The Detroit Lions offense has most of the hype going into 2026, but it’s been their defense that has put up the best performances in the preseason. On Saturday afternoon, the Lions defense held the Washington Commanders to just six points and 35 rushing yards.

On offense, it was a more mixed performance, but the Lions opted to sit their stars, including Jared Goff, Jahmyr Gibbs, Amon-Ra St. Brown, Jameson Williams, and Penei Sewell. But one group that stood out were the running backs, who combined for 30 carries, 113 yards, and a touchdown.

In the end, the Lions walked away with a 17-13 victory.

Here’s a full recap of the game.

The Commanders won the toss and deferred, giving the Lions the ball first. But it was a disaster of a start for Detroit. On the second play from scrimmage, Josh Dobbs held onto the ball too long, and a blitzing Amik Robertson crushed him for a sack that jarred the ball loose, which was recovered in the end zone by the Commanders for a touchdown less than a minute in. 7-0, Commanders.

The second drive didn’t go much better for the Lions offense. Though they were able to get a first down, Dobbs made another critical mistake on a third down. After failing to find anyone open, Dobbs scrambled to his right and tried to make a pass across his body, but he was intercepted by Commanders safety Quan Martin for Detroit’s second turnover on as many drives.

The Lions’ starting defense—only without Aidan Hutchinson and Jack Campbell—fared much better. A pressure from Devin White forced an incomplete pass on first down. D.J. Wonnum picked up a sack on second down, and the Commanders ran a draw play on third-and-20.

A quick three-and-out against Jayden Daniels and Co. gave the Lions the ball back, deep in their own zone.

Dobbs settled in nicely from there. First, he completed a tight pass to Cedrick Wilson for a 17-yard gain on third-and-5. NOTE: Cedrick Wilson suffered an injury during this drive and did not return.

Then, on third-and-3 at midfield, he held onto a QB keeper and took it the distance for a 50-yard touchdown run. Note the nice perimeter block from Lions receiver Tay Martin and interior block from Tyler Conklin. 7-7 tie.

The Commanders, with Sam Hartman now in at quarterback, were able to drive to midfield, but a huge tackle for loss by Avonte Maddox on a screen pass set the Commanders behind the sticks and they set up to punt at the end of the first quarter.

Luke Altmyer took over at quarterback to start the second quarter. After picking up 11 yards on a short pass to Jackson Meeks, Altmyer took a sack from Colby Sorsdal’s side of the field.

But Altymer got the Lions out of it by creating some extra time on third down and finding Conklin for 18 yards.

They continued to move down field after a series of catches from Jackson Meeks and back-to-back third-and-1 conversions from Raheem Blackshear and Jacob Saylors. But a first down sack from the Commanders put Detroit behind the sticks, and on third-and-16, the Commanders cranked up the pressure and Altmyer was sacked again.

Washington, with fourth-string QB Athan Kaliakmanis in, was only able to pick up a single first down before punting back to Detroit. Tom Kennedy made a couple Commanders miss for a 12-yard return.

With 3:38 left, Altmyer had an opportunity to orchestrate an end-of-the-half drill. A couple strong runs from Trayveon Williams pushed them into Commanders’ territory. However, a QB keeper from Altmyer came up 3 yards short on third down, and Detroit settled for a 55-yard field goal attempt, but Jake Bates pushed it right.

That left 1:42 left for the Commanders to run their own two-minute drill from their own 45-yard line. But a D.J. Reed tackle for loss (and terrifying backflip attempt) and a strip sack from rookie Derrick Moore ended the threat before it could get off the ground.

Detroit opted not to use a timeout, and the rest of the time ran out in the half.

The Commanders immediately got a big play when Jaden Bradley made a ridiculous one-handed grab with Keith Abney holding the receiver’s other arm.

Detroit appeared to get a stop on the next series of downs, but Moore jumped offsides, giving the Commanders a second crack at third-and-10. Antonio Williams pulled in a 21-yard grab over Abney to move into field goal range. The Lions would eventually tighten up in the red zone, and Washington kicked a 27-yard field goal to take the lead. 10-7, Commanders.

Josh Dobbs returned to quarterback to start the second half for Detroit’s offense. He started with a nice 11-yard out to Tay Martin. But a couple of plays later, pressure caused Dobbs to rush a third-down crossing pass to Martin, and the receiver bobbled and dropped what would have been an easy conversion.

Detroit’s defense would get a quick three-and-out deep in their own zone thanks to a third-down pressure from Gill-Howard. And on the punt return, Greg Dortch made a guy miss and picked up 17 yards to put Detroit’s offense in Commanders’ territory.

On the first play of the drive, running back Trayveon Williams took a screen pass for a big 24-yard gain. Michael Niese went down on the play and hopped his way to the sideline. He did not return to the game.

Then, Dobbs nicely went through his progressions on third-and-5 and found Lucky Jackson for a 9-yard gain and a first-and-goal opportunity. Two straight runs to Williams put the Lions down to the 1-yard line, and Williams punched it in from there for Detroit’s first lead of the game. 14-10, Lions.

On the first play of the fourth quarter, Kaliakmanis connected with Nick Nash for a huge 55-yard gain with Nick Whiteside in coverage—Gill-Howard arrived a half second too late.

Again, Detroit held strong in the red zone thanks to a Gill-Howard tackle for loss, and Washington settled for a short field goal. 14-13, Lions.

Altmyer returned as the Lions quarterback for their first drive of the final quarter. Outside of an iffy pass interference penalty on the Commanders, Detroit couldn’t get anything going—particularly after back-to-back false starts on Miles Frazier and Seth McLaughlin, respectively. Detroit punted back to Washington with 9:22 left on the clock.

Washington drove to about midfield, but after a third-down run stop from Eric O’Neill, the Commanders opted to go for it. O’Neill provided the pressure on fourth down, and quarterback Sam Hartman overshot his target.

After a first-down sack where there was a clear miscommunication on the offensive line, Altmyer got the Lions into a third-and-3. Pressure would force an incomplete pass, but instead of kicking a 51-yard field goal, the Lions went for it. Altmyer scrambled for extra time, and he found a wide open Jackson Meeks near the sideline for a first down. But Detroit would then get stuffed on second-and-2 and third-and-2, forcing a 37-yard field goal. Bates drilled it to make it 17-13 Lions with 2:26 left.

On the ensuing kickoff, Jackson Meeks broke free from his block and forced a fumble on the return. Rookie linebacker Erick Hunter recovered to give Detroit the ball on Washington’s 25-yard line.

The Lions were able to pick up a first down on the ground, running it with Blackshear on fourth-and-2, and then running out the rest of the clock.