The Lions defense came up with a big play when they needed it the most.
After Detroit blew a 14-point lead in the fourth quarter, Jahmyr Gibbs put the Lions up 31-24 over the Jets with 2:25 left to play. The Jets moved the ball inside the Lions’ 30-yard-line, but safety Chuck Clark stripped Geno Smith on a sack and linebacker Jack Campbell recovered the ball to lock up the win.
It was the third touchdown of the game for Gibbs, who now has six scores through the first three weeks of the season. Two of his scores came on the ground and moved him past Billy Sims into second place in franchise history behind Barry Sanders. He finished the day with 164 yards from scrimmage.
Lions head coach Dan Campbell will likely be questioned about a decision he made after the Jets cut the Lions’ lead to eight points in the fourth quarter. He opted to go for it on fourth-and-2 near midfield and Gibbs was stuffed for no gain to leave the Jets with a short field that they turned into another touchdown when Garrett Wilson fought threw pass interference to make a jumping catch in the end zone. New Jet Sterling Shepard caught the ensuing two-point pass from Smith to tie the game.
Wilson wound up getting hurt just before Smith’s fateful fumble, which was the first Jets turnover of the 2026 season. Wilson had 10 catches for 107 yards while rookie tight end Kenyon Sadiq had seven catches for 105 yards and another score. Smith finished the afternoon 31-of-37 for 321 yards and three scores, but Clark’s sack was the fifth of the day and that pressure was key to the Lions finding their way to a victory.
The Jets also ruled running back Breece Hall out with a thigh injury earlier in the second half, so they’ll be hoping for good injury news ahead of next Sunday’s trip to Chicago.
The 2-1 Lions will move on to Carolina next Sunday night and they’ll be hoping that their late defensive surge is something they can dial up with a little more consistency in the weeks to come.
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