Quarterback Tyler Shough praised New Orleans Saints but described his side as “too inconsistent” in their 30-31 overtime defeat at the Detroit Lions on Sunday.
Helped by 410 passing yards and three touchdowns courtesy of Shough, Saints recovered from 21-7 behind in the third quarter to force overtime with little more than a minute remaining before Amon-Ra St. Brown’s points ultimately proved decisive in their opener.
Sun shining in the end zone 😎 pic.twitter.com/DX6yQryAtF
— Detroit Lions (@Lions) September 13, 2026
“It wasn’t good enough, in the end,” Shough said after a gripping but unsuccessful start to his second season.
“I was proud of how we fought as a team and how, regardless of adverse circumstances, we kept on going.
“I’ve actually got to play better in the first half. We got to play better as an offense and get a rhythm going.”
Find a way to get the win pic.twitter.com/qdQ5x1CgnO
— Detroit Lions (@Lions) September 13, 2026
St. Brown’s first touchdown put Detroit 21-0 ahead the third quarter, with Jahmyr Gibbs scoring their first two before Shough, who shone during the second half, inspired New Orleans to a comeback.
Painfully for Saints, Daniel Carlson missed a 62-yard attempt with overtime looming and, after Shough set up Noah Fant for the second and final touchdown of overtime, last year’s PFWA All-Rookie Team pick threw too high to Bryce Lance as Detroit held on.
“We were really proud of how we finished,” added Shough. “It was great for us, as a team, to be able to face that adversity – especially early on – and respond.
“But that’s not how we want to hang our hat – on [comebacks] – so we’ll get it fixed up and keep getting better.
“We’ll learn from our mistakes. There were some critical ones by myself and all of us, really, and we’ve got to shore that up.
“It shows the character of this team, the leaders behind it – everybody sticking together no matter what, playing off of each other.
“[Detroit are] a good football team, in their environment, and we were able to continue to operate there.
“We know we had it really close. If we want to, how do we sustain growth throughout the entire season?
“We’ll be in a good spot. We’ve got to re-evaluate how we can get better early on [in games], but it showed what we’re made of, for sure.”
What’s next? Saints, Lions confirmed NFL Week 2 schedule
The Lions meet the Buffalo Bills on Thursday, while the Saints face the Baltimore Ravens on Sunday.
Asterisk indicates game starting the following day in the specified territory.
| Date | Game | ET start time | PT | BST |
| Thurs, Sept 17 | Bills vs Lions | 20:15 | 17:15 | 01:15* |
| Sun, Sept 20 | Ravens vs Saints | 13:00 | 10:00 | 18:00 |
You can also check out the full NFL 2026 schedule.
Full NFL Week 1 results
Here are the results from Week 1.
| Seattle Seahawks 13-10 New England Patriots |
| Los Angeles Rams 7-27 San Francisco 49ers |
| Detroit Lions 31-30 New Orleans Saints |
| Cincinnati Bengals 33-27 Tampa Bay Buccaneers |
| Indianapolis Colts 23-41 Baltimore Ravens |
| Jacksonville Jaguars 34-10 Cleveland Browns |
| Tennessee Titans 10-23 New York Jets |
| Houston Texans 31-36 Buffalo Bills |
| Pittsburgh Steelers 20-13 Atlanta Falcons |
| Carolina Panthers 37-59 Chicago Bears |
| Minnesota Vikings 39-22 Green Bay Packers |
| Los Angeles Raiders 27-13 Miami Dolphins |
| Los Angeles Chargers 14-26 Arizona Cardinals |
| Philadelphia Eagles 24-22 Washington Commanders |
| New York Giants 28-20 Dallas Cowboys |
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