Sunday’s Week 1 opener against the New Orleans Saints was not a banner day for the Detroit Lions’ secondary.
Yes, the Lions won. Yes, the defense had five sacks and forced three turnovers. Two of those turnovers were forced by the secondary in Chuck Clark’s interception and Roger McCreary’s strip-sack.
But a day that got off to an excellent start defensively ended with plenty of question marks in the secondary. Saints quarterback Tyler Shough rebounded from a horrible start to go 25-for-34 with 325 passing yards and three touchdowns in the second half and overtime combined.
Saints receiver Chris Olave recorded a career-high 182 receiving yards on 10 receptions. The Lions’ cornerbacks had an extremely tough time in coverage.
Rock Ya-Sin got beat for several chunk plays and committed a costly illegal contact penalty. DJ Reed surrendered a big 42-yard completion to Olave on a play where he interfered with the receiver anyways. Clark made a great play on his interception, but otherwise he and Maddox struggled to keep a lid on the deep ball.
Lions' secondary will continue to struggle without changes
This was the secondary’s debut performance after a 2025 season where they gave up 82 explosive passing plays. Plus, safeties Brian Branch and Kerby Joseph are on injured reserve and will miss at least the first month of the season. The unit looked like a concern going into the year, and Week 1 did not exactly quell those worries.
But head coach Dan Campbell said he wasn’t concerned. He said the Lions’ defensive game plan put a lot of pressure on the secondary so the front seven could get home.
“I know there are some things that we got to tighten up on,” he said. “There are things we need to tighten up on mentally. We know the responsibility. We just gotta get there a little bit quicker, and a little cleaner and know where your help's at on some of these. But we also know by what we were doing— we're going to get strung out a little bit. That can happen at times [when] your guys got to get there up front. They have to, alright. That's the trade-off.”
It’s important to note that the Lions’ defense did ultimately come away with the stop they needed most, a stop on the Saints’ game-winning two point conversion. Tyleik Williams got a good pressure, and Ya-Sin covered Bryce Lance well.
But on the whole, it was a rough outing. This is a division that features a Justin Jefferson-Jordan Addison receiving duo, Christian Watson-Matthew Golden and Rome Odunze-Luther Burden. Can Detroit’s secondary hold up in its current state? Even if Branch and/or Joseph returns and makes an impact?
It won’t get any easier for the Lions next game. They’ve got a short week and will travel to play the Buffalo Bills Thursday night. Two Bills (tight end Dalton Kincaid and new wideout DJ Moore) recorded over 100 receiving yards in Week 1 against the Houston Texans— who have a far superior secondary than Detroit. (Hot take)
It looks like a tough matchup. Detroit did well to bring pressure and get takeaways against New Orleans, but they’ll need to do more than that against Buffalo. Quarterback Josh Allen is going to create big plays regardless, but the Lions have to limit them more than they did against Shough and the Saints Sunday.
“I'm not concerned,” Campbell said. “I just know we can tighten some of it up and we're going to get better on defense.”
It’s worth asking the question about if this secondary is enough to contend in the NFC. Bad cornerback play has burned this team for essentially Campbell’s entire tenure. It could be worth making a move for a vet.
READ MORE: 3 winners (and 3 losers) from Lions' eye-opening win over Saints
Detroit created $35.68 million in 2026 salary cap space last week by restructuring the contracts of wide receiver Amon-Ra St. Brown and offensive tackle Penei Sewell. The Lions now have the second most cap space in the NFL. It’s likely those moves were paving the way for an impending Branch or Sam LaPorta extension, but they could be something else.
The Joey Porter Jr. situation with the Pittsburgh Steelers is worth monitoring. The standout cornerback has been in a contract standoff with his team lately, and trade rumors have swirled. If the Lions decide they’re willing to give up a first or second round pick and extend Porter to big money, they’re a team to watch for Porter.
Maybe the Lions feel like Branch and maybe Joseph's return will make enough of a difference to where the secondary turns it around. That feels like a bit of a gamble, though.
Help at outside cornerback, Porter or not, might be needed. And if the Lions don’t plan on making a move, Week 1 has to be the worst this secondary unit plays all season.
If it’s not, this is a flaw that could sink the team.
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