Lions can beat Chiefs: Don’t get caught sleeping on Detroit

This Sunday the Kansas City Chiefs will be at Ford Field to face the Detroit Lions in a battle of the unbeatens. Let’s take a look at how Detroit can win …

On Sunday, September 29th the Kansas City Chiefs will roll into Ford Field to face the Detroit Lions in what many believe will be a shootout between the two offenses. This may come to fruition, but I for one am not convinced this would be the best route to take. Detroit wants this win and a shootout is not how to get it.

Both the Lions and Chiefs enter this showdown undefeated. The Chiefs currently sit at 3-0, while the Lions are at a healthy 2-0-1 record. This will be an excellent matchup as the Chiefs love to air it out and the Lions love to thwart any attempts to do so.

The Chiefs are led by what appears to be a young phenom at the quarterback position in Patrick Mahomes. He can make throws that you wouldn’t even think of, no matter what angle or how his feet are set.

Mahomes has one of the strongest and most accurate arms in the NFL. He reads defenses like a 10-year veteran. Mahomes also scrambles and extends plays with the best of them. There really isn’t anything that he can’t do. He is young and very dangerous for opposing defenses.

The Chiefs are going to be without wide receiver Tyreek Hill and starting running back Damien Williams against Detroit. Wide receivers Sammy Watkins and Mecole Hardman are good to go and they are legitimate concerns as well. Sprinkle in their superstar tight end Travis Kelce and veteran running back LeSean McCoy, and the Lions find themselves with their work cut out for them.

Make no mistake, to win this game is a very tall task for the Lions. Still, Detroit has the talent to get it done and the Lions coaching staff has been scheming extremely well. Detroit will need to play disciplined and focused for the entirety of the ball game to successfully pull out a win. A full four-quarter effort is a must and they have to finish drives on offense. Field goals will not cut it against Kansas City.

The Lions have a really good secondary that is ready to cover up the Chiefs dangerous receivers. These Lions defensive backs will be a good challenge for the Chiefs. Mahomes and company may get lucky and the Lions just might be without superstar cornerback Darius Slay, due to injury. That will still leave two other awful good corners for the Chiefs to deal with in Rashaan Melvin and Justin Coleman.

Detroit covered and controlled Eagles tight end Zach Ertz quite sufficiently last week in their win against Philadelphia. The Lions will hope to continue that success against Travis Kelce this Sunday. It will be a bigger challenge than they had in Philly last week, due to the way Kansas City can spread the offense with their speed all over the place. Kelce will have his moments.

It is widely believed that this game will be a shoot out. I don’t think that would be in the best interest of Detroit. This shouldn’t be a battle of quarterbacks, as exciting as that would be. No, this should be the game where running back Kerryon Johnson gets his wheels turning. The Chiefs give up a ton of yards on the ground and I believe this is how you have to beat them.

The Chiefs are giving up 395.7 yards per game. Out of that, 137.7 come from the ground. Last week against the Baltimore Ravens, the Chiefs gave up over 200 yards on the ground. The Lions could have a field day in this area if they stick to it. Detroit has a good stable of running backs behind Kerryon Johnson. Ty Johnson, J.D. McKissic, and fullback Nick Bawden are all excellent at what they do.

Detroit needs to get its running game rolling and pound the rock all game long. If they can sustain long drives and successfully score touchdowns in the redzone, the Lions can absolutely win this game. It all starts and ends with running the ball.

If Detroit thinks they are going to go out and have a quarterback battle, they will not win this game. The Lions need to take what the defense is going to give them. Chances are, the defense is going to give Detroit plenty of running lanes. The Lions need to take them and control the clock.

This will allow Detroit’s defense to stay fresh and it will take time away from Mahomes to do his damage. Trying to sling the ball around all game will not take time off of the clock and Mahomes will have more opportunities. An air attack will also put the Lions defense on the field much more, causing them to gas.

Lions quarterback Matthew Stafford has shown up on the injury report for this week with a hip injury. He is listed as “limited”. With no official word, I still suspect Stafford will play on Sunday. This guy plays no matter what. It would take a broken back to… Well… Nevermind.

PREDICTION

The Detroit Lions will find it’s running game and they flaunt it against Kansas City. The Lions will go with a run-heavy approach and some play-action where they will find prosperity. First downs are what hurts Kansas City the most as it keeps Mahomes off the field. The Lions put together long steady drives, controlling the clock and playing with discipline. I feel like this will be Detroit’s most complete game played so far. It certainly will need to be.

Detroit’s defense has another stout showing in this one. I think the defensive line is going to have a great day against the Chiefs and Detroit’s secondary will continue to ball out. Mahomes is going to be pressured and the crowd will be roaring.

In welcoming Mahomes to his first NFL dome, it ends with just enough on the scoreboard for the Lions to pull off the upset. Don’t tell the fanbase that it is an upset though, as they knew all along and have been telling everyone … Don’t sleep on the Lions.

Your Detroit Lions win by the score of 31-27.