The Lions announced their legitimacy to the nation with a 21-20 victory over the Chiefs on Thursday.
Kansas City, Mo. — The Detroit Lions weathered the crowd, some communication errors on both sides of the ball, and a costly turnover in the red zone, surviving and announcing their legitimacy to the nation with a 21-20 victory over the defending Super Bowl champion Kansas City Chiefs in the opening game of the NFL season.
Things started out well enough for the Lions Thursday night at Arrowhead Stadium, but they needed a spark from a fake punt to get moving in the early going. At risk of going three-and-out consecutive possessions to open the game, the team executed the fake deep in their own territory when linebacker Jalen Reeves-Maybin took a direct snap and ran for the first down.
BOX SCORE: Lions 21, Chiefs 20
That kickstarted a 91-yard march down the field with quarterback Jared Goff quickly getting the offense across midfield with a pair of completions to Amon-Ra St. Brown and Josh Reynolds before rookie Jahmyr Gibbs broke a tackle on a run around the left edge for a 17-yard gain into the red zone.
After Gibbs stumbled on second down, potentially costing the rookie runner a touchdown, Goff feathered a pass to St. Brown on a shallow cross for a 9-yard score to put the Lions up, 7-0.
The Chiefs responded with a 82-yard drive, leaning heavily on the playmaking ability of quarterback Patrick Mahomes, who ran for a conversion on third down, scrambled for another 16 yards and found rookie receiver Rashee Rice for a 1-yard touchdown on third-and-goal.
The Lions looked poised to answer, quickly driving back into Chiefs territory, but a communication blunder on a snap, which saw it hit tight end Brock Wright while in motion, started a series of events that ended with receiver Marvin Jones losing a fumble, the first of his 12-year career.
