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

Start the Seahawks — the lineup-share and opponent scoring edges are too wide to ignore.

Seahawks D/ST is started in more leagues (started rank 1 to 8) and faces the lower-scoring offense (20.5 implied points to 20.8). the Lions's edge is opponent giveaways, 3.1 sacks allowed to 3.0. The gap is narrow.

Lions D/ST

D/STDETvs NO

7.47.47.4 Projected Points

Start

Seahawks D/ST

D/STSEAvs NE

7.17.17.1 Projected Points

Start

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 63% of leagues have them in, 8th among defenses, against a No. 4 matchup.

Why Seahawks D/ST

Start

Start — the No. 5 defensive matchup this week: 7.1 pts projected vs NE.

NE's offense gives up 3.0 sacks and 0.9 turnovers a game (2025), near league average.
Vegas has NE at 20.5 points as 3.5-point dogs.
Over-started: 91% of leagues have them in, 1st among defenses, against a No. 5 matchup.

Head-to-head stats

Metric	Lions D/ST	Seahawks D/ST
Projected points	7.47.47.4	7.17.17.1
Projection rank	Proj.DST4	Proj.DST5
Started in	63% of leagues	91% of leagues
Opponent sacks allowed / game	3.1(2025)	3.0(2025)
Opponent turnovers / game	1.4(2025)	0.9(2025)
Opponent implied total	20.8	20.5
Home / away	Home	Home