They didn’t always look like Super Bowl favorites. They didn’t always have answers for Matthew Stafford. Until overtime, they couldn’t even really run the ball.

But just like last year, the Detroit Lions prevailed in another classic against one of the NFC’s best.

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

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

The Lions have now opened a second straight season with a dramatic prime-time win, and will take the 1-0 start despite some struggles in the second half that made the game more dramatic than it had to be.

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

The new-look defense also opened strong, shutting down scoring opportunities on a sack by Levi Onwuzurike and Marcus Davenport, then an end-zone interception by Kerby Joseph just before the half. But things fell apart for that unit in the second half. Missed tackles were a huge problem, and cornerbacks dropped two would-be picks. But no one made bigger mistakes than Terrion Arnold. The first-round pick was the centerpiece of the rebuild in the secondary, but was flagged twice for pass interference in the end zone in the second half, 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 during 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 remaining. The former Lions great finished 34 of 49 passing for 317 yards, one touchdown and one pick, outstanding production given his offensive line -- down to just two starters -- was decimated by injury.

But just like season, the Lions made plays when it mattered most. The defense got a stop just before the 2-minute warning, then Jared Goff quickly found Sam LaPorta for 18 yards, plus got an extra 15 on a roughing the passer penalty. Short passes to Jahmyr Gibbs and Jameson Williams moved the ball to L.A.’s 14-yard line, but the drive died there and Detroit settled for overtime.

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

Montgomery pounded in the winner, and just like that, the Lions had opened this highly-anticipated season with another thrilling victory against an NFC elite.

Let’s get to some more instant observations:

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

Welcome to the Jamo Show, everybody. 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 WR2. On opening night, he played like a WR1, providing 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 by run, I really mean run. I don’t know if he’s the down-to-down force that he could eventually become, but there’s no doubt he’s a big play waiting to happen. And now that he’s expected to get roughly double the plays this season, well, the math is pretty easy to figure out if you watch this kid play.

While only time will tell whether he’s achieved the consistency Detroit demands out of his new WR2 role, the opening-night returns were fitting for Jamo: Simply electric. And if this is the Jamo we can come to expect, this offense could go from great to scary. The offense will always flow through St. Brown, and the fellow All-Pro LaPorta isn’t so bad either. But if a guy like Williams can legitimately stretch the defense vertically, a great offense could become lethal.

-- While Williams enjoyed the best night of his career, the rest of the offense struggled through an uneven performance. David Montgomery pounded away on third- and fourth-and-1 conversions to set up an early field goal, and Jahmyr Gibbs later added a 1-yard touchdown run. But the Lions’ vaunted running game was silenced for the rest of regulation, and none of the tailbacks managed a run longer than 8 yards. Until overtime, that is, when Montgomery reminded the world why he’s one of the best clutch-running backs in the NFL. He finished with 91 yards on 17 carries.

-- After Stafford said Kerby Joseph played the game the wrong way this week, Joseph responded by picking off a huge pass into the end zone late in the second quarter. The Rams had driven to Detroit’s 8-yard line when Stafford was forced off platform by an Aidan Hutchinson pressure, and Joseph swooped in to take the ball from Tyler Johnson. That preserved a 10-3 lead with 15 seconds left before intermission. Joseph now has four picks in his last three regular-season games going 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 line of the defense. The potential is certainly there, but Branch struggled with the new assignment, dropping one pick, just missing another and missing at least three tackles, one of which would have been for a tackle for loss. Learning a new position is hard, and Branch did it while missing the entire offseason program before being eased back slowly in training camp. He just didn’t get a lot of live reps, and it seemed to show on opening night.

-- Levi Onwuzurike needed just two series to show why there was so much hype pouring out of Allen Park for the former second-pick this offseason, dropping Stafford for a huge sack that forced a field-goal attempt deep in Lions territory. Onwuzurike blew through the interior of the Rams’ interior offensive line with a powerful bull rush. This is exactly what Onwurzurike was supposed to do when he was selected highly in the 2021 draft -- he famously said he was here to “(bleep up) quarterbacks” just minutes after his selection -- but back injuries derailed his rookie training camp. He never seriously contributed that year, then 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 break-out player. He wound up earning the first start of his career on opening night, then blasted 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 across the defensive front, Detroit is going to be tough to stop up front this season. Huge wild-card player, and the 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 nothing but short completions in front of him, before getting picked on a bit in the second half. He allowed a 21-yard catch by Cooper Kupp, then briefly left the game with a left leg injury before returning and getting flagged twice for pass interference. The first came against Kupp and led to an immediate touchdown, while the second came with heavy contact against DeMarcus Robinson. Arnold didn’t like it, but that’ll get called every time. That led to a field goal that trimmed 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 knocking one of the best punts you’ll ever see into the end zone. Jack Fox dropped a 62-yard bomb that hit near the 1-yard line and then spun back into the field of play, only for Rakestraw to slide with the football back into the end zone. A rookie moment for a guy who just appeared to be trying too hard to make a play.

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