Lions Run Over Chiefs Celebration of Super Bowl Title – The Analysis

September 8th, 2023, 07:15 PM CST ? By Ryan J. Van Dever

As college football season has arrived, the entire football community, especially NFL fans, has patiently awaited the season. Since?Super Bowl LVII?ended when the?Philadelphia Eagles?lost to the?Kansas City Chiefs?in a score of 38-35, fans have been begging for more, from free agency acquisitions to the NFL Draft to Organized Team Activities (OTA's), training camp, and preseason football games. Finally, the season is upon us; the wait is over!

The Super Bowl LVII Champions Kansas City Chiefs play the surging Detroit Lions (winners of eight of their last ten last season).?

The Lions have added?depth?to just about every position. The Lions don't have a single dominant position, but they do have depth. Depth in the NFL is a fantastic tool, making the Lions a tough team this season. They ended their last season winning eight of their last ten games, as previously stated, but what wasn't said was that they just barely missed the playoffs. If they would have made the playoffs, the NFC could have been a completely different picture.

Conversely, the Chiefs lost?JuJu Smith-Schuster?in free agency (a significant loss for the WR corps). The WR corps needs to be more experienced; there will be some growing pains here. Kadarius Toney was?injured?during training camp, and in the preseason, he didn't play a single snap. The Chiefs see him as their No. 1 wide receiver.?Chris Jones?hasn't signed an extension and is adamant about getting paid 32 million/per year. With that being said, Travis Kelce, the Chiefs' top pass catcher last season,?hyperextended his knee?in practice on Wednesday and will not play. In terms of winning this game against the Lions, that is catastrophic news for the Chiefs and fans alone. Of all the things that could kill them, Kelce's injury will do them in.

The first drive for the Lions was not anything to write home about; it was a three-and-out.?David Montgomery?ran the ball on the first play for seven yards, and the next two were incompletions. Defensive line pressure for the Chiefs had a lot to do with that. The Lions punted to the Chiefs. Why the Lions didn't run more on that possession is beyond me when they know that the leader of that defense, Defensive Tackle Chris Jones, is out.

On the Chiefs first drive, they got one first down, a little bit of both the run and the pass involving?Clyde Edwards-Helaire. The possession ended when Mahomes had too much pressure to get through and had to improvise, forcing him to scramble, but he came up short on the 3rd and 5. Everybody knew Patrick Mahomes would face consistent pressure from the Lions defensive line; he seemed to be on the run a lot in this possession. If the Chiefs can't shore up that offensive line, it will be a long day for that offense.

On the second drive for the Lions, they go three and out. Or so we thought. On 4th and 1, the Lions go for the fake punt inside the 20-yard line.?Amon-Ra St. Brown?got open on a crossing route. Jahmyr Gibbs gives the Lions their first down of the drive, spinning off of tacklers. You could see him show off his speed. The running attack is going off without a hitch; they are running many different formations to add confusion to the Chiefs defense. The power run by Montgomery and the speed by Gibbs is a good combination. You can see why the Lions?drafted?Gibbs so high and with their first-round pick.?Jared Goff?capped off the drive with a touchdown pass to Amon-Ra St. Brown—a 91-yard drive.

Mahomes to?Justin Watson; great connection for a 3rd and eighth conversion. Mahomes turned on the Jets to get the first down. Pacheco still runs like he's beating the ground with his feet. You can tell there isn't a comfort level with Mahomes and his wide receivers; there needs to be an explosive guy with Kelce out. Kadarius Toney is not the fierce guy he was expected to be. Rashee Rice gets involved with a touchdown pass from Mahomes to finish their drive. It was an excellent moment for him since he struggled with drops in the preseason mightily. 13 play drive, seven pass plays. The game is now tied up at 7.

The Lion's Bread and Butter is the play-action pass from Jared Goff and a crossing route from St. Brown. The Chiefs are getting a good rush but need to disrupt the passing game more. Jared Goff is threading the needle with his passes. He started the game off 0-3 but has grown more confident, and the 1st quarter has progressed. The Chief's defense came up with a fumble recovery in the red zone, stopping the Lions drive. McDuffie forced the fumble, recovered by Safety Bryan Cook, containing an 11-play 60-yard drive. The Lions had the pulse of this game, a crushing turnover that stopped the possession. This could be the turning point of the first half, if not the game.

Back-to-back big plays for the Chiefs on this drive of 34 yards to Marquez Valdes-Scantling and to Justin Watson for 26 yards. The Chiefs scored on the next play with a pass from Mahomes to Blake Bell.

More importantly, there's only 34 seconds left before halftime. Excellent time management on this drive, starting the possession with 2:02 left in the second quarter. It was a mistake by the Lions to punt it before the two-minute warning, giving the Chiefs an extra play. The chunk plays that drive is what killed the Lions.

Halftime Thoughts

The Lions are going toe to toe with the Chiefs in this first game of the NFL season, but they made a few critical mistakes in the 2nd quarter: the Marvin Jones fumble in the red zone, the 3rd and 17, and the broken coverages that led to the last Chiefs score before the half.?

The Lions must give some of David Montgomery's carries to Jamyr Gibbs. Gibbs is a much more electrifying running back with chances of more breakout yards.

