In the first game of the 2023 NFL season, the upstart Detroit Lions defeated the defending Super Bowl champions, the Kansas City Chiefs, 21-20.
Kansas City had multiple opportunities to win, but was eventually undone by errors from its wide outs. Kadarius Toney had three drops, including one for a pick-six. Skyy Moore performed a drop. Another came from Jerick McKinnon. Toney gave up yards on a jet sweep on second-and-1, resulting in a field goal instead of a touchdown drive. Rashee Rice later missed yards on a third-and-1 reverse, resulting in a punt on a first down. Throughout the game, they let Patrick Mahomes down.
When their opponents provided an opening, the Lions benefited from it. They were down 14-7 at the half but put together a nine-play, 75-yard drive that mostly involved David Montgomery and Jahmyr Gibbs finding lanes in the run game and ended with Montgomery crashing into the end zone for the eventual game-winning score after Toney's drop resulted in rookie defensive back Brian Branch tying the game at 14 and mistakes by the Chiefs led to two promising drives ending in field goals.
After the Lions turned the ball over on downs close to midfield, the Chiefs had one more opportunity to construct a game-winning drive, but Toney's third drop, followed by holding penalties on Donovan Smith and Jawaan Taylor, dashed their hopes. The Chiefs returned the ball on downs themselves, and the Lions finished the game off to win a 1-0 season start as the champions fell to a 0-1.
They fought the battle. Perhaps cliche, but in a nasty game for both teams, this club exemplified its head coach's grit-it-out ethos, as seen by a slow but ultimately critical ground game and tough play from a better secondary.
On 21 carries as the steady "weapon" of Detroit's offense, David Montgomery didn't find many open holes (rookie Jahmyr Gibbs was much more dynamic in limited work, averaging 6.7 yards per touch), but he did help Dan Campbell's team win the time-of-possession fight. Jared Goff was as effective, specializing on ball control. Despite this, it was the "D," led by rookies Brian Branch, C.J. Gardner-Johnson, and Jack Campbell, who helped seal the deal by putting their hands all over inaccurate throws and untrustworthy young wide outs on the Chiefs' offense. end. They'll need to tidy things up if they want to keep winning, but they had the necessary punch.
So what about Patrick Mahomes' claim that he doesn't need a sure thing at wide receiver? Yes, it was put to the test when star tight end Travis Kelce was injured. Andy Reid's innovation was used clumsily this time, which didn't help, as he took the ball out of Mahomes' hands on a vital late third down. The pass-catching corps, though, was the glaring culprit in this setback, with youngsters like Kadarius Toney and Skyy Moore consistently struggling to hold onto the ball.
Mahomes was magical on a single drive, which featured a long shot to Marquez Valdes-Scantling, but his frustrations seemed to seep into his play, as he sailed multiple downfield targets over or under his wideouts. Still, It was terrible to see him continuously distribute the ball about on a night when he had virtually no ground assistance (other than his own legs), only for Toney and Moore to blow multiple wide-open opportunities. Nothing was ever perfectly timed.
The Chiefs stayed in this one until the last minute or two, but their final few drives indicate major offensive flaws. With more over six minutes remaining, Reid called a straight snap to tight end Blake Bell, who subsequently passed the ball to rookie Rashee Rice, only for Detroit to easily stuff it.
The Lions would go on to turn the ball over on downs on their following drive, but it didn't matter since Reid's unit flopped again on K.C.'s next try. This time, left tackle Donovan Smith's holding penalty negated a large gain, and Reid failed to convert a fourth-and-20 from his own 35, despite having two minutes and three timeouts. The entire process appeared to imply that, unlike in previous years, Mahomes and Reid did not have a surprise under their sleeves. And all the Lions had to do was keep hammering on the ground to seal the deal.
Writing By Kennedy Lucas Patterson
Head Editor Kennedy Lucas
Presented By "Kennedy Lucas & Associates
© 2023 "Kennedy Lucas Patterson" Entertainment
© 2023 Kennedy Lucas & Associates
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