The reality of a 9-8, non-playoff season in 2025 for the Detroit Lions isn't wholly the reality that the New Orleans Saints choose to live in entering the regular-season opener Sunday, against the Lions at Ford Field in Detroit.
The Saints see more of the 15-2 team from '24, which won the NFC North Division for the second straight year before losing its NFC Divisional Playoff game, or the 12-5 team from '23, which advanced to the NFC Championship Game and fell shy of a Super Bowl appearance in a 34-31 loss. Because last year's edition was ravaged by injuries on defense, which helped short-circuit a season in which the Lions scored 481 points, second most in franchise history.
"I think they've got a ton of talent," Saints Coach Kellen Moore said Monday. "They've obviously played some really high-level football for a number of years now. That's going to be a fun environment. What they've done in Detroit (20-8 at home, including playoffs since '23), they've created a really challenging environment for everyone that comes into that place, Ford Field, to play. It'll be a lot of fun for our guys."
The "fun" begins with devising a way to slow Detroit's offense. A new offensive coordinator (Drew Petzing) was hired after three years as Arizona's offensive coordinator, and he'll help direct three high-level skill players: Five-time Pro Bowl quarterback Jared Goff (4,564 passing yards, 34 touchdowns, eight interceptions last year); receiver Amon-Ra St. Brown (117 catches for 1,401 yards and 11 touchdowns in '25), a two-time All-Pro; and running back Jahmyr Gibbs (1,223 yards and 13 touchdowns on 243 carries, and 77 catches for 616 yards and five touchdowns last season), a three-time Pro Bowler.
"They've got the highest-paid running back, they've got a good quarterback, they've got a good receiver," Saints edge rusher Carl Granderson said. "I think it's going to be a test for our defense and I think we're gonna be ready for that test. We're gonna show the league what we're about, Saints football – play fast, play hard and play together."
Moore said the chess match involves the Lions retaining what works and implementing new twists.
"You're going to have to look at two different types of film," he said. "You're going to have to naturally look at Detroit – that group has had a lot of success doing certain things together, I don't think they're going to stray away from that too much. But there's going to be some assets coming from Arizona that they're going to get to implement.
"I've done these moves a few times in my career, where you come in to a place like Philadelphia where there was a ton of success, there's a lot of good going on and you don't want to lose all the good in a transition, so they're going to try to hold on to that, but there'll be some new pieces coming from Arizona."
Moore said each team will enter with an element of unknown.
"It's about playing really good football – really sound, clean, fundamental football and we've had all offseason, they've had all offseason, they're going to look a little different, we're going to look a little different," he said.
In part, the Saints will rely on joint practice work against three playoff-caliber teams – Jacksonville, Dallas and the Rams – to help navigate the different looks. New Orleans' starters worked against the opposing starters in the joint practices, and sat out the preseason games.
"I think it will be beneficial, and the fact that we did two of those on the road, on somebody else's turf," center Erik McCoy said. "Getting a variety of looks – teams that played Okie, teams that played 4-3, and just different style of players on the interior and exterior. So I think it's something that will be beneficial for us."
"I think it was a good test for our team, to see where we were at," Granderson said. "Those are three really good teams to see where our football team is at and we learn from it and move forward."
JONAH WILLIAMS BACK: Defensive lineman Jonah Williams was signed to the practice squad. Williams was with the Saints last season, appearing in 15 games with one start and totaling three sacks, five tackles for loss and 18 tackles.
