The Good, Bad and Ugly From Saints’ Heartbreaking Loss to Lions

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The New Orleans Saints opened their season with a wild contest that featured a slow start, a dramatic comeback effort, debatable refereeing, and a dramatic final play.

After digging a 21-point hole against the Detroit Lions at Ford Field on Sunday, New Orleans rallied to force overtime, ultimately falling just short in a 31-30 heartbreaker. Although the defeat drops the Saints to 0-1, the high-stakes matchup provided significant insights as control shifted back and forth throughout the game.

The outing highlighted positive momentum to build upon, troubling issues that could pose challenges given the team's upcoming opponents, and a contentious call that will surely spark discussion well past Week 1.

Continuing our preseason routine, here is a breakdown of the good, the bad, and the ugly from New Orleans' season-opening defeat to Detroit.

The Good: Tyler Shough

Overcoming three early turnovers, Tyler Shough spearheaded a dramatic New Orleans comeback from a 21-0 deficit by completing 35 of 56 passes for 410 yards and three touchdowns. He capped off an impressive drive sparked by running back Kendre Miller with a 1-yard touchdown pass to Devaughn Vele (7 catches, 69 yards), cutting the deficit to 21-14 late in the third quarter.

Daniel Carlson pulled the Saints within 21-17 on a 28-yard field goal with 7:41 remaining in regulation.

On the following possession, Detroit marched all the way to the New Orleans 1-yard line, but a sharp defensive stand forced the Lions to settle for a field goal that extended their lead to 24-17. Shough then rallied the offense back, connecting with Chris Olave (10 catches for 182 yards) on a 43-yard pass before delivering a 9-yard touchdown strike to tight end Juwan Johnson to tie the game with just 1:07 remaining. Carlson later attempted a 62-yard field goal as time expired, but it pulled wide right.

After Detroit opened overtime with a 4-yard touchdown pass from Jared Goff to Amon-Ra St. Brown, Shough quickly answered on the Saints' possession with an 8-yard touchdown strike to Noah Fant. Opting to go for the win on a 2-point conversion, Shough fired a pass to Bryce Lance that fell incomplete, sealing a 31-30 season-opening loss.

The Bad: Rush Defense Still an Issue

If there was one glaring issue that could be a repeating one, it was the inability to stop the run.

Detroit running back Jahmyr Gibbs has 29 carries for 156 yards and two touchdowns to go along with five catches for 30 yards. Sure, Gibbs is a top-five running back in the NFL and he could be a problem for any defense.

However, there are two things that should be considered.

First, this is a Saints defense that ranked 19th in stopping the run last year and in game one, it allowed over five yards per carry against the Lions. We understand if these were hard-fought yards, but Gibbs made it look too easy.

Second, the Saints have face-offs against the ageless wonder that is Derrick Henry of the Baltimore Ravens, Ashton Jeanty of the Oakland Raiders, and two-time All-Pro Bijan Robinson of the Atlanta Falcons over the next three weeks. If this trend continues, it might be a recurring problem.

The Ugly: Does Anyone Know What a Fumble Is?

A controversial review reversed Chase Young's strip-sack touchdown by Jonas Sanker with 9:23 left in the second quarter, ruling Jared Goff's lost ball an incomplete forward pass—a decision so surprising that even Lions head coach Dan Campbell thought Detroit had fumbled.

“I’ll take that one. I’ll be the first to say, I thought we lost that one. The arm was going forward, it had a forward motion, that was how they saw it. We got one. We’ll take that,” Campbell admitted after the game, acknowledging he initially believed Detroit had turned the ball over until officials provided their explanation.

However, the referee's logic was fundamentally flawed under official NFL rules, which state:

A pass is forward if the ball initially moves toward the opponent's goal line after leaving the passer's hand, or if it first touches the ground, a player or an official closer to that goal line.

It’s amazing looking back. #Saints will get a “sorry” letter from @NFL @NFLOfficiating

It’s either:

A) a strip sack fumble and a returned TD

B) a backwards pass behind the line of scrimmage returned for a TD

The league went with C) let’s just call it incomplete

Just…
— Dave Ross (@drosssports) September 13, 2026

Simply starting a forward hand motion does not automatically constitute a forward pass; if the ball moves backward upon release, the play is a lateral rather than an incomplete pass.

"A little bit of a challenging circumstance, but I understand what the rules view as,” Saints head coach Kellen Moore said during his postgame presser. “You know, once the arm is moving, it really doesn't matter where the ball's going, there's protection there. And so, unfortunate outcome for us.”

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