Start Lions D/ST over Ravens D/ST — Week 1 Start/Sit Verdict

Start the Lions — the opponent giveaway and opponent scoring edges are too wide to ignore.

Lions D/ST faces the more giveaway-prone offense (3.1 sacks and 1.4 turnovers allowed per game to 2.1 and 1.4) and faces the lower-scoring offense (20.8 implied points to 23.0). the Ravens's edge is lineup share, started rank 6 to 8. The gap is comfortable.

Ravens D/ST

D/STBALvs IND

6.86.86.8 Projected Points

Sit

Lions D/ST

D/STDETvs NO

7.47.47.4 Projected Points

Start

Why Ravens D/ST

Sit

Sit — a bottom-tier defensive matchup this week (No. 6): 6.8 pts projected vs IND.

IND's offense gives up 2.1 sacks and 1.4 turnovers a game (2025), near league average.
Vegas has IND at 23 points as 3.5-point dogs.
Started in 80% of leagues, 6th among defenses, in line with a No. 6 matchup.

Why Lions D/ST

Start

Start — the No. 4 defensive matchup this week: 7.4 pts projected vs NO.

NO's offense gives up 3.1 sacks and 1.4 turnovers a game (2025), near league average.
Vegas has NO at 20.8 points as 7-point dogs.
Under-started: only 62% of leagues have them in, 8th among defenses, against a No. 4 matchup.

Head-to-head stats

Metric	Ravens D/ST	Lions D/ST
Projected points	6.86.86.8	7.47.47.4
Projection rank	Proj.DST6	Proj.DST4
Started in	80% of leagues	62% of leagues
Opponent sacks allowed / game	2.1(2025)	3.1(2025)
Opponent turnovers / game	1.4(2025)	1.4(2025)
Opponent implied total	23.0	20.8
Home / away	Away	Home