Lions Report 09/20/2026

There are losses, and then there are losses that make you sit quietly in your chair afterward wondering where exactly everything went wrong. The Detroit Lions’ 41-31 loss to Buffalo on Thursday night qualifies. Detroit fell behind 21-0 early and eventually found itself trailing 27-10 at halftime. The Lions fought back and made the game somewhat respectable, but Buffalo never really lost control. When you give up 41 points to a team led by Josh Allen, “somewhat respectable” is about as comforting as a participation trophy. I needed a few days to process it. I also wanted to see how the games today went.

And here's the frustrating part: Jared Goff was really good. Goff completed 26 of 38 passes for 327 yards, four touchdowns and no interceptions, finishing with a 130.0 passer rating. Amon-Ra St. Brown was spectacular with nine catches for 142 yards and two touchdowns. Goff even managed to put together that kind of performance while being sacked four times. Normally, when your quarterback throws four touchdowns and your offense scores 31 points, you're making plans for the victory parade. Unfortunately, the Lions defense apparently had other plans.

The defense was, to put it gently, not good. Buffalo scored touchdowns on its first three possessions and five of its first six. Josh Allen accounted for five touchdowns himself — three passing and two rushing — while James Cook ran for 135 yards and a touchdown. The Lions allowed 446 total yards and Buffalo went a perfect 5-for-5 in the red zone. There were missed assignments, blown coverages and far too many plays where Bills receivers seemed to be running around with the sort of freedom usually associated with a neighborhood barbecue. Aidan Hutchinson had a strong individual performance, but one pass rusher can't fix a defense that repeatedly looks confused.

Which brings us to Brad Holmes, because after watching this defense get carved up, it's reasonable to start questioning some of the personnel decisions over the last two or three years. Holmes deserves enormous credit for the foundation he built earlier in his tenure, but the recent results are harder to defend. The 2024 draft class, in particular, has become a major disappointment so far. Terrion Arnold and Ennis Rakestraw have not developed into the answers Detroit hoped for at cornerback, while Giovanni Manu, Sione Vaki, Mekhi Wingo and Christian Mahogany have provided relatively little impact. It's obviously too early to permanently declare the entire class a failure, but entering Year 3, the returns have been underwhelming.

Then there's the Isaac TeSlaa decision, which is becoming increasingly difficult to ignore. Holmes moved up 32 spots in the third round in 2025 to select TeSlaa, giving up Detroit's No. 102 pick plus two future third-round picks to acquire No. 70, along with two sixth-rounders. That's a huge investment in a third-round receiver, particularly when the roster had other needs. And this offseason, Holmes signed Isiah Pacheco to replace David Montgomery despite Pacheco's recent injury history. Pacheco had already missed significant time in 2023, 2024 and 2025, and before the 2026 season even started he suffered an MCL injury and then a back injury that ultimately required surgery and is expected to keep him out until December. That's not hindsight — those durability concerns were part of the résumé when Detroit signed him. And to top it off, Holmes has a severe case of "Smartest Guy In The Room" syndrome. He gets chippy when asked reasonable questions and never admits he is wrong.

So now we're sitting here after Week 2 with the Lions at 1-1, trying to decide whether Thursday night was merely an ugly loss or a warning sign. The offense looks capable of scoring against anybody, Goff looks sharp and the talent at the top of the roster is still very real. But the defense has serious questions, and some of the recent personnel decisions have made those questions harder to dismiss. Maybe Holmes' recent moves will eventually work out and we'll all laugh about this in December. For now, though, Lions fans are left with 31 points on the scoreboard, 41 points on the wrong side of it, and the familiar Detroit tradition of saying, “It's only Week 2,” while quietly checking the schedule to see when the next game is.

The Vikings beat the Bears today with Carson Wentz starting, which was a surprise. And Caleb Williams went down with what looks like a fairly significant hamstring injury. Green Bay needed overtime to beat the Jets. While I still don't know what we're going to do with our defense, I think we still have a shot in our division.

You can leave comments below in the Comments box. Click on that section and you can add your name as the username. You don't need to register on the site.