The Detroit Lions open up their home schedule Saturday night, as they welcome the Miami Dolphins to Ford Field for Week 2 (but Detroit’s third game) of the 2025 NFL preseason. Back at the classic 1 p.m. ET timeslot, the Lions face off against the Dolphins after a pair of joint practices helped each team get their starters ready for the beginning of the regular season.
While the game may not have the same intrigue as a regular season game or even the joint practices from earlier in the week, there are still many storylines to follow. For the Lions, the backup quarterback job remains unsettled. Saturday’s game is likely to be huge for both Hendon Hooker and Kyle Allen, as they each make their case to serve behind Jared Goff on gameday. Elsewhere, the Lions are still looking to sort through their depth at wide receiver, offensive line, defensive line, cornerback, and safety. Additionally, they’re likely looking to find some improvement on special teams, where they’ve struggled early in the preseason. With the dynamic kickoff certain to be more impactful in 2025, improvement in that area is critical.
We’ve got all the information you need to catch Lions vs. Dolphins on TV or streaming right here, but if you can’t watch the game live on Saturday afternoon, we’ve got you covered. This post will offer live updates throughout the game, including drive-by-drive analysis, score updates, highlights, and any injury news that may pop up during the game. Simply hang out right here, hit the refresh button every now and then, and watch the updates come in.
See you at the 1 p.m. ET kickoff!
First quarter
The Dolphins won the toss and deferred, giving Kyle Allen the opportunity to start the game for the Lions offense. A couple of short passes from Allen moved Detroit to midfield, but a big run on third-and-1 from Craig Reynolds was negated by a holding on Tom Kennedy. A delay of game made it third-and 16, and the Dolphins sniffed out the Lions’ screen attempt, forcing a punt. Sione Vaki forced a fumble on the punt return by putting a hit right on the helmet, but Miami recovered, setting up their first offensive possession.
Zach Wilson started for Miami, but couldn’t move the ball at all on his first possession. On third-and-8, the Lions sent two linebackers on a blitz, and Zach Cunningham got to the quarterback to disrupt the pass and force the three-and-out.
Detroit’s next offensive possession went backward quickly after tight end Zach Horton was called for holding. On the next play, Allen floated a ball to a wide-open receiver Isaac TeSlaa, but it bounced off the rookie’s fingertips. On third down, Allen connected with TeSlaa for a first down, but the quarterback had scrambled a yard beyond the line of scrimmage, making it an illegal forward pass. A Jack Fox punt bomb plus a penalty on the Dolphins return team set up Miami deep in their own zone for possession #2.
Despite a tackle for loss by Keith Cooper Jr. on first down, Miami was able to move the chains a couple of times. Wilson connected with tight end Pharaoh Brown on a big play, but it was negated by an illegal formation. Reserve cornerback D.J. Miller had a solid coverage on a deep shot, setting up a third-and-long for Miami. But when Detroit tried to send more pressure, the Dolphins had the perfect bubble screen set up and gained 27 yards on the play. After Grant Stuard forced a fumble—which was recovered by Miami—the Dolphins found Dee Eskridge on a crossing route for an 11-yard touchdown. 7-0 Dolphins.
Allen started the next drive with a slight overthrow to Tom Kennedy that went off the receiver’s fingertips. But the quarterback kept the drive alive with a third-down conversion to Dominic Lovett to end the first quarter.
Second quarter
Facing another third down, Allen ripped a ball to Lovett, but the rookie receiver let the slightly-high pass slip through his hands to end the drive.
Pinned up deep in their own zone, Wilson threw three straight incompletions with nice pass breakups from Allan George and Luq Barcoo. After a fair catch from Lovett, the Lions kicked off their next drive at their own 37-yard line.
A connection from Allen to Meeks moved Detroit into Dolphins territory, and he found TeSlaa to move the chains again.
Then a draw play to Jacob Saylors went for 11 yards and into the red zone for Detroit’s first trip of the afternoon. Detroit opted to run it on third-and-6, hoping to make it fourth-and-manageable, but Craig Reynolds bounced it outside and lost a couple yards. The Lions went for it anyways, and Allen found a wide-open Meeks for an 11-yard touchdown. 7-7 tie.
The Dolphins threatened to re-take the lead. While the Lions defense looked like they had a stop at midfield when Isaac Ukwu got a third-down sack, Grant Stuard was called for a facemask penalty, giving Miami new life. Out of the two-minute warning, Miami faced a third-and-4 from Detroit’s 9-yard line and Wilson floated a ball too far for a wide-open Tarik Black. The Dolphins opted to go for it, and Ukwu got Wilson again, but this time it counted for the turnover on downs.
That gave the Lions offense an opportunity to run a two-minute drill, and the drive got off to a nice start with a Sione Vaki run up the middle for 14 yards. However, Jamarco Jones gave up a sack on second down, leaving the Lions to face a third-and-12. Detroit picked up 9 yards on a pass to Dominic Lovett, setting up a fourth-and-3. The Lions went for it and picked it up with a short pass to TeSlaa. Then Allen rifled a nice pass to Meeks up the seam for 27 yards.
A couple of plays to Vaki pushed Detroit into the red zone. And then Allen connected with TeSlaa for the 18-yard score. 14-7 Lions.
With 25 seconds left in the half, Miami tried to move the ball downfield, but ran out of time.
See More:
