The NFL is back! Lions fans have been waiting for this day for some time; the first look at the 2023 edition of the Detroit football team comes tonight.
The trip to Kansas City will be on everyone’s attention on Thursday night. A national broadcast audience gets to see what all the hype surrounding the Lions is all about. They also get to see the defending Super Bowl champion Chiefs in action.
Buy Lions TicketsThese Chiefs are a different team than the one hoisting the Lombardi Trophy seven months ago. To help get caught up on the changes and what to better expect in the game, I asked Chiefs Wire editor John Dillon a few questions about Kansas City.
Obviously the Travis Kelce injury changes the dynamic for the Chiefs offense. What can they did to minimize his (likely) absence?
Kelce’s injury is obviously a huge blow, but Andy Reid is known to adapt his schemes to any situation. Though Kelce’s absence will certainly make things more difficult than they may otherwise be, Noah Gray is a legitimate receiving threat who could hit the Lions hard if they don’t properly gameplan for him. Blake Bell has proven to be a decent second and third option for Kansas City in the past as well and has experience operating in a Patrick Mahomes-led offense. Expect Andy to get both of the Chiefs’ backup tight ends involved early and often.
On the other side of the ball, Chris Jones also needs to be replaced. How will the Chiefs adjust to life without their best defensive player?
There is simply no replacing Chris Jones. Ideally, Charles Omenihu would help fill the void, but he is suspended for the first six games of Kansas City’s 2023 regular season. The best-case scenario for the Chiefs would be a dominant showing from rookie Keondre Coburn, but fans in K.C. aren’t holding their breath. Spags will have to get creative to overcome the Chiefs’ lack of depth up front.
Did the Chiefs starters play in the preseason, and how did they look?
Kansas City’s starters played sparingly in the preseason and didn’t do anything particularly spectacular. The first-team defense looked extremely bad against the Saints in the first exhibition game, but that is hardly an indication of how they’ll play on Thursday.
All in all, we didn’t really see enough from the starters to say whether the first-team units on either side of the ball are “in rhythm” ahead of this game, but as they are the defending Super Bowl champions, it should be assumed that they will have their ducks in a row.
What’s one thing about the Lions that worries you from a Chiefs standpoint?
Didn’t Dan Campbell say he was coaching his guys to eat knees, or something like that? The Chiefs’ offensive line better show up to play. It goes without saying that an injury to Patrick Mahomes would all but doom Kansas City’s season.
Other than that, I think the Chiefs’ defense matches up reasonably well against Detroit on paper, though their play against the run has been hit or miss in recent years.
Give me one unheralded Chiefs player that Lions fans need to know about
This is a tough one because so many guys are basically household names after the Chiefs’ Super Bowl LVII win. I’ll go with Mike Danna, though. Gritty defensive lineman. Not the biggest, not the fastest, but the guy has a nose for the ball. He’s also a Michigan guy, born in Detroit, played collegiately at Central Michigan and for the Wolverines, so maybe there’s a bit of local appeal to picking him, too.
Tershawn Wharton would usually be my pick here, but Kansas City has him on the PUP list, so he won’t play against the Lions. He went to Missouri S&T, which is a division two school where all the smart kids in the Show Me State go, and is an absolute beast when he plays. The loss of Jones wouldn’t be so crushing if Wharton was in.
Who wins and why?
It would go against every fiber of my being to predict the Detroit Lions to beat Patrick Mahomes, but if ever there was a game that they could sneak one out on the reigning MVP, this is probably the one. Obviously, Jones’ absence, Kelce’s injury earlier in the week, and Kadarius Toney’s injury in training camp are all working in Detroit’s favor here. Goff got the better of K.C. back in 2018 in that insane double 50-burger game against the Rams, but it was also Mahomes’ first year starting, and that Rams team was extra special.
I’m taking the Chiefs because Kansas City has the reigning MVP on its side and Detroit will be in the belly of the beast at Arrowhead. Whether the Chiefs (who are favored) will cover the spread, though, is a different question entirely. I’m expecting a close one, maybe even a barnburner, but also something special from Pat with his back against the wall potentially down Jones and Kelce.
