Saints 30, Lions 31: drive chart, EPA and box score

Week 1 · Sun, Sep 13 · Ford FieldFinal/OT

Final

	1	2	3	4	OT	T
NO	0	0	14	10	6	30
DET	7	0	14	3	7	31

Home · 6-2DetroitLions31

At a glanceUpdated Nov 10, 2026, 9:08 PM ET

The Detroit Lions beat the New Orleans Saints 31-30 on Sun, Sep 13 at Ford Field in Detroit, MI (Week 1, 2026 season). Records after the game: Saints 3-5, Lions 6-2. C.Olave (NO) led all players with +13.7 EPA on 13 targets.

Who won Saints vs Lions?

The Detroit Lions won 31-30. By quarter: NO 0-0-14-10-6, DET 7-0-14-3-7.

Who was the best player in Saints vs Lions?

By expected points added: C.Olave (NO, +13.7 EPA on 13 targets), D.Vele (NO, +4.9 EPA on 9 targets) and B.Lance (NO, +3.2 EPA on 5 targets).

What was the turning point of Saints vs Lions?

The biggest swing in win probability (25 points toward the Saints) came in Q4 at 0:40: (No Huddle, Shotgun) J.Goff pass incomplete short right to J.Williams.

Cite this page

Pigskin Nightly, “Saints 30, Lions 31: Week 1 recap”, https://pigskinnightly.com/games/2026-09-13-no-at-det (updated 2026-11-11).

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The Verdict

Week 1 issue →

Week 1EarnedGame file →

Saints42% success · −0.03 EPA/play

3031

Lions45% success · +0.02 EPA/play

NO 25% deserveddeserved 75% DET

Lions earned it: the snaps said Lions by 3.7, a deserved win probability of 75%.

Deserved marginDET by 3.7

Real marginDET by 1

Luck pts NO−0.3

Luck pts DET+1.2

The swingOT 1:34 · NO · −47 pts of win probability. TWO-POINT CONVERSION ATTEMPT. 6-T.Shough pass to 18-B.Lance is incomplete. ATTEMPT FAILS.

Flags that moved this game

1Defensive Pass InterferenceDET → helped NO · Wk 1 Q3 0:40 · (Shotgun) 6-T.Shough pass incomplete deep right to 14-D.Vele. PENALTY on DET-23-R.Ya-Sin, Defensive Pass Interference, 21 yards,…+6.0 WP
2Intentional GroundingNO → helped DET · Wk 1 Q2 8:03 · (Shotgun) 6-T.Shough pass incomplete short middle. PENALTY on NO-6-T.Shough, Intentional Grounding, 13 yards, enforced at NO 26.+4.0 WP

Fourth downs our model disagreed with

1NO · 4th & 2Kellen Moore chose Punt at own 43, Wk 1 Q1 10:15, tied. Model: Go for it (clear call). Result: punted.−0.91 EP
2DET · 4th & 3Dan Campbell chose Punt at own 45, Wk 1 Q4 13:12, up 7. Model: Go for it (lean). Result: punted.−0.61 EP
3NO · 4th & 4Kellen Moore chose Field goal at opp 10, Wk 1 Q4 7:45, down 7. Model: Go for it (lean). Result: good.−0.37 EP

Deserved win probability from the snaps, fumble bounces evened out. How we judge

From the Lab

This game, re-drawn

All Lab tools →

Game DNA184 plays, one strand0 lead changes · 12 explosive plays · downloadable poster →

Officiating crewAlan Eck14 accepted flags in this game · 14.3 a game this season (about league average)Market vs SnapsLine: DET by 7 · Snaps: DET by 3.7Saints covered; the snaps agree

30@31

Week 1Changes the winner

If the Saints kicker had made it from 62

Saints after the play45%what really happened

Q4 0:02 10-D.Carlson 62 yard field goal is No Good, Wide Right, Center-49-Z.Wood, Holder-17-R.Wright.

Every game's sliding door →

Home win probability, play by play

The river

100%

Hover, tap or drag along the river to read any play. Arrow keys work too. Click to jump to its drive.

DET ▲NO ▼

Q1Q2Q3Q4OT

The five biggest swings

+25%Q4 0:40 · for NO(No Huddle, Shotgun) J.Goff pass incomplete short right to J.Williams.
+23%OT 1:34 · for DET(Shotgun) T.Shough pass short right to N.Fant for 8 yards, TOUCHDOWN. TWO-POINT CONVERSION ATTEMPT. T.Shough pass to B.Lance is incomplete. ATTEMPT FAILS.
+16%OT 6:19 · for DET(Shotgun) J.Goff pass deep left to J.Williams ran ob at NO 5 for 22 yards.
+14%Q4 1:23 · for NO(Shotgun) T.Shough pass deep middle to C.Olave to DET 9 for 42 yards (D.Reed) [A.Hutchinson]. NO-C.Olave was injured during the play. Penalty on DET-D.Reed, Defensive Pass Interference, declined.
+14%Q4 0:07 · for DET(No Huddle) T.Shough spiked the ball to stop the clock.

