DETROIT — When Kellen Moore sent his offense out for a two-point conversion in overtime, trailing 31–30 with the ball at Detroit’s 3-yard line, the decision made sense to him.
The New Orleans Saints had just driven 80 yards in seven minutes to cut the deficit to one. Tyler Shough had thrown for 410 yards and appeared to have found his footing under pressure. Kicking the extra point and forcing a second overtime was not what Moore wanted.
Shough’s pass to Bryce Lance fell incomplete.
Detroit’s 31–30 overtime victory at Ford Field was over.
The final score tells you who won. It does not tell you about the three quarters between the Lions’ 21-0 lead and Moore’s final call, or about a Saints team that had, by every visible measure, outplayed its opponent for the better part of an hour. New Orleans rallied from that deficit by scoring on five of its final six possessions in regulation. Shough finished 35-of-56 for 410 yards and three touchdowns, a stat line produced during one of the more quietly remarkable comeback bids in recent NFL Week 1 history. The Lions did not win on Sunday because they were the better team for 60 minutes. They won because they were better for the first 25.
Jahmyr Gibbs wrote that first act. He carried 29 times for 156 yards and scored three touchdowns, dominating a New Orleans front-seven that had finished second in the NFC in run defense last season, CBS News reported. His first two touchdowns, both one-yard plunges in the second quarter, came directly off Saints turnovers: a Shough interception on the opening drive and a fumble on a sack that gave Detroit the ball at the New Orleans 12. By the time Gibbs scored his third, midway through the third quarter, it was 21-0, and the Saints had two turnovers, a fumble, and zero points.
Then Shough started playing like himself. After those early mistakes, he completed 31 of his final 42 attempts for 336 yards and three touchdowns across the second half and overtime. He began reading pressure before it arrived. He found Noah Fant and Juwan Johnson working the middle of the field, and Chris Olave on crossing routes in space. Detroit’s secondary, which had looked impermeable in the first half, started giving ground. New Orleans scored 24 points in the final 24 minutes of regulation, a stretch that had Ford Field watching something it had not prepared for.
In overtime, Jared Goff led the Lions on a 10-play, 70-yard drive capped by a 4-yard touchdown pass to Amon-Ra St. Brown. The Saints answered immediately: 80 yards in seven plays, ending with an 8-yard reception by Fant that cut Detroit’s lead to 31-30. Moore walked to the sideline, looked down the field, and sent his offense out to win the game.
Goff finished 26-of-39 for 206 yards and two touchdowns with no interceptions, posting a 96.7 passer rating, according to the Saints’ official game recap. He was not asked to be exceptional on Sunday. He was asked to be reliable: to manage what Gibbs created, to not lose what Detroit’s defense protected, and to execute in overtime. He did all three.
Detroit’s win closed a Sunday that produced strong performances elsewhere. Jaxson Dart threw three touchdowns and ran for more than 50 yards in the Giants’ 28-20 opening-night win over Dallas, announcing a new era at MetLife Stadium. Derrick Henry passed Marcus Allen for third on the NFL’s all-time rushing touchdown list in Baltimore’s 41-23 rout of Indianapolis. Caleb Williams and the Bears outscored Carolina by 30 in Chicago’s season opener.
What the Lions opened with is a one-game cushion in the NFC North and a run game that can hold a lead. What New Orleans opened with is harder: whether Shough is good enough to complete what he started on Sunday over a full season, and whether Moore’s aggressiveness will be remembered as conviction or miscalculation when this year is eventually graded. The Saints scored 30 unanswered points after halftime against a team most analysts consider a Super Bowl contender. They earned the right to be angry about how the day ended.
Moore will be asked about the two-point call all week. It will be fair to ask.
