Agree. Detroit brought the best game they had, while Kansas City looked as if they felt they could coast. But still, a close enough final score; and it indicates that both teams do indeed need to work on a few things.
Good win for Detroit. I’m certain the Chiefs will be fine. The Lions were cranked up for this one. Goff is more than just a game manager for them, but they appear to have enough around him finally that he won’t have to win games by himself for them.
Of course we’ve all been burned by Detroit before but I’m betting they’re going to have a decent year. Not Super Bowl contenders, but they’ll make the playoffs. I’m pretty sure I’m just going along with the crowd on this one, but I think they’re right this time.
Nice win for the Lions!
For a brief shining moment, the best record in the NFL belongs to the Detroit Lions, and the worst record belongs to the Kansas City Chiefs.
What a world!
Matt Nagy gonna Matt Nagy.
Not sure that loss was on Nagy, he wasn’t the one out there giving points to the Lions and fucking any chance the Chiefs had by dropping passes. I know it cost them a mid and late round draft pick to get Toney and they used a 2nd round pick on Moore, but both those guys would be off my active roster if I were a GM.
Twice in the second half KC had second and short inside the Lions 25 and both times failed to get a first down, settling for field goals. The next possession they had a 3rd and 1 and snapped the ball to Blake Bell, who gave it to a WR, who lost yardage, which resulted in a punt. Short yardage was their bugaboo last year, and they obviously haven’t figured it out this year.
Watching that NFL game, especially that last possession by Kansas City, I had the feeling that the Chiefs’ biggest enemy on the field was the Chiefs.
Seriously… Wide open receiver just drops a ball right in his arms that would have been a huge gain, then a holding penalty, a false start, another drop…
I do feel that the game was a perfect example that the first week of NFL is not an indicator of anything. The Lions are not going to be a great team, they might not even be good (though who knows, maybe they’ll be better than everyone expects), and the Chiefs are not going to fall off a cliff. Kansas City may or may not be back in the Super Bowl, but with that roster and that coaching staff they are going to be one of the better teams in the AFC.
But this is why Week 1 is both fun and terrifying. Anything can happen. It’s a week of upsets and generator of false hopes and dooms. I love it.
As of today, every single team in the NFL has a chance of going undefeated this season… except last year’s Super Bowl winner.
I just read that Toney was getting so much heat he deleted his Twitter account. I guess he got into it with Giants fans over the summer? I missed all that.
So who do the Lions play next? At home? With three days more rest? The Seahawks. Sigh.
The Chiefs certainly shot themselves in the foot multiple times and really should have won. But don’t discount what the Lions did. They came into a hostile stadium against a good team. A not-good team wouldn’t have even been in it. Some of the Chiefs’ drops were ridiculous, like the pick-6 or Toney’s drop on the final “drive”. But others were off-target throws caused by pressure on Mahomes. That stupid 3-1 jet sweep at the end was a dumb play, but it still gets a 1st down against a bad D. The Lions shut down multiple short-yardage attempts in the 2nd half.
And at the end, all the Chiefs needed to do was prevent a 1st down to give Mahomes one more chance to win it, and the Lions completely manhandled them on 3 three straight runs up the middle.
The Lions biggest issue right now is inconsistency - sometimes the O-line looks great, sometimes they have breakdowns. I think it more likely they solve those problems as the season goes on, than they regress from this first game. But as you say, it’s a crapshoot.
Next week will be fun! I expect the Seahawks to gift the Lions with a couple drops as a thank you for last year.
I was impressed by the Lions’ defense. That seems to be a real strength and not a fluke.
Agreed. That, plus some potential playmakers on offense (rookie Jahmir Gibbs, and wideout Amon St. Brown ) lead me to expect the Lions to have a winning record this year. We should remember, too, that quarterback Jared Goff has quarterbacked a team to the Super Bowl. He’s no slouch.
And how can you not love a coach like Dan Campbell? He wanted to bring a live lion to the sidelines for home games. With his enthusiasm and love for his team, you just know there is a lot of cohesion in that locker room.
Well Skyy Moore certainly didn’t look great, but goddamn how is Kadarius Toney still even on the team? I got Jay Feely in Seattle vibes from Toney. In the words of Bill Parcells, he stunk up the joint.
I was initially bummed when the Giants traded Toney to the Chiefs, but with the net effect of that being essentially trading Toney for Waller, I’m over the moon.
Looking it up now, the Raiders drafted WR Tre Tucker with that pick, plus the Giants also got a 6th round pick from the Chiefs, making the three-way trade look like:
Chiefs get WR Kadarius Toney
Raiders get WR Tre Tucker
Giants get TE Darren Waller and CB Tre Hawkins
It’ll be interesting to see how Tucker pans out to see who eventually ends up getting the better end of the deal. I think it’s pretty clear that the Chiefs got the worst of it.
In the meantime, rookie 6th round pick Tre Hawkins apparently won the starting job and will start Sunday night against the Cowboys.
Steelers CB Patrick Peterson channeled his inner Max Schmeling and declared the Kyle Shanahan offense has tells. Further predicting getting an interception and saying Brock Purdy always looks for Christian McCaffrey when in trouble.
Purdy, for his part, was diplomatic in his response, noting he’s a fan of Peterson growing up in Arizona.
Not to jinx anything, but if Peterson does get that INT, it will be his first against the 49ers going back 12 years and 21 previous games.
I don’t have stats on it, but IIRC, Purdy looks to George Kittle more than McCaffrey during his frequent scramble drills.
Season prediction for E A G L E S:
They lose the first four, then win the rest. 
Can’t wait for the Niners rematch!
I know this is so last year, but Toney scored a TD in the SB and had the huge punt return that set up another TD. So KC has received some value in the trade.
David Tyree of “Helmet Catch” fame was cut the following preseason. Just sayin’.
Hell, I would too. Give George the ball and let defenders hang off him like leeches as he plows down the field.