DETROIT — They didn’t always look like Super Bowl favorites. They didn’t always have answers for Matthew Stafford. They couldn’t even really run until overtime.

But just like last year, the Detroit Lions once again defeated one of the NFC’s best players.

Jake Bates forced overtime in the final seconds of regulation on a 32-yard field. Then the Lions finally showed the running game they had been missing all night. They passed the ball seven times in eight plays, the last of which was a 1-yard plunge by David Montgomery that led them to a thrilling 26-20 OT win on opening night against the Los Angeles Rams.

Kalif Ramond went around the left end for 12 yards in overtime, then Montgomery set the physical tone, blowing out L.A.’s defense for 21 yards. One play later, he bounced off a sure tackle for nine more yards. Detroit ran the ball seven times for 60 yards overall in the extra frame, and Matthew Stafford — so good in a second straight game at Ford Field — was sent home with another Detroit loss.

The Lions have now started their second straight season with a dramatic primetime victory and will start 1-0 despite some second-half woes that made the game even more exciting than it needed to be.

The Lions raced out to an early 17-3 lead on some fireworks from Jameson Williams, first catching a 36-yard pass for a touchdown, then scoring another with a 52-yard bomb. Williams was wide open behind the defense despite fighting through illegal contact. Yeah, the kid ain’t bad. He finished with a career-high 134 yards on six total touches, a nice coming-out party for the former first-round pick.

The new-look defense also opened strong, shutting down scoring opportunities with sacks by Levi Onwuzurike and Marcus Davenport, then an end-zone interception by Kerby Joseph just before halftime. But things went south for that unit in the second half. Missed tackles were a major problem, and cornerbacks dropped two potential picks. But no one made bigger mistakes than Terrion Arnold. The first-round pick was the centerpiece of the rebuilding secondary, but was flagged twice in the second half for pass interference in the end zone, leading to 10 points during a 17-0 run by the Rams.

Stafford was good in the wild-card game in January, but was even better in his return for the opener. He completed seven straight passes on a late go-ahead drive and found Cooper Kupp for a 9-yard touchdown that gave L.A. a 20-17 lead with 4:30 left. The former Lions great completed 34 of 49 passes for 317 yards, one touchdown and one interception, excellent production considering his offensive line — with just two starters — has been decimated by injuries.

But just as they had been this season, the Lions made plays when it mattered most. The defense got a stop just before the 2-minute warning, when Jared Goff quickly found Sam LaPorta for 18 yards, plus was given an additional 15 on a roughing the passer penalty. Short passes to Jahmyr Gibbs and Jameson Williams moved the ball to LA’s 14-yard line, but the drive fizzled out there and Detroit settled for overtime.

Then an offense that had struggled to move the ball consistently in the second half — and especially on the ground — took to the ground to decisively decide the game. Detroit went 70 yards on eight plays, seven of which were runs.

Montgomery scored the winning goal and the Lions opened the long-awaited season with a thrilling victory over an NFC elite.

Let’s make some more direct observations:

— Amon-Ra St. Brown finished with three catches for 13 yards, and the ball was taken from him on a pick. Sam LaPorta finished with four catches for 45 yards, 18 of them with just seconds left in regulation. Last year, that kind of stuff might have been a problem for the All-Pros. This year, they have Jameson Williams.

Welcome to the Jamo Show, everyone. Don’t forget your popcorn. The kid has always been able to fly, and now that he’s had a full offseason to work on his routes and hands, the Lions are ready to unleash him as a WR2. On opening night, he played like a WR1, making the first big play of the season — simply running away from the defense on a 36-yard catch-and-run — before fighting through an illegal contact penalty to take a 52-yarder to the house. He added a 27-yard catch-and-run in the fourth quarter, and when I say run, I mean run. I don’t know if he’s the down-to-down force he’s ultimately capable of becoming, but there’s no doubt he’s a big play waiting to happen. And now that he’s expected to get roughly double that many plays this season, well, the math is pretty easy to do when you watch this kid play.

