Allen Park — The last time the Detroit Lions played the Chiefs, in Kansas City no less, they announced they were ready for a seat at the table reserved for the league’s legitimate Super Bowl contenders.
Dismissing any talk of asterisks — because overcoming absences is a requirement for success in the NFL — the Lions went into Arrowhead and topped the defending champions in the nationally televised opener to the 2023 season.
Detroit took the lead on a David Montgomery touchdown midway through the fourth quarter and got two defensive stops to preserve the statement victory, kickstarting a 12-5 season that took them to the brink of the franchise’s first Super Bowl appearance.
The Chiefs, meanwhile, rebounded from the loss and went on to repeat as champions. In terms of consistent success, they’re the NFL’s current paragon. Since Patrick Mahomes took over as the franchise’s starting quarterback in 2018, they’ve advanced to at least the AFC championship each season, including five Super Bowl appearances in seven years.
Presently, the Chiefs are struggling. With Monday night’s loss to Jacksonville, Sunday’s opponent fell to 2-3 on the season. They’ve only been under .500 this deep into the season one other time since 2018, when they stumbled to a 3-4 start in 2021. Of course, they went on to win their next eight games after hitting that low point.
It’s a reminder that even if things feel off with this year’s version, you cannot let your guard down as long as No. 15 is under center.
Digging into Kansas City’s roster, it’s always a little jarring how quickly things change in the NFL, even after just two years.
With bad teams, regime changes and early-round draft picks replacing disappointing veterans necessitate overhauls. With successful teams, changes are usually financially driven. It’s difficult to keep prosperous groups together, requiring tough business decisions. The Chiefs have been making them for years, headlined by shipping four-time All-Pro receiver Tyreek Hill to the Dolphins in 2023, instead of rewarding him with a market-resetting extension.
The Lions got the first look at a Hill-less Chiefs in 2023, and the franchise has continued to work diligently at improving Mahomes’ receiving corps in the years since.
In that 2023 matchup, Kansas City utilized Marquez Valdes-Scantling, Kadarius Toney, Skyy Moore, Justin Watson and Rashee Rice, a second-round draft pick that year.
None of those players will take the field against the Lions this week. Valdes-Scantling and Moore are in San Francisco, Watson signed with Houston, Toney is unemployed, and Rice, the team’s No. 1 option on the outside, is serving a six-game suspension stemming from a 2024 car accident where he was charged with racing on a Dallas highway.
The current mix is lead by a hodgepodge of free agent additions from the past two offseasons: Tyquan Thornton, Hollywood Brown and JuJu Smith-Schuster, who is in his second stint with the Chiefs. That trio is paired with 2024 first-round pick Xavier Worthy. He’s been limited by injuries (ankle/shoulder) this season, but played 49 snaps against the Jaguars on Monday.
With that collective, one thing is certain: Their speed presents problems.
Isiah Pacheco and Kareem Hunt, who is also in his second stint with the Chiefs, largely share the workload for the Chiefs’ underutilized ground game. The tandem hasn’t been particularly potent, amassing just 327 yards at 4.0 yards per carry through five games. Of note, seventh-round pick Brashard Smith is starting to get worked in more. He’s received 11 touches over the past two games.
Mahomes is actually pacing the rushing attack, gaining 190 yards, primarily on scrambles. He’s on pace to blow past his previous season high in rushing yardage, 389 in 2023.
The QB is playing behind a reshaped offensive line after the team traded away longtime guard Joe Thuney this offseason. The unit has two new starters since 2023, both early-round draft picks. Josh Simmons, the team’s first-round choice this offseason, is working at left tackle. Meanwhile, 2024 second-rounder Kingsley Suamataia is serving as Thuney’s replacement.
The collective is protecting Mahomes well, allowing only seven sacks and 42 total pressures through five games. Both figures rank inside the top 10 in the league.
The final piece to the puzzle is Taylor Swift’s fiancé, Travis Kelce. He missed the 2023 matchup with a knee injury, and even though he’s clearly past his prime at 36 years old, he continues to be a trusted weapon for Mahomes. Kelce has hauled in 22 passes for 243 yards and two touchdowns to open the season, putting him on a similar pace to 2024, when he finished with 97 catches for 823 yards.
Defensively, Kansas City continues to be led by one of the league’s most well-respected minds, Steve Spagnuolo. And the unit remains anchored by three-time All-Pro defensive tackle Chris Jones, who also missed the 2023 opener, not due to injury, but coming off a contract-related holdout.
Jones only has a single sack through five games, but he’s as dangerous as ever. His 20 QB pressures rank top five among interior defensive linemen. He remains complemented by Mike Danna and George Karlaftis on the edges, but Jones has a new running mate inside in rookie Omarr Norman-Lott, an outstanding pass-rushing prospect out of Tennessee who is currently dealing with a shoulder injury that sidelined him against the Jaguars.
Behind the front, do-everything tackle machine Nick Bolton continues to be a force in the second level. He’s still paired with Drue Tranquill and Leo Chenal. The trio has been together for four seasons now.
The secondary is where the team has seen the most turnover defensively. Since 2023, the Chiefs traded away cornerback L’Jarius Sneed instead of paying the pending free agent big money. They also replaced veteran safety Justin Reid, who took a big contract from the Saints in free agency, with Jaden Hicks, a 2024 fourth-round draft pick.
All tallied, the Chiefs are allowing a respectable 21.4 points per game. Sticking with Spagnuolo’s preferences, they like to blitz, and you can expect to see a heavy dose of zone coverages, mixed between Cover-2, Cover-3 and Cover-4.
If they have a notable weakness to start this season, it’s their run defense. Despite allowing only one gain of 20 or more yards on the ground — a 71-yard touchdown to Baltimore’s Justice Hill — they’re getting gouged for 4.8 yards per carry.
Take note that Trevor Lawrence used a double stumblebum in the last 30 seconds of the game on Monday to run for the winning TD. It probably wasn't planned, but it sure did the trick. All those close score wins for the Chiefs they had last year are working in reverse this year.
The last time they rattled off those wins...was the last time and has nothing to do with this year. Let's have no rattling please unless it is the Lions rattling Mahomes into submission.
“And the unit remains anchored by three-time All-Pro defensive tackle Chris Smith, who also missed the 2023 opener, not due to injury, but coming off a contract-related holdout.”
Should be Chris jones if it matters