Even in victory, the Detroit Lions raised some questions for Stephen A. The Lions salvaged a 31-30 overtime win over the New Orleans Saints after leading 21-0 in the third quarter. The ending worried Smith, who opined that Detroit needs a Week 2 win more than the Buffalo Bills do this Thursday night.
"I'm very, very concerned about them," Smith said on "First Take." "Yeah, you know what, you won the game. You gave up that lead." The ESPN personality was particularly bothered by the defense's performance at Ford Field. Saints quarterback Tyler Shough led a valiant comeback attempt with 410 passing yards.
"I'm looking at you giving up 469 yards," Smith said. "I'm looking at them converting more than half of their third-down conversions. I'm saying Detroit's defense is a huge, huge concern for me.
They're one-dimensional as far as I'm concerned." While the offense ranked fifth in total yards last season after losing offensive coordinator Ben Johnson, the defense fell to 29th without former defensive coordinator Aaron Glenn. Smith needs to see more from the struggling unit before he views Detroit as a Super Bowl contender again. "Their offense is still potent without Ben Johnson.
Their defense has fallen off, as far as I'm concerned," Smith added. "At least it did last year. Without those two coordinators, Detroit hasn't looked the same under the stewardship of Dan Campbell.
They got to show us that they can be what we thought they were a couple of years ago. "Couple of years ago, we were looking at the Detroit Lions and saying, 'Yo, this team can win it all.' Now, we're wondering whether or not they can win the division and make the playoffs." The Lions will go to Buffalo for a huge Thursday Night Football matchup against the Bills on Prime Video.
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