While only time will tell if he’s found the consistency Detroit expects from his new WR2 role, the opening night performances were fitting for Jamo: Simply electric. And if this is the Jamo we can expect, this offense could go from great to terrifying. The offense will always flow through St. Brown, and the All-Pro LaPorta isn’t all that bad either. But when a guy like Williams can legitimately stretch defenses vertically, a great offense can become deadly.

— While Williams was having the best night of his career, the rest of the offense struggled with an uneven performance. David Montgomery hit third- and fourth-and-1 conversions to set up an early field goal, and Jahmyr Gibbs added a 1-yard touchdown run later. But the Lions’ vaunted running game was shut down for the remainder of regulation, with neither tailback able to complete a run longer than 8 yards. That was until overtime, when Montgomery reminded the world why he’s one of the NFL’s best clutch running backs. He finished with 91 yards on 17 carries.

— After Stafford called Kerby Joseph a bad play this week, Joseph responded by intercepting a huge pass in the end zone late in the second quarter. The Rams had driven to the Detroit 8-yard line when Stafford was forced off the apron by pressure from Aidan Hutchinson, and Joseph raced in to take the ball from Tyler Johnson. That preserved a 10-3 lead with 15 seconds left before halftime. Joseph now has four interceptions in his last three regular-season games, dating back to late last season.

— Elsewhere at safety, Brian Branch made his debut at his new position. He was an all-rookie slot last season, but the Lions believe he’ll make more plays from the back of the defense. The potential is certainly there, but Branch struggled with the new assignment, dropping one pick, narrowly missing one and missing at least three tackles, one of which would have been a tackle for loss. Learning a new position is tough, and Branch did it while missing the entire offseason program before slowly making his way back into training camp. He just didn’t get many live reps, and it seemed to show on opening night.

— It took Levi Onwuzurike just two series to show why there was so much hype coming out of Allen Park for the former No. 2 overall pick this offseason, dropping Stafford for a huge sack that forced a field goal attempt deep in Lions territory. Onwuzurike tore through the interior of the Rams’ interior offensive line with a powerful bull rush. That’s exactly what Onwuzurike should have done when he was selected high in the 2021 draft — he famously said he was here to “(beep) quarterbacks” just minutes after his selection — but back injuries scuppered his rookie training camp. He never seriously contributed that year and subsequently didn’t play at all in 2022. But Onwuzurike finally enjoyed a healthy offseason this year, and coaches and players went out of their way to identify him as a potential breakout player. He ultimately earned the first start of his career on opening night and then crushed Stafford in the first quarter of the season. If Onwuzurike is the real deal, with what Aidan Hutchinson, Alim McNeill and DJ Reader can do on the defensive front, Detroit is going to be tough to stop this season. Huge wild-card player, and early results are promising as hell.

— First-round pick Terrion Arnold started at right cornerback in his NFL debut. He played well in the first half, allowing only short completions to himself, before getting picked off a bit in the second half. He allowed a 21-yard catch to Cooper Kupp, then briefly left the game with a left leg injury before returning and being flagged twice for pass interference. The first was to Kupp and led to a straight-up touchdown, while the second came on heavy contact to DeMarcus Robinson. Arnold didn’t like it, but he’ll pay the price every time. That led to a field goal that cut Detroit’s lead to 17-13 with 12:35 left.

— Second-round pick Ennis Rakestraw briefly replaced Arnold in his NFL debut. Most of his contributions came on special teams, where his most notable contribution was hitting one of the best punts you’ll ever see in the end zone. Jack Fox dropped a 62-yard bomb that hit at the 1-yard line and then spun back downfield, only for Rakestraw to slide the football back into the end zone. A rookie moment for a guy who seemed to be trying too hard to make a play.

— The Rams were pummeled by the Lions defense, losing star receiver Puka Nacua and offensive tackle Joe Notebloom in the first half while Stafford limped after taking yet another hit at Ford Field. No, this is not a recording.

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