The Detroit Lions came from behind to complete a memorable NFL Week One victory over reigning Super Bowl champions, the Kansas City Chiefs. The victory marked the first time the Lions have beaten the Chiefs since 2011 and came with a strong performance from Dan Campbell’s men.
The scores were locked at 14-14 well into the third quarter before two field goals from Harrison Butker put the Chiefs 20-14 ahead at the Arrowhead Stadium, but the Lions responded well with a David Montgomery touchdown, with the extra point putting Detroit ahead with seven minutes left on the clock, a lead they maintained.
It was the first time the Chiefs had lost on home soil since last October and saw Lions quarterback Jared Goff outdo his rival Patrick Mahomes, throwing for 253 yards to his opponent’s 226, where he also completed a higher percentage of passes.
The win will have given Lions fans hope of a strong season and perhaps even a return to the postseason, having missed out on such a run since 2016. Fans wanting to place a wager on such an outcome should check out Caesars Sportsbook, and this review gives you an in-depth assessment of the household name to further enhance your experience.
Campbell was very upbeat after the win, unsurprisingly, and appears confident about what his roster can achieve this season, stating;
“I didn’t learn anything. I got verification of what I already knew,”
“And this is a resilient team. It already was a resilient team, and we added pieces to that resilient team. We’re built to handle some stuff, and we did that today against a very good opponent.”
“I love the fact our guys never wavered; it was something we talked about,”
“We knew we’d hit some tough spots in this game and that happened and nobody got down and we hung in there. I told the team they’re built for this.”
“We expected to win this game. We came in here and we knew what we needed to do, and we knew it wasn’t going to be easy and we did that. Really what it means is that’s one [win]. That’s one. So, we’ve got to clean up our issues. It hurt us on some stuff and be ready for Seattle in 10 days. That’s what it is.”
“I told the team we were built for this,” Campbell added.
There was some mitigation for the loss with Mahomes being without Travis Kelce, with the tight end out with a knee injury suffered during practice. The Chiefs quarterback saw a number of his passes dropped by his receivers, but Mahomes is sure that they will up their game in the coming weeks, commenting;
“They know I’m going to keep firing; we’ll get it fixed in this next week and correct it going into the next game,”
“You’re losing the best tight end of all time, but other guys have to step up in moments because there’s times when he gets doubled.
“We’re going to have to rely on these other guys who are young and talented to step up and make plays. I believe they will,” Mahomes concluded.