Chiefs at Lions, Week 4: OPEN THREAD – this is supposed to be the week when the Kansas City Chiefs have their first lull in the schedule… only it may not be that at all. The Detroit Lions have not been beaten this year and sit at 2-0-1 and they feel they should have won that game against the Cardinals which of course, would then make them 3-and-0. The Chiefs? They’re working towards a 4th straight win.
Patrick Mahomes 20-Game Record
Over the past 20 regular season games, which represents all of the games Patrick Mahomes has started, the Chiefs have won those games by an average margin of 10 points while every time they lost, it’s by a much smaller margin: 3.5 points per game. So, even in the game Mahomes loses, he gives the team a chance to win until the last second.
The Patrick Mahomes led Chiefs are 16-and-4 over that span which turns out to be a .800 winning percentage. For those not following along with sports analytics or the winning percentage thingy… anything over .600 pct. is very good, so, .800 pct is rarified air.
How does that compare to the other great QBs of this era and prior. The first 20 games of other notable quarterbacks are:
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- .700 – 14-6 – Tom Brady
- .250 – 5-15 – Peyton Manning
- .400 – 8-12 – Drew Brees
- .400 – 8-12 – Aaron Rodgers
- .550 – 11-9 – Joe Montana
- .150 – 3-17 – Troy Aikman
- .600 – 12-8 – Brett Favre
- .650 – 13-7 – John Elway
- .550 – 11-9 – Johnny Unitas
- .850 – 17-3 – Otto Graham*
- .900 – 18-2 – Dan Marino**
*Otto Graham is a little known quarterback because he played before 
so many current NFL fans were born but he is the greatest quarterback of all time, without a doubt (go to his Biography site here). He’s like a cross between the Michael Jordan and Bill Russell of his era. He took the Cleveland Browns to 10 championships and was named an All Pro 15 times. That’s right, fifteen times. The stats listed above are from 1950, Graham’s 5th year in the league, because they didn’t keep those stats prior to that.
**Dan Marino is perhaps the best passer I have ever seen. He not only went 18-and-2 in his first 20 starts but went to a Super Bowl in his first full season as a starter amassing 5,084 yards in the air that year. Marino’s teams never reached the Super Bowl after that but, he should be mentioned any time the subject of the GOAT arises.
What’s the Point?
The point of bringing all of that up is… anything can still happen. Not only in the game today but during the length of Patrick Mahomes career. On the other hand, I’ve heard talk of PMII possibly reaching the 100,000 yards passing in his career (video here –> MCNBC Sports) which would put the record so far out of reach it’s unfathomable. The current All-time passing yards leader is Peyton Manning, with 71,940 yards.
Today’s opponent is led by QB Matthew Stafford who has more than 39,000 yards passing as he begins his 11th year in the league. Stafford has reached the 5,000 passing yards in a season as well and can be formidable. Although his overall record is 69-75-1, he’s led the lowly Lions to 4 winning seasons and went to a Pro Bowl in 2014. So, he’s got the talent but, he hasn’t always had the support around him to get the job done. With new head coach Matt Patricia coming in last year from the New England Patriots, he’s also brought a never-say-die attitude to the team, which is beginning to bare fruit. The Lions may have finished at 6-and-10 last year but they have yet to lose a game this year having faced the Cardinals, Chargers and Eagles.
The Un-Weather Report
No weather report is needed for this game and some Lions fans are said to be hyping this game more simply because Patrick Mahome has never played and started a whole game in a domed stadium, which Ford Field is. I would think the firm footing and predictable surface would be cause for concern, for Lions fans, more than those scary rafters.
AFC West Divisional Games
The Oakland Raiders will be visiting the Indianapolis Colts today at noon and I expect the Colts to win that one. They are a better team than many were expecting without Andrew Luck. The Raiders are a worse team than most thought.
If the Los Angeles Chargers don’t beat the Dolphins… well, let’s just all agree, they WILL beat the Dolphins.
Later this afternoon, the Jacksonville Jaguars will face off against the Denver Broncos in Denver. While the Broncos are “un-won” so far this year and although I think they are headed for a 4-and-12 or even a 3-and-13 season record, I can see them beating the Jags. The odds are in their favor, since it is a home game for them, and considering how poorly the Jags look this year, its should be a Broncos victory. Maybe. How’s that for decisiveness.
Injury Reports
Here’s how the Lions looked this week during practices and how their players landed on the Injury Report:
Here’s a statement about Matthew Stafford from USA Today:
“Matthew Stafford was a surprise addition to the Detroit Lions’ injury report Friday as the team listed him as questionable for Sunday’s game against the Kansas City Chiefs with a hip injury. Stafford was a limited participant in practice Friday, but there are no signs yet that his injury is serious. He has made 131 consecutive starts, tied for fourth most among all players in the NFL, and was in good spirits and moving around easily in the locker room after practice.”
Here’s the Chiefs week with injuries:
Both Fisher and Hill are likely still a month away. Hill won’t surprise me if he’s brought back sooner. However, I’m in favor of resting him as much as possible to minimize any recurrence of injury. I don’t expect any of the other players on this list to miss the game today.
The Trap Trap
For Chiefs fans wondering if this is a “Trap Game”… I don’t think it is at all. Usually, a trap game occurs when a team is looking forward to a contest the next week and that is not the case here in the least. The next two weeks will feature the Colts, and then the Texans, at Arrowhead Stadium for a couple of Home games. Important? Yes, but not the kind of games that would get the players looking beyond Detroit.
Meme Wars Revisited
Michael Travis Rose wrote a great piece on Friday afternoon called, “The Great Meme War of 2019: Chiefs vs Lions” in which he shares some of the fun Memes that Chiefs fans and Lions fans have been tossing back and forth this week. Travis says he’ll keep us updated each week if the Meme Wars rear their head coming from other teams the Chiefs face. 🤣 You can always go to his piece to catch up on the fun (click the link above). Here’s another to keep your whistle whetted:
There's a meme war going on between r/detroitlions and r/kansascitychiefs right now after this beauty was posted on the lions subreddit by a chiefs fan pic.twitter.com/PQ4pkPtYWi
— Jordon (@JTrainAComin) September 25, 2019
Hit Me With Your Best Shot
It’s worth repeating if you haven’t heard this before but, when a championship level team comes to town, you give them your best shot and I think thats what will happen today. It helps Detroit that their head coach was with the Patriots two years ago but if that was the true measure of what it means to be a good NFL coach, more Belichick protégés would be excellent NFL head coaches… and they are not. I think that the Chiefs DL line coach, Brendan Daly, will have more to do with the outcome of this one than Mr. Patricia. I haven’t projected the final outcome of a game this year yet so now is the time. I am all in on the idea that the Chiefs are a team on the rise and this is a game when they can make a statement. I think most of the matchups favor the Chiefs so I’m going with a final score of: Chiefs 45, Lions 17.
Laddie Morse — ArrowheadOne
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