Detroit Lions
The Lions proved my prediction wrong last night with a stellar performance at Arrowhead Stadium, holding off Patrick Mahomes and the Kansas City Chiefs and earning a very impressive road win to start a very promising season off right.
Now that said, let us be clear that the Chiefs were not at full strength. Missing on offense was tight end Travis Kelce, and on defense, Chris Paul. They might have made a difference, given how many drops KC receivers seemed to have consistently throughout the night. And on defense, Paul's physical presence might have helped contain the Lions and their physical ground game, particularly late in the game, when they were able to both score and kill the clock late.
Nevertheless, Detroit earned the win. After all, injuries and hold outs are part of the game. The Lions came into this game obviously feeling some confidence - perhaps even swagger - heading into this new season, relishing in their role suddenly as among the favorites. And they played like a team feeling confident.
It should be noted that Detroit's defense played lights out. Granted, Kelce was missing from the lineup, and the Chiefs played uncharacteristically sloppy football last night. I have not seen KC receivers drop so many balls in a game since that Super Bowl loss to Tampa Bay a few seasons ago. That said, the Lions defense also threw them out of rhythm. Mahomes played well, but many of his receivers let him down with those drops. And in the end, Mahomes simply could not do it alone out there.
In the second half in paticular, the Lions defense just turned it up a notch, and actually outscored KC's offense, 7-6. Yes, Detroit's defense outscored the Chiefs offense in the second half. Remember, they got that pick six which, as it turns out, proved to be the difference, given that the Lions won this game by a single point.
A terrific win, and a great start for the Lions, who now have some extra time to enjoy this win, then compose themselves and get ready for the rest of the season. Right now, they are 1-0, and earned themselves a huge road win against one of the toughest opponents out there.
As for the Chiefs, this was a wake-up call. A rude awakening, perhaps. But I remember once how former Giants legendary head coach Bill Parcells suggested that it was good for a team to get their butts kicked every now and again. This loss should show Kansas City that they are not automatically going to be handed anything. I still think that they should be a formidable team, and my guess is that they will look solid by season's end, and that almost everyone will have forgotten this start to the season. Yet if that does happen, it will be because the Chiefs put it together and make things happen on the field of play, because they sure did not do that yesterday against the Lions.
My pick: Inaccurate
No comments:
Post a Comment