It is no surprise that Patrick Mahomes is the best in the world at the quarterback position; it is effortless to see that he is. His split-second decisions to leave the pocket at the right time for a scramble, the pinpoint accuracy. His intangibles are off the charts.

Second Half

A perfect throw by Mahomes hits Kadarius Toney right in the hands, gets tipped, and is intercepted and ran back for a touchdown. Toney has been know to have issues with ball control in recent history. Having no reps in training camp and no preseason gameplay resulted in a pick-six for Brian Branch of the Lions. That interception breaks Mahomes?opening-day?streak of 20 straight touchdowns before that pick.

On the ensuing drive, the Lions dodged a massive bullet with Valdes-Scantling being wide open deep down the middle, and Mahomes missed him for what would have been a touchdown. Instead, he throws high to a shorter wide receiver and a Chiefs punt. Can the Lions take advantage and get the pulse of this game back? We will see.

There is one thing I can say about this game that will stand true: the Detroit Lions have a better offensive line and better offensive weapons, especially with Travis Kelce for the Chiefs being inactive tonight. The Chiefs have Patrick Mahomes, Andy Reid, and a bunch of guys. If the Chiefs stand a chance for the rest of this game, it will land on Mahomes' shoulders, being the improvising playmaker, he is.

The Chiefs wide receivers and tight ends are not creating any separation when the Lions go into man-to-man coverage. These particular players are accomplishing one thing in this game: plenty of drops in critical situations. Dropped passes by the Chiefs ended in the drive stalling and the Lions holding them to a field goal.

Putting this into perspective as to how masterful Patrick Mahomes is, he leads the Chiefs in rushing yards and has targeted through three quarters. He is trying everything to separate the Chiefs from the Lions. Buckle up for an exciting fourth quarter with the Chiefs up 20-14.?

The Lions defense has had solid defensive stands preventing the Chiefs from getting a touchdown but instead holding them to two field goals in the last two drives. The Lions holding the Chiefs to two field goals keeps them in this game.

The Lions have done a masterful job on this drive in the fourth quarter, where they have needed to have a long drive that wears down the defense. They have been very unpredictable, coming out with different formations and giving the defense for the Chiefs different looks. The running game is starting to play more consistently for the Lions as they score a touchdown and now lead 21-20. The Chiefs defense is wearing down, and Chris Jones's absence is a glaring hole in the defensive schemes that have been exposed on a monumental level.

If you think about it, the Lions have no business even being in this game. A dropped catch by Kadarius Toney turns into a Pick six, giving them seven points. The Chiefs are in the red zone twice with second and short, 3rd and short type situations, and need help converting. Somehow, the Lions are winning right now. The unpredictability of the NFL week by week is why fans love this sport.

The topic of this game for the Chiefs is the inconsistency and the constant drops from the wide receivers and tight ends, especially in critical situations. The Chiefs had eight drops. The Lions defense is good, but these drops are easily catchable balls. Kadarius Toney not being in training camp and no preseason games has put him behind the curve. He struggled on this night. Without Kelce, the Chiefs have had issues maintaining any scoring drive.?

There are few playmakers. A ton of missed opportunities for the Chiefs tonight. Whether Kelce is healthy or not, the Chiefs have much work to do on offense. Surely, Kadarius Toney (one reception for one yard) and?Skyy Moore?(zero receptions) can't be this bad.

Final Thoughts

Chiefs fans have not had a feeling like this in a long time. Holding the Chiefs to two field goals in the Fourth quarter when the Lions defense clamped up. They had a third and short and a second and short that should have been converted, but instead, they had to settle for field goals. The Chiefs needed help to get something going with the constant drops in critical situations. Kadarius Toney, who could have had a huge catch and redeemed himself, ended up having his final drop on what would have been a touchdown.?

Toney's most grievous drop came in the Chiefs' final drive. Trailing by one point with a little more than two minutes left, the Chiefs had a flawless play called against the Lions' zone coverage. The call was a deep over route; Toney would end up being wide open for what would've been at least a 25-yard completion, a completion that would've put the Chiefs close to Harrison Butker's range for a game-winning field goal. But this did not become a reality. As the Chiefs fans booed Toney, you could see Mahomes put his hands on his helmet in exasperation. A look that would explain the whole night.

The Chiefs defense had a solid outing, giving up 14 points. On the final touchdown drive for the Lions, you could see the defensive front for the Chiefs wear down as the Lions could do anything they wanted. With Chris Jones out of the lineup due to a contract holdout that left massive holes for Jahmyr Gibbs and David Montgomery to run through, at the very least, it allowed the Lions to dictate the game's tempo.

On the flip side, this is an excellent win for the Lions. Beating the Chiefs and Patrick Mahomes at home on a night they were unveiling their championship banner. The offensive lineman for the Lions dominated the Chiefs on this occasion. They constantly got to the second level, blocking the linebackers and safeties. The Lions had much hype this off-season, adding some essential depth to skill positions through the draft and free agency. The fan base for the Lions has expectations this season. After the Lions won eight of their last ten games to finish the season, they barely missed the playoffs. Beating the defending Super Bowl champions at Arrowhead Stadium is a great start to those expectations. Because of how the Lions ended last season, the fan's expectations for this team were raised, and on this night, the Detroit Lions elevated their play. This was a week one matchup, so it's hard to draw too many conclusions from this game. Lions fans have to feel good about this win, though; the euphoria has to be phenomenal.?

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