without overcomplicating things.
Instead, the early returns have already created a wrinkle. Pacheco opening the season on injured reserve left the backup job unsettled, and Dan Campbell pointed to Jacob Saykors and Sione Vaki sharing those reps. In Week 1, Gibbs saw plenty of work and produced, Vaki logged more snaps than Saykors but had a rough outing, and Montgomery made his Texans debut by scoring three total touchdowns, leaving the Lions with a familiar question in a very different form. [Read more 🡒]