When the Chiefs Play the Lions in Game One

Laddie Morse

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When the Kansas City Chiefs face off against the Detroit Lions in game one to open the NFL season on Thursday evening September 7^th, fireworks will ensue. Not only the kind of off field fireworks that accompany the first game of the league year, but in-game fireworks that will show the world what kind of talent this team – the Chiefs — has in store.

Ever since Dan Campbell took over as the head coach of the Detroit Lions in late January of 2021, the team has been getting better and better going from 3-13-1 in 2021 to 9-and-8 in 2022. They took a three team leap in one season going from dead last to 2^nd place in the NFC North… which used to be called the Black-and-Blue division… but now I just call it Blue. Which, is appropriate since one of their colors is blue.

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The Lions quarterback is Jared Goff, the same QB who used to play for the Los Angeles Rams and was their leading man when the Chiefs lost to them in the high scoring game of 2018: 51-to-54.

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BTW… the Rams have changed their helmets over the years and, although I grew up in the L.A. area… I’m not a fan:

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The Lions have had two kinds of helmets. One with the Lion on the side of it, and the other is just a solid silver helmet:

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Fansided for the Lions has an article called: “Are Lions Teasing a New Helmet?” in which they show this new helmet:

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The Lions may have had a 9-and-8 record last year, but they finished the season on an 8-and-2 streak, only losing to the Panthers and the Bills (which was only a 3-point loss). So, it looks like they’ve found a formula that works for them. Let’s take a look at their 2023 Draft picks. Their first four I am familiar with and they look really solid to me:

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Jahmyr Gibbs is a RB out of Alabama and Brian Branch is a Safety out of Alabama as well. While I’m not usually a fan of players from Alabama and think they lose some luster after entering the NFL… these two should end up being gold for the Lions. It looks like the Lions helped their offense with the first four picks more than they did their Defense: drafting the top RB and a top TE. They may need those two to help them score more this year, but I doubt it will help them in game one.

I’m sure the Lions would love it if this game became another shoot out like the K.C.-L.A. game of 2018 was. That way they could just outscore the Chiefs, and since winning is the name of the game, I’m sure they’d gladly take that. However, the Chiefs defense looks to be much improved with the additions at every level including:

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I’d say the Chiefs Linebackers and the Safeties got the biggest uptick in improvement this offseason. Of course we’ll have to wait-n-see on that one. Here’s some analysis on Anthony Cook (22:56):

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Here’s the Chiefs coaching changes from 2022 to 2023 as well:

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Mike North — the NFL’s Vice President of broadcast shared some reasons why the Lions were picked to begin the Chiefs season:

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“Any of the Kansas City home games would have made for a really good kickoff game. We absolutely looked literally at every single option. Philadelphia would have been interesting — kind of, ‘Pick up the Super Bowl right where left off.’ None of us would have been disappointed if there were another quarter or two in the Super Bowl. We absolutely looked at a continuation of the Super Bowl for kickoff.”

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North went on to say:

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“We looked at Cincinnati and Buffalo — obviously those are two of the biggest competitors for Kansas City in that conference — [but we] ended up saving those for a little bit later in the year. Both games are in December — Buffalo-Kansas City and Cincinnati-Kansas City — so hopefully, the conference title is coming down the stretch in December, [since we were] saving those games for there.”

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North ended this topic by saying they considered any of the AFC West division foe but also said:

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“… we got really intrigued by the two NFC North opponents as possibilities. Chicago’s record — usually a three-win team — doesn’t warrant such a big platform. But Detroit’s record down the stretch? What was it? Eight of the last 10? The last time we all saw them, they were going into Lambeau [and] ruining the Packers’ season. We always talk about, ‘You play your way into primetime. You play your way into the bigger television windows’ — and the Lions have done that.”

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The game promises to be a stellar fight amongst teams that both look like they’re headed to the post-season. Albert Breer for SI.com shares what has happening with their players during the 8-and-2 run they had at the end of last year:

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“Second-year receiver Amon-Ra St. Brown, a fourth-round pick in Holmes’s first draft class, had 106 catches. Rookie edge rusher Aidan Hutchinson, the No. 2 pick in the GM’s second draft, had 9.5 sacks. The team’s other 2022 first-rounder, Jameson Williams, flashed late, coming off an ACL torn in his final college game. The team’s ’21 first-rounder, Penei Sewell, was helping anchor an offensive line that was becoming a legitimate team strength.”

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Breer goes on to share the story of bringing Jared Goff to Detroit:

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“Then, there’s the quarterback who was seen as a salary dump in the Matthew Stafford trade (to be fair, he sort of was on the Rams’ end, since Los Angeles had to shed his number to acquire Stafford), and who threw for 4,438 yards and 29 touchdowns against just seven picks in his second season as Detroit’s starter.”

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While it looks like it may be an easy win for K.C. to begin the 2023 campaign, the reality is, it’s going to be a much tougher game than anyone suspects. Although Andy Reid gets credit for being excellent against team he faces after a break, he’ll have to contend against the improvements that the Lions’ new OC, Ben Johnson, made last year. Here’s a video explaining some of those changes (10:32):

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It looks like this will be a game that LB Nick Bolton will have to step up and take on a lot of tackles in the flat. Same goes for Willie Gay, Leo Chenal, and Drue Tranquill. Are they all up for that opportunity? We’ll find out… but I’d say the Chiefs LBs are going to have an excellent game.

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Laddie Morse — ArrowheadOne

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