Week 1 · Recap
Lions 31, Saints 30: Week 1 recap
What happened
The Lions edged the Saints 31-30 at home at Ford Field in Week 1, moving to 1-0.
The Lions were outgained 469-369, won the turnover battle 3-1, and went 5-13 on third down.
Jared Goff went 26 of 39 for 206 yards and 2 TDs. Jahmyr Gibbs had 29 carries for 156 yards and 2 TDs on the ground. Amon-Ra St. Brown led the receivers with 10 catches for 67 yards and 2 TDs.
On defense, Aidan Hutchinson led with 2 sacks and D.J. Reed had 10 tackles.
Team stats
- 369Total yards469
- 204Passing yards378
- 165Rushing yards91
- 26First downs29
- 5-13Third down8-17
- 4-5Red zone (TD-att)4-5
- 1Turnovers3
- 1-2Sacked-yards5-32
- 8-61Penalties-yards6-53
- 36:51Possession31:35
Box score from ESPN.
Scoring plays
Score: NO-DET- 1st quarter
- DETJahmyr Gibbs 1 Yd Rush (Jake Bates Kick)3:390-7
- 3rd quarter
- DETJahmyr Gibbs 1 Yd Rush (Jake Bates Kick)11:140-14
- DETAmon-Ra St. Brown 19 Yd pass from Jared Goff (Jake Bates Kick)8:540-21
- NOKendre Miller 8 Yd Rush (Daniel Carlson Kick)4:277-21
- NODevaughn Vele 1 Yd pass from Tyler Shough (Daniel Carlson Kick)0:2814-21
- 4th quarter
- NODaniel Carlson 28 Yd Field Goal7:4117-21
- DETJake Bates 23 Yd Field Goal2:3217-24
- NOJuwan Johnson 9 Yd pass from Tyler Shough (Daniel Carlson Kick)1:0724-24
- Overtime
- DETAmon-Ra St. Brown 4 Yd pass from Jared Goff (Jake Bates Kick)5:0424-31
- NONoah Fant 8 Yd pass from Tyler Shough (Two-Point Pass Conversion Failed)1:3430-31
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Data note: scores, schedules, standings, injuries, lines, and ESPN's predictor come from ESPN's public APIs, as of Nov 12, 2026, 10:09 a.m. CT. Written text is generated from that data and adds no numbers of its own.