DETROIT — When Amon-Ra St. Brown caught a 19-yard touchdown pass from Jared Goff to go up 21-0 with 8:59 left in the third quarter, it seemed the party had officially begun in the season opener at Ford Field.

And eventually, it did — but not until the Detroit Lions held off a go-ahead two-point attempt on the final play of overtime to steal a 31-30 victory Sunday after the New Orleans Saints nearly completed a devastating comeback.

The Lions got the ball first to begin overtime and scored on a 4-yard touchdown pass to St. Brown, but the Saints marched back down the field and made it 31-30 on an 8-yard touchdown to Noah Fant. Rock Ya-Sin made a play to knock away Tyler Shough's throw to Bryce Lance in the end zone on the two-point attempt.

Even the most ferocious of comeback attempts couldn't tame superstar running back Jahmyr Gibbs, who helped move the Lions into Saints territory during overtime with multiple runs of 10-plus yards during the overtime period, paving the way for another Goff-to-St. Brown connection that helped the Lions take a 31-24 lead after the defense shut the door with a fourth-down stop.

The Saints tied the game on a touchdown pass to Juwan Johnson with 1:13 left in the game. The Lions followed up the Saints' tying drive with a three-and-out that allowed Saints kicker Daniel Carlson to attempt a 62-yard field goal as time expired. His kick didn't have the distance, sending the game to overtime.

Detroit forced three turnovers and recorded four sacks, and Gibbs ran for 156 yards and two touchdowns on a career-high 26 carries as the Lions held off a second-half comeback attempt by the Saints. Aidan Hutchinson had two timely sacks, including one that forced third-and-12 entering the two-minute warning with the Saints needing a touchdown.

The Lions' passing defense fell apart as the second half rolled on, as New Orleans hit one big play after another to put the Lions on their heels.

Detroit's passing game, meanwhile, was inefficient. Goff finished 26-for-39 passing for 206 yards and a touchdown, as several drops by wide receiver Jameson Williams kept the offense grounded at points where it was trying to take off. St. Brown caught 10 passes for 67 yards, plus a pair of touchdowns.

The Lions nearly began their season with a turnover. Carlson hit a knuckling ball on the kickoff, which ate up returner Tom Kennedy like a grounder bouncing off a rock. The ball bounced off Kennedy and was loose on the ground; Jacob Saylors recovered it to keep the ball for Detroit.

Gibbs, who received a record-breaking contract extension in August, carried the ball eight times for 46 yards on Detroit's opening drive, including runs of 21 and 11 yards. He got the Lions on the board, 7-0, with a 1-yard touchdown run with 3:39 to go in the opening quarter, the 50th touchdown of Gibbs' career.

The Lions caught a huge break with 9:34 left in the second quarter. Saints defender Chase Young came screaming off the edge for a ferocious hit on Goff with the quarterback in the middle of his throwing motion, jarring the ball loose and sending it flying backward. Saints defensive end Jonas Sanker picked it up and ran it in for a touchdown. But officials overturned the call on the basis that Goff had started the throwing motion of a pass that he intended to throw forward, thus ruling it a forward pass, according to Fox rules analyst Mike Pereira.

The overturned touchdown would have given the Saints an opportunity to tie the game on the extra point. Detroit instead punted it away and got a defensive stop on the other end.

The Saints forced a fumble on Gibbs with 7:46 left in the second quarter; officials initially ruled Gibbs down by contact, then gave the Saints the ball at their own 40. But the Lions got it right back with a turnover on the other end, as safety Chuck Clark intercepted Shough to stop a promising Saints drive in its tracks.

Hutchinson recorded his first sack of the season on third-and-8 with 32 seconds left in the second quarter, knocking the Saints well out of field goal range to preserve the first-half shutout. For the first time since 2015, the Lions finished a half with no points allowed, an interception, a sack and fewer than 115 yards allowed.

Linebacker Derrick Barnes kept the momentum rolling by intercepting Shough on the first play of the second half, giving Detroit a short field at the 41-yard line of New Orleans. Gibbs had an 18-yard run to get the Lions into the red zone and later capped the seven-play drive with a 1-yard rushing touchdown, his second of the game.

On the Saints' next offensive series, Barnes sacked Shough on second down. One play later, cornerback Roger McCreary got home on a blitz to strip-sack Shough, giving Detroit the ball deep in New Orleans territory after it was recovered by DJ Wonnum.

Three plays after the strip-sack, Goff found St. Brown on a post route for a 19-yard touchdown reception to put the Lions up 21-0 with 8:54 to go in the third quarter.

The Saints found a life raft in the form of a 47-yard catch by Chris Olave, resulting in an 8-yard rushing touchdown by Kendre Miller to cut into Detroit's lead, 21-7, with 4:27 left in the third quarter.

The Saints defense forced a three-and-out on the ensuing Lions possession, then moved the ball quickly into Detroit territory once again. After Ya-Sin was called for defensive pass interference on a throw to the end zone on third-and-9, Shough completed a 1-yard touchdown pass to Devaughn Vele to make it 21-14 with 28 seconds left in the third quarter.

Shough finished 35 of 56 for 410 yards, two touchdowns and two interceptions.

The Saints looked well on their way to another touchdown drive before Barnes made a play to stop a third-down completion short of the line to gain, forcing the Saints to settle for a field goal and maintain Detroit's lead, 21-17, with 7:41 left in the fourth quarter.

Another big drive from Gibbs nearly extended the Lions' lead to double digits late in the fourth, but a holding penalty on left guard Ben Bartch, in for the injured Christian Mahogany, ended up forcing the Lions to settle for a 23-yard field goal from Jake Bates to make it a seven-point game with 2:27 to go.

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