Pride of Detroit
In a rematch of the 2023 season opener, the Detroit Lions headed back to Arrowhead to play the Kansas City Chiefs. The Lions almost started the game with a fun trick play, but it was deemed illegal and overturned, turning seven points into three. The Chiefs would respond with ease to take a 6-3 lead. Detroit got the lead back quickly to make it 10-6 and it seemed like this would be a shootout type of game. The Chiefs had no issues responding as well, making it 13-10 at the half and once they got that lead, they never looked back. The Chiefs would never punt or turn the ball over and come away with the 30-17 win over the Lions.
Let’s get into my six takeaways from the loss.
The secondary had a big target on its back heading into this showdown. The secondary was without cornerbacks D.J. Reed, Terrion Arnold, Avonte Maddox, and Khalil Dorsey. Additionally, safeties Brian Branch and Kerby Joseph were clearly not 100 percent. Chiefs quarterback Patrick Mahomes was licking his chops and he had his way with the Lions’ pass defense.
Mahomes went 22-for-30 for 257 yards and three touchdowns, with 10 carries for 32 yards to go with it. The Lions’ secondary had very few positive plays, as safety Thomas Harper made a nice pass deflection, but that was the only highlight of the game by them. The Chiefs only punted the ball once all night.
Joseph left the game briefly and luckily did return, but that will be something to monitor here in the final game before the bye week. No unit on this team is more excited for a week off than the defensive back group, and hopefully, in preparation for the Minnesota Vikings, the unit will be back to almost full strength. After the game, Branch started an altercation with the Chiefs, and it wouldn’t surprise me if the NFL not only fines him but suspends him, too.
After allowing the Chiefs to mindlessly move down the field on the opening drive of the second half, the Lions were in a must-score situation. Detroit got back-to-back first downs and were suddenly on the Chiefs’ side of the field.
After a run for a gain of 2 by running back Jahmyr Gibbs, it was second-and-8, and Lions offensive coordinator John Morton called a horrible screen pass that turned into a loss of three. Needing 5-7 yards to get them into field goal range, and 11 for a first down, Morton decided running… another screen pass was the smartest idea?
The play turned into a 1-yard gain and the Lions were forced to punt. This season, I’ve noticed when the team is losing or in a must-have kind of drive, screens are something Morton leans on and they haven’t had much success with them. Screens can work, but in a situation like the one above, it was a...
