So much for the demise of the Kansas City Chiefs. Things may have been ugly to start the 2025 NFL season for the reigning AFC champions, who lost their first two games for the first time in the Patrick Mahomes era. But neither Mahomes nor the Chiefs looked to be in much trouble on Sunday night, claiming a decisive 30-17 victory over the vaunted Detroit Lions in prime time.
A week after suffering a Monday night loss to the Jacksonville Jaguars, the Chiefs returned to form in Week 6 thanks in large part due to a pristine performance from Mahomes. With Jaylon Moore protecting his blind side in place of rookie left tackle Josh Simmons, who missed Sunday's game due to personal reasons, Mahomes had four total touchdowns -- three passing and one rushing -- while remaining a dual threat for Andy Reid's offense. Not only did he scamper around for 34 yards on the ground, but the three-time Super Bowl champion also made the best of his mostly healthy receiving corps, spreading the ball to eight different players.
Travis Kelce led the group with six catches for 78 yards, but plenty of speedier options, like Xavier Worthy and Marquise Brown, also got involved; the latter two combined to haul in three scores against a Lions secondary missing starting cornerback Terrion Arnold. Detroit's secondary was also briefly without ball-hawking safety Kerby Joseph, who battled injuries throughout the contest.
Jared Goff and the Lions offense, meanwhile, enjoyed some early methodical scoring series but never led after halftime. A couple of failed fourth-down attempts contributed to Motor City's offensive woes.
Here are some big-picture takeaways from the Chiefs' win, which improved K.C. to 3-3 on the season:
It didn't lift the Lions to victory, but tight end Sam LaPorta's improbable leaping grab at the back of the end zone was easily the most acrobatic play of the night. If only, for Detroit's sake, it had been surrounded by a steadier overall offense.
It wasn't an overstatement to call Kansas City sloppy and sluggish to start the season. Even Patrick Mahomes, for all his desperate efforts to get something going as a scrambler, wasn't his sharp self out of the gate, trying but failing to establish the deep ball through the air. Sunday felt different. Things weren't perfect. Mahomes still had to carry the rushing attack early, putting his own body at risk of contact. By the buzzer, however, he'd spread the rock all over the field, putting basically all of Andy Reid's gadgets to use. Four scores and six red zone trips? Those are the Chiefs we're used to. It's probably going a bit far to suggest they're all the way back to Super Bowl form, but it's also October. And 3-3 all of a sudden feels like a launching pad for their next AFC push.
It's a little too easy to declare this after what occurred after the final whistle, with star safety Brian Branch delivering a blow to the helmet of Chiefs wideout JuJu Smith-Schuster in the start of a brief but physical postgame fight. (Branch is sure to face NFL discipline of some kind.) But it goes beyond the extracurriculars: The Lions weren't overly messy Sunday, but their four penalties to the Chiefs' none weren't nothing. Especially when one of those infractions negated a would-be opening-series touchdown on a trick pass by David Montgomery. Coach Dan Campbell is always aggressive, but he has to make sure his unit is sound, too. That's doubly the case when you're up against a stingy front, on the road, and missing key starters like Terrion Arnold.
The score says the Chiefs showed up and the Lions laid an egg, but at the end of the day, this matchup might still work as a Super Bowl LX preview. That should be encouraging -- and feasible -- news for fans of both sides. To reiterate the first point, the Chiefs really appear to be back in business, especially when you consider Rashee Rice will serve as an additional reinforcement upon his return. And the Lions? This was a significant defeat in that it showed Detroit's track speed can still be outmuscled. But few teams still match the Lions' top-to-bottom talent, and one of the club's philosophical missteps here -- prioritizing balanced and methodical drives even at the expense of the clock -- can be corrected. The playmakers are still present for a deep run.
There is some sort of fracas going on at the end of this game. It seemed to start between Brian Branch and JuJu Smith-Schuster. Mahomes tried to give Branch a handshake at the end of the game but Branch passed. JuJu then approached Branch and Branch just open-hand slapped JuJu in the helmet, at which point Isaiah Pacheco and others stepped in. Weird scene.
