It was supposed to be a celebration with another Super Bowl banner hung. A major vibe of happiness. In the weeks leading up, this game against the Lions was a game a lot of people believed Kansas City would dominate, even without their star defensive tackle Chris Jones who continues to hold out in hopes of getting a contract extension.
But then the team was dealt another unfortunate blow: their star pass catcher, tight end Travis Kelce suffered a hyperextended knee during practice on Tuesday and was unable to play in Thursday’s game. That would turn out to be the big difference in the Chiefs shocking loss over the Detroit Lions on Thursday night, 21-20.
Offense Starts Well, Fizzles Late
In the first half, Patrick Mahomes picked apart the Lions defense even though they only put up 14 points. Mahomes was clinical throwing 12-18 for 142 yards and two touchdowns. One to rookie receiver Rashee Rice. The other touchdown was to backup tight end Blake Bell at the end of the end of the first half. Bell and with Noah Gray were tasked with fulfilling tight end duties in place of Travis Kelce. However, there would be a frustrating theme that would occur during the night: a bad case of the drops. We’ll get to that later on.
Defense Played Decent But Has a Lot to Improve On
It was going to be a tall task for this Chiefs team to play without Chris Jones, particularly with their pass rush. Their one big moment was in the second quarter when Trent Mcduffie forced this fumble to put an end to a potential Lions scoring opportunity. Unfortunately the Chiefs offense could not capitalize on it as they went three and out. Overall, the Chiefs gave up 253 yards through the air and a passing touchdown against Lions quarterback Jared Goff which is somewhat his normal average.
But their biggest problem was not stopping the Lions run game and it really started early when Detroit went on a 14 play, 91 yard touchdown drive in the first quarter which was highlighted by a fake punt on fourth down, which they converted. That drive ended in Jared Goff’s lone touchdown pass of the evening to Amon-Ra St. Brown. Brown ended up with six catches for 71 yards and a touchdown.
For the game, the Lions ran for 118 yards, 74 of which were from David Montgomery who also scored a touchdown last night. Run defense is a major issue right now without Chris Jones because he is their force on the interior and Detroit dominated the trenches, plain and simple. Next week doesn’t get any easier against the Jacksonville Jaguars so we will see how they respond.
Chiefs Receivers Couldn’t Catch a Cold, Let Alone a Pass
The Chiefs had one of their worst offensive performances offensively that I can recall. They had nine dropped passes. None bigger unfortunately than Kadarius Toney’s in the third quarter with the Chiefs up 14-7 and on the move. The pass was intercepted by Lions rookie defensive back Brian Branch and returned for a pick-six. It instantly turned the game in the Lions’ favor. Watch it here. From that point forward, it seemed the Chiefs couldn’t get on track offensively.
It was quite frustrating to watch last night’s offensive performance and the hope is Travis Kelce will be back in 10 days when they face the Jacksonville Jaguars. However, the reality is that the Chiefs will ultimately need to explore other avenues for finding a pass catcher if things don’t improve in a hurry because nine total drops from wide receivers, rookies, or veterans is unacceptable.
The Chiefs travel to Jacksonville next Sunday to face the Jaguars. Game time is 12:00 P.m. Central time on CBS.
