Home Sweet Home to Start Things Off
The Detroit Lions will kick off their season at Ford Field, and honestly, that’s exactly where you want to be when the calendar flips to September. Nick Underhill from the New Orleans beat is reporting that the Lions will host the Saints in Week 1, though we still don’t know if this is a 1 p.m. slug fest or a prime time showcase.
This marks the second home opener in three years for Detroit. Not a bad trend when you consider how loud Ford Field can get when the faithful show up ready to roll.
Short Week Coming Fast
Don’t get too comfortable in those seats though. The Lions won’t be staying home long after that Saints matchup.
Detroit is already slated for a Thursday Night Football road trip to Buffalo following the opener, meaning a short week to prepare for the Bills’ shiny new stadium debut. That’s the kind of scheduling quirk that can either build momentum or knock you sideways early. We’ll see which version of this team shows up.
Saints Aren’t Exactly Old Rivals
The Lions and Saints don’t have much history to speak of. They’ve squared off just twice since 2018, with Detroit taking the most recent meeting 33-28 and New Orleans winning the previous one 35-29 back in 2020.
New Orleans has been struggling lately, but they showed some life late in the 2025 season under first-year head coach Kellen Moore. Remember him? Former Lions quarterback turned Saints skipper. The Saints won four of their last five games, including upset wins over the Buccaneers and Panthers that nobody saw coming.
Rookie quarterback Tyler Shough looked solid down the stretch, throwing five touchdowns against two picks with a 99.1 passer rating and averaging 263.2 yards per game over those final five contests. Not world-beating numbers, but enough to make you pay attention.
September Can’t Come Soon Enough
Opening at home against a Saints team that’s still figuring things out under Moore feels like the kind of matchup this Lions team should handle. Should being the key word, because we’ve all learned not to assume anything when it comes to Week 1 in the NFL.
Are you feeling good about a home opener against New Orleans, or does that short week to Buffalo have you worried already? Let me know in the comments below.
Home opener against the Saints feels like exactly the kind of setup we need to start strong. Campbell and Holmes have this team built to win games like this, and Ford Field is gonna be rocking. Yeah the Buffalo short week sucks but that’s football, and I trust these guys to handle it right.
I like the optimism but let’s pump the brakes a little. Saints are figuring things out with a new coach and a rookie QB, but Week 1 can be weird. We should win this but I’ve been burned enough times to know nothing’s guaranteed. Hope Campbell has them locked in and ready to go.
This is so different from the dark days when we’d get punched in the mouth right out of the gate. A home opener against a team that’s still finding its footing, with the kind of coaching and front office leadership we finally have in place? That’s the kind of advantage we used to dream about. Let’s go get it.