After a 9-yard pass to Sam LaPorta on first down, Goff threw three incomplete passes in a row and that'll do it. The Chiefs can kneel on the ball three times when we come back from the two-minute warning commercial. It'll be a 30-17 final score.
With the win, Kansas City will get back to 3-3 on the season. The Chiefs host the Raiders next week in an early-afternoon game.
With the loss, the Lions drop back down to 4-2. They host the Buccaneers on "Monday Night Football" next week.
Detroit ends the Chiefs drive without giving up a touchdown as Al-Quadin Muhammad comes away with a sack to knock them backwards and into a field goal try, which keeps the lead at two scores. The Lions need a touchdown, an onside kick recovery and another touchdown, all in just 2:26 in order to come away with a win. It's 30-17 Kansas City.
Kansas City has already run 3:38 off the clock with this 6-play drive deep into Lions territory. Detroit is now starting to use its timeouts to save time for when it hopefully gets the ball back.
Limp drive for the Lions following that Kansas City touchdown. Lost yards on two of the three plays and now they have to punt.
The Chiefs came right back with a touchdown of their own to cap off a fantastic drive. 9 plays, 69 yards, 4:44 off the clock and Mahomes finds Hollywood on a short crosser right in the front of the end zone. That's Mahomes' fourth touchdown of the night -- three through the air and one on the ground. Kansas City is back up 27-17.
What a catch by Sam LaPorta in the back of the end zone. One-handed, leaping over the top of Chamarri Conner in the back of the end zone. Great throw by Goff, putting it where only his guy could possibly come down with the ball. The Chiefs' lead is down to 20-17.
This is the quickest, most efficient drive of the night for Detroit so far. Notably, it's been all passes and no runs. Lots of underneath stuff and screens the whole way down the field and the Lions will be set up in the red zone when we come back for the start of the fourth quarter. It's still 20-10 Chiefs.
Detroit badly needed to come away with a stop on that Kansas City drive, and did just that. After giving up a first down on the first series, the Lions forced Mahomes to scramble a couple of times with nobody open and kept him short of the first down. Now that have a chance to cut into the lead once again.
Detroit got the ball over midfield and just stalled out. The Lions tried a swing screen to Jahmyr Gibbs but Drue Tranquill threw a blocker backwards to blow it up. Then the Chiefs tried a smoke screen to Jameson Williams but Bryan Cook was right there to blow it up. That forced a Detroit punt and now K.C. has a chance to make this a three-score game.
Detroit has been VERY methodical with its drives so far in this game, trying to run the ball and run the clock in an effort to keep Mahomes and Co. off the field. It worked early but now the Chiefs are up by two scores. The Lions might need to start operating a little faster and throwing the ball down the field a little more so they can get points up on the board and make sure they can stage a comeback in this game.
Two red zone plays, two passes, two completions, and a touchdown. This time it's Hollywood Brown taking the jet sweep flip from Mahomes and scooting around the edge of the formation for the score. Chiefs lead 20-10 after the extra point.
Kansas City is quickly moving the ball down the field. The Chiefs have a chance to take a two-score lead here as Mahomes has found his tight ends for a couple chunk plays and then ran the ball into the red zone on a free play.
An old-school option play! Mahomes reverse-pivoted into the option and had the chance to toss the ball to Isaiah Pacheco, but the defense parted and allowed him to walk into the end zone for a touchdown to give the Chiefs the lead once again. This came right after a pass interference penalty and then a big-time throw to Travis Kelce to get KC down to the goal line. Chiefs up 13-10.
Faced with fourth-and-2 just over midfield, the Lions also went for it. And then also came up short. Goff hit St. Brown coming over the middle of the field but the throw was maybe just a little bit low and it fell incomplete. Chiefs take over with a chance to take the lead. And remember, they also get the ball coming out of halftime so this could be a big swing here.
Kansas City tried for yet another fourth-down conversion but this time came up short. The Chiefs ran a little bootleg action (they faked a sprintout left and then wheeled back around to the right) trying to get the running back open in the flat but the Lions had it well covered. Mahomes tried to throw back across his body but Thomas Harper made a nice play to knock the ball away. He's in the lineup guys like Terrion Arnold, Avonte Maddox and now Joseph out.
