Time for a showdown in Motown.
Sunday will feature the Kansas City Chiefs at Detroit Lions, a game between two undefeated teams. It should be an interesting game to watch. Mahomes and Co. from one of the best offenses in the league will go up against the veteran quarterback Matthew Stafford.
The last time these two teams met was November 1, 2015, at Wembley Stadium in London, with a thrashing 45-10 victory from the Chiefs.
Mahomes has marveled the whole league this season with his accuracy and his arm strength, but his next opponent is to be feared, too. Mahomes completed 71.9 percent of his passes for 1,195 yards with 10 touchdowns and zero interceptions through the first three games.
“That’s something that special guys like him and Tom Brady have,” receiver Sammy Watkins told The Athletic of Mahomes’ accuracy. “Patrick can just about make any pass without even looking at you, so his accuracy is definitely on point. As a wideout, you never really worry about (an inaccurate pass) happening.”
The main question this weekend will be whether or not the Lions can handle the whole Chiefs offense, and more importantly, Travis Kelce. Linebacker Jarrad Davis missed the first two weeks of the season with an ankle injury but he came back Week 3, playing a big role in neutralizing Eagles tight end Zach Ertz. He should be fine to play against the Chiefs and the Chiefs can expect Travis Kelce to receive the same attention. If they choose to double or triple the Chiefs’ tight end, it will, as a matter of fact, open some other opportunities for the Kansas City offense.
For example, Chiefs rookie wide receiver Mecole Hardman has been filling in for Tyreek Hill since Week 2 against the Raiders, reaching 21.74 miles per hour on his 83-yard touchdown reception vs. the Ravens last weekend.
On the other hand, the Detroit Lions obtained a remarkable victory at Philadelphia last Sunday to move to 2-0-1 on the season and stopped Carson Wentz with great control.
Sunday will also be the first time Patrick Mahomes will play a regular-season game in a dome.
Lions coach Matt Patricia was asked this week whether he would prefer to see Chiefs quarterback Patrick Mahomes in or out of the pocket during Sunday’s game in Detroit.
He just smiled and answered, “Yeah, probably neither. I think right now what you’re seeing on tape is you’re seeing him extremely efficient. On the sidelines is probably where I’d like to see him the most.”
The Lions will probably try to keep the ball out of the Chiefs’ hands for as long as they can, rushing a lot. They actually rank 10th in the NFL in time of possession, holding the ball for an average of 31 minutes, 55 seconds per game.
“The goal is obviously to try and have more (points) than they have at the end of the game and however you get them, you know, we’ll take them. Last week, we had a kick return that went to the house. That counts. Any way you can get points against a team like this, the better,” Stafford said.
Stafford added that ball control is important as long as drives don’t always end in punts.
It won’t be necessarily easy to hold off the Kansas City Chiefs and their speed, but the Lions could be the surprise of this season.
Who knows? The score could be tighter than expected.
