Thirty-one points. Four touchdown passes from Jared Goff. Nine catches, 142 yards and two touchdowns from Amon-Ra St. Brown.
For most NFL teams, that is the recipe for a win. For the Detroit Lions, it wasn’t close to enough, and the Lions defense is the reason why.
Detroit’s 41-31 loss to the Buffalo Bills on Sept. 17 wasn’t a reminder that the Lions need their offense to score more. It was a reminder that their defense needs to give the offense a chance to breathe.
The Lions entered the 2026 season with expectations that go far beyond simply making the playoffs. But through two games, Detroit has scored 62 points and allowed 71. The offense has shown it can produce; the defense has shown it can give those points right back. If that imbalance continues, Detroit will be asking its offense to play nearly perfect football every Sunday.
Jared Goff Wasn’t the Problem in Buffalo
The problem isn’t Jared Goff. At least, it wasn’t last Thursday night.
Goff completed 26 of 38 passes for 327 yards, four touchdowns and no interceptions against Buffalo. St. Brown caught nine passes for 142 yards and two touchdowns. Detroit’s offense wasn’t perfect, rushing for just 66 yards, but it still produced 31 points against one of the league’s most talented teams, according to the box score.
When a quarterback throws four touchdowns and the offense puts 31 points on the scoreboard, the conversation shouldn’t immediately center around what the offense did wrong. It should start with why 31 points wasn’t enough.
Buffalo Scored on Its First Four Possessions
That’s where the Lions’ defense enters the conversation.
Buffalo scored touchdowns on its first four possessions and built a 27-10 halftime lead. The Bills finished with 446 yards of offense and 34 first downs, and Detroit forced only two punts all night. Josh Allen accounted for five of Buffalo’s six touchdowns, throwing for three and running for two.
Lions head coach Dan Campbell acknowledged that the defense has plenty to clean up.
“We just have to clean up a lot of things on defense right now,” Campbell said after the loss. “Particularly in the back end.”
That isn’t just a coach looking for something to say after a loss. The numbers back him up.
Detroit has allowed at least 30 points in each of its first two games, and its 63 first downs allowed are tied for the second-most a defense has given up through two games in NFL history.
The Lions Defense Keeps Giving Up Explosives
The biggest issue has been the explosive plays and communication in the secondary. Allen hit Josh Palmer for a 43-yard touchdown after a blown coverage in the first quarter, one of several plays that allowed the Bills to consistently move the ball.
Cornerback D.J. Reed identified the issue after the game.
“The explosives. That’s the major one,” Reed said. “Whether that’s miscommunication, just winning your one-on-ones and knowing the coverage.”
That quote might be the most important one to come out of the locker room.
Because Detroit’s defense doesn’t necessarily need to become the best defense in football. It needs to become a defense that doesn’t consistently give opposing offenses easy opportunities.
The job is not getting easier, either. Defensive back Avonte Maddox, who was hurt in the first half in Buffalo, needed foot surgery and is out for the season.
Aidan Hutchinson Can’t Fix It Alone
There are certainly positives. Aidan Hutchinson got to Allen on the third play of the game for his third sack of the season, and he has now recorded at least one sack in six consecutive games dating back to last season, a franchise record.
But one player can’t fix an entire defense.
Jack Campbell knows that. The Lions linebacker finished with seven tackles and a tackle for loss against Buffalo but took responsibility for his own performance afterward.
“I’m gonna be honest with you. Hats off to them; played terrible,” Campbell said. “It starts with me, and I feel like it’s on me. I gotta be better.”
That accountability is encouraging. But Detroit needs more than accountability. It needs results.
The Offense Doesn’t Need to Be Perfect
The Lions’ offense has already shown that it can carry a significant workload. St. Brown has 19 receptions through two games, including nine against Buffalo, and he joined Andre Rison in 1994 as the only players in NFL history to record at least nine receptions and two receiving touchdowns in each of their team’s first two games of a season.
Goff has also been productive. His four-touchdown night in Buffalo came a year after a 2025 season in which he threw for 4,564 yards and 34 touchdowns.
The offense doesn’t need to be perfect.
It needs help.
The Lions cannot expect Goff to throw four touchdowns every Sunday. They can’t expect St. Brown to produce 142 yards every week. They can’t expect their offense to overcome three-touchdown deficits against playoff-caliber teams.
At some point, the defense has to give the offense a break.
The Jets Are the Next Test
That doesn’t mean Detroit’s season is in trouble after two games. The Lions are 1-1, there are still 15 games remaining, and the short week in Buffalo bought Campbell and his staff extra days to work on the communication problems that showed up against the Bills. The New York Jets visit Ford Field on Sunday at 1 p.m.
But the problem is already clear. Detroit’s offense is averaging 31 points per game. The defense is allowing 35.5. That isn’t a formula a team can rely on for an entire season.
The Lions don’t need their defense to hold every opponent under 20 points. They need it to get off the field. They need it to eliminate the blown coverages. They need it to turn some of those long Buffalo drives into punts.
Most importantly, they need it to make sure 31 points is enough. Because Jared Goff and the Lions’ offense have already shown they can score.
Now the defense has to show it can stop somebody.
