Before the Roar: Previewing Week 1 vs New Orleans

Shoutout to Detroit Lions wide receiver Tom Kennedy, but we finally made it. Finally, we have regular season football this week as your Lions will be hosting the visiting New Orleans Saints this Sunday at Ford Field. And with that, myself and my good friend Meko Scott, host of the PODcast, are back with a new episode of, “Before the Roar,” where we preview the Week 1 matchup against the Saints.

There has been a lot of turnover in New Orleans since the days when Lions coach Dan Campbell was both assistant head coach and tight ends coach. Save for longtime defensive end Cameron Jordan, the old guard is largely no longer with the Saints. This has given way for a new iteration of the proud franchise to step up, and after a rough start in 2025, they began to find ways to win down the stretch, winning four of their last five games of the year.

Now that they have second-year quarterback Tyler Shough as the unquestioned starter, they will be looking to build on what they accomplished in 2025. We discuss the outlook for Shough in year two, as well as the rest of the Saints’ offense, which features some exciting skill players like wide receiver Chris Olave, tight end Juwan Johnson, and a pair of promising tackles in Kelvin Banks Jr. and Taliese Fuaga.

From there, we dive into New Orleans’ defensive scheme and tendencies, including a quick breakdown of one of defensive end Chase Young’s 10 sacks from last year. Lastly, we highlight a few key matchups that are worth keeping an eye on, and offer up our predictions for the game.

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