DETROIT -- For months, Jared Goff has fielded non-stop questions concerning the Detroit Lions’ disappointing 2025 season.
The veteran quarterback and his teammates will finally have a chance to put the past to rest, which Goff feels is fueling them collectively as they enter Week 1.
“Yeah, I think so. I think it adds a little bit of a chip on your shoulder, but I think we’re pretty internally motivated and want to win a championship and want to be the last team standing,” Goff said. “And I think last year is a bad taste, but we’ve got however many chances in front of us now to go make a right.”
Goff and the Lions will open the 2026 season with a home contest against the New Orleans Saints on Sunday. Both teams missed the playoffs last season, have a lot to prove, and have plenty of new faces on their rosters, which adds another level of uncertainty to this early matchup.
In a symbolic gesture, Lions wide receiver Jameson Williams chopped his dreadlocks off on Wednesday night in anticipation of the new season, ringing in the new campaign with a new hairstyle.
“I think it’s been behind us since last season. We talked about it and we’ve been off of it since last year. We’ve been on to bigger and better things,” said Williams, who is coming off back-to-back 1,000-yard seasons. “Focusing more on this year and what we’ve got coming up this week. New Orleans is coming in and we’re just trying to get a win.”
Detroit is entering this year with a 40% chance to win the NFC North, according to ESPN Analytics, which is the highest of any team in the division. The Saints finished just 6-11 in 2025.
Still, Lions running back Jahmyr Gibbs isn’t allowing himself to buy into those early narratives.
“It’s going to be a good game. Every team can win any given Sunday. You know that so we’re not going to take anybody lightly,” Gibbs said. “No matter what record they had. I mean, we didn’t make the playoffs either, so I mean, they probably look at it the same way. It’s going to be fun. It’s going to be tough fight, but we look to win every time.”
The Lions used the offseason to sharpen their weaknesses.
Goff, for instance, worked to develop a bond with first-year offensive coordinator Drew Petzing, which gives the QB confidence the team will be better this year than last season. For his part, Petzing said he isn’t afraid to hold Goff accountable either -- or vice versa.
“He’s doing the same to me, asking questions, making, ‘Hey, we thought about this? Do we have an answer to that? Can we do this?’ I think that back and forth has been fun,” Petzing said of Goff. “It’s part of the job that I love, but it also makes us better.”
After failing to reach the postseason for the first time since 2022, Detroit could benefit from the league’s second-easiest schedule in 2026.
After entering their Week 8 bye with a 5-2 record last season, the Lions went 4-6 over the final 10 games. From Week 6 onward, Detroit did not win consecutive games the rest of the way.
Lions edge rusher Aidan Hutchinson said nothing about last year will be carried into the upcoming season.
“I’ve never been like a big chip guy. I’m more just, man, like, I don’t dwell on the past too much,” Hutchinson said. “I see the potential that we have, and we’ve had that for a few years now. So, whatever’s happened in the past is forgotten and we’re just going to focus everything we have on this year.”