Every drive, on the field

DET attacks →← NO attacks

Q1 15:00PUNT3p · 6y · 2:03
Q1 12:57PUNT6p · 20y · 2:53
Q1 10:04TD13p · 89y · 6:25
Q1 3:39PUNT3p · 3y · 1:06
Q1 2:33PUNT8p · 16y · 3:53
Q2 13:40PUNT5p · 25y · 1:13
Q2 12:27PUNT5p · 11y · 3:06
Q2 9:21PUNT6p · -1y · 1:35
Q2 7:46FUM1p · 4y · 0:06
Q2 7:40INT5p · 20y · 2:15
Q2 5:25PUNT3p · 3y · 2:13
Q2 3:12PUNT9p · 36y · 2:52
Q2 0:20HALF2p · 11y · 0:20
Q3 15:00INT1p · 0y · 0:09
Q3 14:51TD7p · 41y · 3:37
Q3 11:14FUM3p · -10y · 1:29
Q3 9:45TD3p · 25y · 0:51
Q3 8:54TD9p · 79y · 4:27
Q3 4:27PUNT3p · 5y · 1:07
Q3 3:20TD7p · 54y · 2:52
Q3 0:28PUNT5p · 18y · 2:25
Q4 13:03FG11p · 66y · 5:22
Q4 7:41FG8p · 45y · 5:09
Q4 2:32TD8p · 75y · 1:25
Q4 1:07PUNT3p · 9y · 0:40
Q4 0:27MISS5p · 36y · 0:27
Q5 10:00TD10p · 70y · 4:56
Q5 5:04TD10p · 80y · 3:30

Saints14 drives5scoring drives (4 TD)36%drives ending in pointsOWN 26avg starting field position1three-and-outs3turnovers incl. downs

Lions13 drives5scoring drives (4 TD)38%drives ending in pointsOWN 36avg starting field position4three-and-outs1turnovers incl. downs

Scoring summary

Q1
3:39TouchdownL.Borom reported in as eligible. J.Gibbs up the middle for 1 yard, TOUCHDOWN. J.Bates extra point is GOOD, Center-H.Hatten, Holder-J.Fox.0–7
Q3
11:14TouchdownJ.Gibbs left guard for 1 yard, TOUCHDOWN. J.Bates extra point is GOOD, Center-H.Hatten, Holder-J.Fox.0–14
Q3
8:54Touchdown(Shotgun) J.Goff pass deep right to A.St. Brown for 19 yards, TOUCHDOWN. J.Bates extra point is GOOD, Center-H.Hatten, Holder-J.Fox.0–21
Q3
4:27Touchdown(Shotgun) K.Miller up the middle for 8 yards, TOUCHDOWN. D.Carlson extra point is GOOD, Center-Z.Wood, Holder-R.Wright.7–21
Q3
0:28TouchdownT.Shough pass short left to D.Vele for 1 yard, TOUCHDOWN. D.Carlson extra point is GOOD, Center-Z.Wood, Holder-R.Wright.14–21
Q4
7:41Field goalD.Carlson 28 yard field goal is GOOD, Center-Z.Wood, Holder-R.Wright.17–21
Q4
2:32Field goalJ.Bates 23 yard field goal is GOOD, Center-H.Hatten, Holder-J.Fox.17–24
Q4
1:07Touchdown(Shotgun) T.Shough pass short right to J.Johnson for 9 yards, TOUCHDOWN. D.Carlson extra point is GOOD, Center-Z.Wood, Holder-R.Wright.24–24
OT
5:04Touchdown(Shotgun) J.Goff pass short left to A.St. Brown for 4 yards, TOUCHDOWN. J.Bates extra point is GOOD, Center-H.Hatten, Holder-J.Fox.24–31
OT
1:34Touchdown(Shotgun) T.Shough pass short right to N.Fant for 8 yards, TOUCHDOWN. TWO-POINT CONVERSION ATTEMPT. T.Shough pass to B.Lance is incomplete. ATTEMPT FAILS.30–31

Team stats

NOvsDET

469Total yards369

378Passing yards204

91Rushing yards165

5.5Yards per play5.1

29First downs26

8-17 · 47%Third down5-13 · 38%

2-2Fourth down0-0

4-5Red zone TDs4-5

35/56Comp / att26/39

3.6Yards per carry5.0

3Turnovers1

5 (−32 yds)Sacks allowed1 (−2 yds)

