A thrilling game, but the Saints came up just short.
Boy, the New Orleans Saints and Detroit Lions put on a show on Sunday as the Lions edged the Saints 31-30 in the season opener. The Saints stormed back and nearly pulled off the win, but they will still begin 0-1 in 2026. On offense, New Orleans looked explosive once they got rolling. Tyler Shough leads the NFL in passing yards after a week and did so without Jordyn Tyson.
Which Saints players were graded the highest and lowest from Sunday?
Offense
Highest: Chris Olave 82.6
Olave's first game after signing his lucrative extension was a success. On 13 targets, Olave hauled in ten catches for 182 yards. His average depth of target was 18.4 and Olave led all receivers with 3.31 yards per route run. He was credited with a drop, but also had a long reception of 47 yards.
Facing outside cornerback D.J. Reed, Olave brought in three catches on four targets for 100 yards and three first downs. Reed allowed one other catch on Sunday to rookie Bryce Lance. Olave was great on Sunday and picked up right where he left off in 2025.
Lowest: Tailese Fuaga 41.2
The right tackle struggled with the Lions defensive line. After allowing six pressures and five QB hurries, Fuaga was tagged with a 34.3 pass-blocking grade. In true pass sets, no screens or play action, Fuaga finished with a 32.7 pass-blocking grade and allowed a sack, three hurries, and four pressures.
Overall, it was a tough day for the Saints offensive line as the group allowed 22 pressures, 15 hurries, four QB hits, and three sacks. Center Erik McCoy was right behind Fuaga with four pressures, two hurries, and two QB hits.
Defense
Highest: Vernon Broughton 91.7
The defensive tackle finished with two pressures, two QB hits, a tackle and defensive stop, and a forced fumble. Broughton finished with the second highest pass rushing grade behind Chase Young with 74.2 to Young's 77.0.
His 17.2% pass rush win rate was also second to Young on Sunday. The defensive tackle was a force on Sunday.
Lowest: Nathan Shepherd 30.5
It was a rough day for Shepherd after registering the lowest defensive grade, in addition to the lowest run defense grade (29.6) and second-lowest tackling grade (26.7). With a 40% missed tackle rate, that makes sense. Shepherd did register two defensive stops, but PFF's graders weren't kind to the linebacker.
The missed tackle rate is too high and PFF dinged Shepherd with the worst run defense grade.
