Pride of Detroit
The Lions were on pace to make my prediction true last week, but the offense faltered against a struggling defense. The offense got stuck in the mud, even when given a short field. The Lions appeared ready to blow out the Cincinnati Bengals, but the Bengals made the game closer than the score indicated in the fourth quarter, putting up 21 points.
This week, the Lions have a much tougher task at hand. Taking on the defending AFC champion Kansas City Chiefs, while 2-3, won’t be an easy task. The Chiefs are dealing with some early-season struggles, but with a team built like them, you can’t write them off. Remember when quarterback Aaron Rodgers said “R-E-L-A-X” after the Green Bay Packers started 1-2? Or when the New England Patriots had a slow start with Tom Brady as their guy?
I know Rodgers isn’t a popular guy in this neck of the woods, but what I’m trying to get at is it’s too early to count out the Chiefs when they have Patrick Mahomes at quarterback. This team is dealing with issues on both sides of the ball, and help is coming in the form of Rashee Rice, but not until next week. While Mahomes has been doing everything he can on offense, he doesn’t play both sides of the ball. This week could be a shootout, where Lions quarterback Jared Goff could again outdo Mahomes.
The biggest talking point has been how Mahomes is facing a banged-up secondary of the Lions. Detroit will be without starting cornerback D.J. Reed as he’s on IR, and most likely fellow starter Terrion Arnold due to a shoulder injury. With those two sitting, that means the Lions will have Amik Robertson and Rock Ya-Sin as your starting outside cornerbacks with Avonte Maddox starting at nickelback, but even his status is up in the air as he appeared on the injury report Thursday.
While everyone wants to focus on the banged-up Lions’ secondary and how Mahomes should pick them apart, why isn’t anybody talking about Goff having a good game against the Chiefs’ secondary? The Chiefs allowed 318 yards from Los Angeles Chargers quarterback Justin Herbert in the opening week, but have rebounded well since then. In the past four games, the Chiefs have allowed an average of 170.3 yards per game. According to PFF, the Chiefs have the second-best pass coverage grade of 76.9, keeping the Chiefs defense in games.
While the Lions love to run the football, this might be the week they rely on the passing game. Detroit will impose its will on the ground, and the Chiefs will adjust their defense to start loading the box and respecting Detroit’s running game, falling right into their trap. Just when the Chiefs think they will have the Lions figured out, Goff will unleash some play action and start slinging the rock. While, on paper, this should be...