6 for 53Penalties8 for 61

31:35Possession36:51

Expected points added · nflverse model

The game in EPA

EPA per play-0.031+0.000

Dropback EPA-0.014+0.012

Rush EPA-0.075-0.015

Success rate42%45%

Explosive plays88

Plays8673

Who moved the needle

C.OlaveTargets: 13+13.7

D.VeleTargets: 9+4.9

B.LanceTargets: 5+3.2

S.LaPortaTargets: 8+3.0

J.GibbsCarries: 29+1.4

J.JohnsonTargets: 7+1.0

Cost their side the most

N.FantTargets: 8-8.5

J.GibbsTargets: 5-2.9

T.EtienneCarries: 9-1.8

Box score

New Orleans Saints

Passing	C/ATT	YDS	AVG	TD	INT	SACKS	QBR	RTG
Tyler ShoughQB	35/56	410	7.3	3	2	5-32	40.8	87.6

Rushing	CAR	YDS	AVG	TD	LONG
Travis Etienne Jr.RB	9	46	5.1	0	18
Kendre MillerRB	9	30	3.3	1	8
Tyler ShoughQB	4	8	2.0	0	4
CJ DonaldsonRB	2	4	2.0	0	3
Barion BrownWR	1	3	3.0	0	3

Receiving	REC	TGTS	YDS	AVG	TD	LONG
Chris OlaveWR	10	13	182	18.2	0	47
Devaughn VeleWR	7	9	69	9.9	1	31
Juwan JohnsonTE	3	7	54	18.0	1	27
Bryce LanceWR	3	4	42	14.0	0	19
Noah FantTE	4	8	33	8.3	1	10
Travis Etienne Jr.RB	7	9	32	4.6	0	16
CJ DonaldsonRB	1	2	-2	-2.0	0	-2

Defense	TOT	SOLO	TFL	PD	QB HTS
Jonas SankerS	10	7	1	0	0
Kaden EllissLB	9	3	0	1	3
Justin ReidS	8	5	1	0	0
Kool-Aid McKinstryCB	7	4	0	1	0
Pete WernerLB	7	3	1	1	0
Julian BlackmonS	6	2	0	0	0
Danny StutsmanLB	6	2	0	0	0
Davon GodchauxDT	5	2	1	0	0
Isaiah StalbirdLB	3	2	0	0	0
Quincy RileyCB	3	2	0	1	0

Kicking	FG	PCT	LONG	XP	PTS
Daniel Carlson	1/2	50.0	28	3/3	6

Detroit Lions

Passing	C/ATT	YDS	AVG	TD	INT	SACKS	QBR	RTG
Jared GoffQB	26/39	206	5.3	2	0	1-2	48.4	96.7

Rushing	CAR	YDS	AVG	TD	LONG
Jahmyr GibbsRB	29	156	5.4	2	21
Sione VakiRB	2	7	3.5	0	4
Jared GoffQB	2	2	1.0	0	2

Receiving	REC	TGTS	YDS	AVG	TD	LONG
Amon-Ra St. BrownWR	10	14	67	6.7	2	19
Sam LaPortaTE	5	8	48	9.6	0	19
Jameson WilliamsWR	4	9	45	11.3	0	22
Jahmyr GibbsRB	5	5	30	6.0	0	11
Sione VakiRB	1	1	11	11.0	0	11
Brock WrightTE	1	1	5	5.0	0	5
Isaac TeSlaaWR	0	1	0	0.0	0	0

Defense	TOT	SOLO	SACKS	TFL	PD	QB HTS
D.J. ReedCB	10	7	0	0	1	0
Rock Ya-SinCB	7	7	0	0	0	0
Jack CampbellLB	7	5	0	1	0	0
Avonte MaddoxCB	7	4	0	0	2	0
Derrick BarnesLB	6	3	1	1	2	1
Aidan HutchinsonDE	5	4	2	2	0	4
Roger McCrearyCB	4	4	1	1	0	1
Malcolm RodriguezLB	4	2	0	0	0	1
Tay MartinWR	3	3	0	0	0	0
Thomas HarperS	3	3	0	0	1	0

Kicking	FG	PCT	LONG	XP	PTS
Jake BatesPK	1/1	100.0	23	4/4	7

Starters, confirmed

ConfirmedEvery game →

Confirmed from the official snap counts: at every position group the starters are the snap leaders. Expected lineup = today's depth chart, adjusted for the injury report.

Expected, did not start

Alvin KamaraRB→ Travis Etienne Jr.

Jordyn TysonWR→ Bryce Lance

William ShermanC→ Erik McCoy

Cameron JordanLDE→ Davon Godchaux

Martin Emerson Jr.RCB→ Quincy Riley

Blake MillerRT→ Ben Bartch

Tyler LacyRDE→ Skyler Gill-Howard

K.J. BrittMLB→ Jack Campbell

Malcolm RodriguezSLB→ DJ Wonnum

Ennis Rakestraw Jr.RCB→ Rock Ya-Sin

Brian BranchSS→ Thomas Harper