Kansas City went for a fourth-and-1 near midfield this time and converted with a run up the middle by Kareem Hunt. The Chiefs LOVE that play, where they line up with offset backs and hand it to the upback while faking a toss to the halfback.
One thing to monitor: As Mahomes carries such a heavy burden in the Chiefs' run game right now, it's worth keeping an eye on the hits he takes (or avoids). He's not been afraid of contact on scrambles this year, including in this matchup. Friendly reminder: This is a physical sport. Sometimes it's a matter of when, not if, those hits take a real toll.
Cody highlighted the potential impact of Lions safety Kerby Joseph before the game started. He just went down on that previous play and headed to the sideline with the trainers. Could be a significant loss for a Lions team that is already shorthanded in the secondary.
Right after that sequence, the Lions kept Goff extremely well protected on third down and he found Jameson Williams on a crossing route over the middle of the field. Williams bounced off a couple of tackles and made his way into the end zone to give the Lions the lead back. It's 10-6 after the extra point, which has to be noted after Butker missed on the other end.
The Chiefs just ran three plays in a row with an extra offensive lineman and two tight ends on the field. Back-to-back nice runs for David Montgomery and then a play-action pass into the flat for Amon-Ra St. Brown.
Kansas City goes for it on fourth-and-3 from the 6-yard line and gets a Patrick Mahomes touchdown pass to Xavier Worthy. Nice little rub route with JuJu Smith-Schuster setting the pick to free Worthy in the flat. Harrison Butker missed the extra point, so it's a 6-3 game.
Here's the full explanation from the NBC broadcast.
After all that running down the field and setting the tone and taking 10 minutes off the clock, the Lions took back-to-back penalties on fourth-and-goal and ended up settling for a field goal from Jake Bates. They take an early 3-0 lead before Patrick Mahomes and Co. have gotten a chance to touch the ball.
The Lions just broke out the bag of tricks for the second consecutive week. David Montgomery just threw a touchdown pass for a second consecutive week. Just like last week, the Lions motioned Jared Goff out of the backfield and had David Montgomery take a direct snap, but this time he flipped the ball out to Goff in the flat, who took a block from Amon-Ra St. Brown and scored...
But the problem was that Goff went illegally in motion so the Lions were called for a penalty and the touchdown doesn't count. A shame, considering how cool that play was.
Detroit won the coin toss and, rather than defer like many teams, elected to take the ball and try to set the tone for the game. And that's exactly what the Lions did. They're on a 14-play, 70-yard drive that has taken nearly 10 minutes off the clock. They're facing fourth-and-goal from inside the 1-yard line.
While the Chiefs have been streaky with the ball in their hands, Patrick Mahomes has generally done a good job of controlling the rock, throwing just two interceptions through five games. Still, the more he has to make something out of nothing, the more he tends to put the ball in harm's way. Enter Kerby Joseph, who's racked up a whopping 20 interceptions since he began his career with the Lions back in 2022. This man is a pick magnet on the back end, showcasing elite range and ball-tracking whenever opportunities present themselves. If anyone's going to rob Kansas City of a possession in this one, it's probably going to be him.
Aidan Hutchinson is practically the face of the Lions' defense, and he's already logged five sacks and three forced fumbles on the year. He should have a favorable matchup against Chiefs right tackle Jawaan Taylor. But K.C. has a bona fide pocket disruptor of its own in George Karlaftis, who leads the club with six tackles for loss in the middle of a breakout campaign. If Karlaftis can find a way to best Penei Sewell off the edge, putting heat on Jared Goff's typically clean operation, it could go a long way in slowing the Lions' track-team fireworks.
Not only is Kansas City struggling to move the ball consistently on the ground, but Steve Spagnuolo's defense is also pressing to plug holes against opposing rushing attacks, surrendering more than 120 yards per game. That spells big trouble against a Lions team with maybe the best 1-2 punch in the league; both Jahmyr Gibbs and David Montgomery are on pace for 1,000-yard seasons as the lightning and thunder of Detroit's all-star lineup. Nick Bolton is a tackle machine at the heart of the Chiefs' defensive efforts, but this could be an uphill battle for the reigning AFC champions.
LT Josh Simmons is out for personal reasons as he was not able to make it to the game from his home in California, per reports.
