Detroit Lions—the 2026 season opens Sunday against New Orleans before a four-day turnaround for a Thursday night road game in Buffalo. Starting 1-0 gives the Lions room to handle whatever happens on the short week. Opening 1-1 is manageable. Starting 0-2 puts pressure on this team before September is two weeks old.
New Orleans comes to Detroit trying to pick up where it left off. The Saints showed a ton of progress late in Kellen Moore’s first season, winning four straight before the Week 18 loss. Neither team enters Week 1 with 2026 regular-season film to diagnose the other’s current system. Establish an identity, protect the quarterback and force the other staff to adjust first.
Last season was a disappointment for the Lions. Sitting atop the NFC North at 8-5 before three straight losses ended its playoff hopes. New Orleans started 2-10 before winning four consecutive games and finished 5-4 in Tyler Shough’s nine starts. The Saints were 4-1 over their final five games; Detroit was 2-3.
HOW TO WATCH | PREVIOUS MATCHUPS | ODDS
When: Sunday, September 13, 2026
Time: 1:00 PM ET
Location: Ford Field — Detroit, Michigan
How To Watch: FOX
Streaming: Fubo | Fox One
Radio: WXYT-FM 97.1
DraftKings Odds Favorite: Lions -7
DraftKings Over / Under: 49.5 Points
Lions 2025 Record: 9-8
Saints 2025 Record: 6-11
Lions Last Victory: Week 18 At Bears 19-16
Saints Last Victory: Week 17 At Titans 34-26
Lions/Saints Head-To-Head Series: Tied 13-13-1
Last Matchup: Lions Won 33-28 In New Orleans In 2023
MATCHUP BY THE NUMBERS
LIONS
Detroit finished fifth in total offense, third in passing, 14th rushing and fourth in scoring at 28.3 points per game. The offense averaged 6.0 yards per play, 4.6 yards per rush and 6.9 net yards per pass attempt.
Detroit finished 18th in total defense, 20th against the pass, 14th against the run and 22nd in scoring defense at 24.3 points allowed per game. Opponents averaged 5.4 yards per play, 4.4 yards per rush and 6.1 net yards per pass attempt. Those rankings help explain why the 49 sacks did not tell the full story.
The Lions produced the fourth-most sacks in the NFL, but finished 26th in pass-rush win rate at 32 percent and had the league’s slowest average time to pressure at 2.92 seconds. The problem was not finishing sacks; it was disrupting the play quickly enough before the quarterback reached the top of the progression.
SAINTS
New Orleans finished 23rd in total offense and 28th in scoring at 18.0 points per game. The offense averaged 5.0 yards per play, 3.7 yards per rush and 5.8 net yards per pass attempt.
The Saints defense ranked ninth in yards allowed and fourth against the pass, giving Detroit a much tougher Week 1 defensive matchup than New Orleans’ 6-11 record suggests. Opponents averaged only 4.8 yards per play, 4.0 yards per rush and 5.7 net yards per pass attempt.
The Saints were second in defensive EPA against the run and fifth in defensive success rate. Their 19th-place ranking in rushing yards allowed does not describe how difficult it was to consistently stay ahead of the chains against that front. New Orleans also finished 10th in defensive EPA per play.
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