The Detroit Lions survived Week 1.
Their pass defense may not survive Week 2 if the same problems follow them to Buffalo.
Detroit escaped the New Orleans Saints 31-30 in overtime Sunday despite allowing rookie quarterback Tyler Shough to throw for 410 yards and three touchdowns. Chris Olave caught 10 passes for 182 yards, and New Orleans finished with 469 total yards while erasing a 21-0 deficit.
There were positive moments. Detroit generated five sacks, forced three turnovers and eventually made the final stop on New Orleans’ attempted two-point conversion.
But the coverage issues were difficult to miss.
The Lions allowed multiple explosive passes, and an evaluation of Detroit’s defensive backs noted that the group produced five pass breakups and an interception before halftime but did not record a pass breakup after halftime.
Now comes Josh Allen.
That is a problem Detroit has four days to solve.
Josh Allen Presents a Much Different Test
Allen did not need a warmup game.
Buffalo’s quarterback completed 20 of 29 passes for 334 yards and two touchdowns in Sunday’s 36-31 victory over Houston. He also rushed for 23 yards and two more scores, accounting for four touchdowns in the Bills’ opener.
More importantly for Detroit, Buffalo attacked downfield.
Dalton Kincaid finished with 130 receiving yards, while DJ Moore added 100 yards and a touchdown. Allen then led a 96-yard fourth-quarter drive and hit Joshua Palmer for the decisive 34-yard touchdown with 1:36 remaining.
Detroit already knew Allen would be one of the defining challenges on its schedule. When NFL.com ranked quarterbacks before the season, Allen occupied the league’s top tier while Jared Goff landed just outside the top 10, something we covered in our look at Goff’s preseason quarterback ranking.
The matchup also carried enough weight that Buffalo opened as the favorite months before either team played a game. Detroit’s original Lions-Bills betting-line story showed the Bills favored when the schedule was released.
Nothing from Week 1 made that assignment look easier.
Lions Need More From Their Secondary
Detroit’s front did its job often enough against New Orleans.
Aidan Hutchinson consistently generated pressure, and the Lions recorded five sacks. Derrick Barnes contributed both a sack and an interception. The run defense also held New Orleans to 91 rushing yards.
The problem came once Shough had time to push the ball outside and downfield.
Detroit repeatedly surrendered chunk gains, particularly on the boundaries. That is exactly where Allen can punish coverage mistakes. He does not need a clean pocket for long, and unlike most quarterbacks, forcing him outside the structure does not necessarily end the play.
The Lions faced Allen recently enough to understand the difficulty. Dan Campbell has previously acknowledged that completely shutting down Buffalo’s offense is unrealistic and that Detroit must produce offensively while finding enough defensive stops. Campbell’s previous assessment of facing Allen and Buffalo
Thursday’s formula probably looks similar.
The secondary does not have to make Allen disappear. Nobody does that consistently.
It does have to make him work harder than Shough did.
Short Week Leaves Little Time for Corrections
Detroit has only four days between games.
The Lions visit Buffalo on Thursday, Sept. 17 at 8:15 p.m. ET, the first road game of their season.
That limits how much can realistically change schematically. The more immediate fixes are execution-based: cleaner communication, tighter leverage, fewer free releases and better responses when the quarterback extends plays.
Detroit can take plenty from a 1-0 start. Jahmyr Gibbs rushed for 156 yards. Goff avoided an interception. The defense created turnovers. Amon-Ra St. Brown delivered two touchdowns.
But 410 passing yards from a rookie quarterback is difficult to dismiss when Josh Allen is next.
The Lions found a way to survive New Orleans.
They will need to defend the pass considerably better to do the same in Buffalo.
