The Detroit Lions traveled to Arrowhead Stadium and shocked the defending Super Bowl champion Kansas City Chiefs, giving football fans the first big surprise of the 2023 season.
Offensive spotlight: Travis Kelce didn’t play in this game, and as a result, Mahomes was forced to spread the ball around to 11 different pass-catchers, completing 21-of-39 passes for 226 yards and two touchdowns. He also added 45 yards with his legs on six rushes, but he couldn’t win the game alone. Mahomes’ receivers combined for five drops, including three from Kadarius Toney.
Jared Goff connected with Amon-Ra St. Brown for the game's first touchdown, but it took until halfway through the fourth quarter for the offense to get back on the board. Goff led a 75-yard touchdown drive on the back of 51 Josh Reynolds receiving yards and a David Montgomery rushing touchdown to give the Lions a fourth-quarter lead. And that ended up being enough, as the Chiefs’ offense couldn’t get back on track.
Defensive spotlight: Chiefs’ second-year cornerback and 2022 first-round pick Trent McDuffie took over the primary slot role late last year and into the playoffs, which continued tonight. He made a significant impact in that role, forcing a fumble as the Lions were entering the red zone in the second quarter. He also recorded eight tackles — and three defensive stops — grading above 75.0 on first review.
Rookie spotlight: Lions second-round rookie defensive back Brian Branch manned the slot in his NFL debut and made a significant impact by returning an interception for a touchdown. Branch was targeted three times in coverage and allowed only one reception for 3 yards, allowing an NFL passer rating of 2.8 on throws into his coverage. He added three tackles and two defensive stops.
BRIAN BRANCH PICK 6 IN HIS NFL DEBUT
pic.twitter.com/nmC1PMmZDx— PFF (@PFF) September 8, 2023
The Lions' other rookies all played part-time roles, including Jahmyr Gibbs, who looked electric with the ball in his hands, averaging 6.0 yards per carry on seven attempts while adding two receptions for 18 yards. Tight end Sam LaPorta played 75% of the team’s pass snaps and totaled five receptions on five targets for 39 yards. First-round rookie linebacker Jack Campbell played less than half of the team’s defensive snaps but had a nice pass breakup in coverage against Kadarius Toney.
Box Score
Passing
Detroit Lions |
||||||||
| Player | Fantasy | Comp/Att | Yds | YPA | TD | Int | Sacks | Rtg |
| Jared Goff | 14.0 | 22 / 35 | 253 | 7.2 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 94.1 |
Kansas City Chiefs |
||||||||
| Player | Fantasy | Comp/Att | Yds | YPA | TD | Int | Sacks | Rtg |
| Patrick Mahomes | 20.5 | 21 / 39 | 226 | 5.8 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 77.5 |
Rushing
Detroit Lions |
|||||||
| Player | Fantasy | Car | Yds | YPC | TD | Long | Fum Lost |
| Jared Goff | 14.0 | 5 | -1 | -0.2 | 0 | 2 | 0 |
| David Montgomery | 13.4 | 21 | 74 | 3.5 | 1 | 8 | 0 |
| Jahmyr Gibbs | 8.0 | 7 | 42 | 6.0 | 0 | 18 | 0 |
| Jalen Reeves-Maybin | 0.3 | 1 | 3 | 3.0 | 0 | 3 | 0 |
Kansas City Chiefs |
|||||||
| Player | Fantasy | Car | Yds | YPC | TD | Long | Fum Lost |
| Patrick Mahomes | 20.5 | 6 | 45 | 7.5 | 0 | 16 | 0 |
| Rashee Rice | 11.6 | 1 | -3 | -3.0 | 0 | -3 | 0 |
| Isiah Pacheco | 9.4 | 8 | 23 | 2.9 | 0 | 7 | 0 |
| Clyde Edwards-Helaire | 3.9 | 6 | 22 | 3.7 | 0 | 5 | 0 |
| Kadarius Toney | 1.0 | 1 | -1 | -1.0 | 0 | -1 | 0 |
| Skyy Moore | 0.4 | 1 | 4 | 4.0 | 0 | 4 | 0 |
Receiving
Detroit Lions |
|||||||
| Player | Fantasy | Tgt | Rec | Yds | YPT | YPR | TD |
| Amon-Ra St. Brown | 19.1 | 9 | 6 | 71 | 7.9 | 11.8 | 1 |
| Josh Reynolds | 12.0 | 7 | 4 | 80 | 11.4 | 20.0 | 0 |
| Sam LaPorta | 8.9 | 5 | 5 | 39 | 7.8 | 7.8 | 0 |
| Jahmyr Gibbs | 8.0 | 2 | 2 | 18 | 9.0 | 9.0 | 0 |
| Brock Wright | 3.7 | 2 | 2 | 17 | 8.5 | 8.5 | 0 |
| Kalif Raymond | 3.0 | 1 | 1 | 20 | 20.0 | 20.0 | 0 |
| Marvin Jones Jr. | 1.8 | 6 | 2 | 8 | 1.3 | 4.0 | 0 |
Kansas City Chiefs |
|||||||
| Player | Fantasy | Tgt | Rec | Yds | YPT | YPR | TD |
| Rashee Rice | 11.6 | 5 | 3 | 29 | 5.8 | 9.7 | 1 |
| Isiah Pacheco | 9.4 | 4 | 4 | 31 | 7.8 | 7.8 | 0 |
| Blake Bell | 9.2 | 3 | 2 | 12 | 4.0 | 6.0 | 1 |
| Marquez Valdes-Scantling | 6.8 | 2 | 2 | 48 | 24.0 | 24.0 | 0 |
| Justin Watson | 6.5 | 4 | 2 | 45 | 11.2 | 22.5 | 0 |
| Noah Gray | 6.1 | 5 | 3 | 31 | 6.2 | 10.3 | 0 |
| Clyde Edwards-Helaire | 3.9 | 1 | 1 | 7 | 7.0 | 7.0 | 0 |
| Jerick McKinnon | 2.0 | 2 | 1 | 10 | 5.0 | 10.0 | 0 |
| Richie James | 1.6 | 2 | 1 | 6 | 3.0 | 6.0 | 0 |
| Justyn Ross | 1.6 | 1 | 1 | 6 | 6.0 | 6.0 | 0 |
| Kadarius Toney | 1.0 | 5 | 1 | 1 | 0.2 | 1.0 | 0 |
| Skyy Moore | 0.4 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0 |
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