Ugh.
The Detroit Lions performance on Sunday Night Football felt all too familiar. It’s something that we haven’t felt very often under Dan Campbell. At least, not recently. But to be honest, I feel like I was living in a time capsule last night.
It felt like I was sitting in my first-ever house, watching the 2014 Detroit Lions let games slip away. Maybe not even 2014, but just going back to the times where Matthew Stafford was the quarterback and the Lions couldn’t finish games. During this time, the defense would have games where they couldn’t buy a stop or the offense would hit cold streaks in the middle of the game. This ultimately led to those Lions teams getting behind the 8-ball and never finding a way out from under.
Last night against the Chiefs, the Lions played good enough, at times. However, there were other times where they lacked execution and didn’t finish on particular plays. Maybe they’re not as good as we originally thought? Or maybe it’s just a bump in the road of what is a very long season. Whatever the case may be, let’s pour ourselves a cup of coffee on this Monday morning and discuss this Lions game from Week 6 and so much more!
Defense has plenty to clean up moving forward
We will not be starting with the referees or the excuses. For years under Dan Campbell, it’s been the mindset of “next man up” in Detroit. Regardless of the injuries to players such as Terrion Arnold, D.J. Reed and others, this has been a defense that has always played competitive. Last night, they allowed 26 first downs and gave up 355 total yards. That doesn’t feel too competitive.
Without taking a deep dive into the film, it did feel like there were too many miscues from this defensive unit. Whether it be missed assignments, missed tackles or just players getting caught staring at Patrick Mahomes rather than covering their man. Which, look, I get can be very tough and much easier to say than actually do. However, there’s talent on this defense and there’s a reason why hundreds of millions of dollars are going to be thrown at Aidan Hutchinson this offseason.
If I’m not mistaken, the Lions have a safety duo that has been regarded as the best in the league. They need to play like it. Kerby Joseph and Brian Branch have been battling through knee and ankle injuries but if you’re on the field, you have to make plays. Their toughness and resiliency is appreciative but winning, losing, performing good or bad, getting criticized or applauded all come with the territory.
There appeared to be hesitation, poor angles and lackluster plays made on the football when the ball was in the air from just about everyone. Hutch missed a sack, and it sure felt like there was a lot of miscommunication happening between the linebackers at the second level throughout this game. Meanwhile, Rock Ya-Sin took a step back after a strong performance in Week 5 against Tee Higgins, Ja’Marr Chase and the Bengals. With the injuries in the secondary, cleaning that up will be imperative to this team’s success moving forward.
It’s worth noting that Chiefs TE Travis Kelce had 6 receptions for 78 yards against the Lions last night. Going back to the start of last season, he’s only posted 75+ receiving yards in FIVE total games. Additionally, Chiefs QB Patrick Mahomes completed 73.3% of his passes last night. That’s his highest mark of the 2025 season.
When Mahomes played the Lions in 2023, he only completed 53.9% of his passes and Branch had a crucial interception that he returned for a touchdown. Meanwhile, the Lions forced the Chiefs to punt five times and had one stop on 4th down in that 2023 game. This time around, the Lions defense only allowed one punt and only had just one stop on 4th down. Regardless of who is on the field, improvements have to be made.
Offense sputters after a strong start
Who else felt great after the Lions marched down the field on their opening drive…to kick a field goal? Yes, it was an odd finish to a 15-play drive that went 61 yards and ate up over 9 minutes and 39 seconds. But points are points and it felt like the Lions were going to be able to put together a few of these long lasting drives. However, the Lions next longest drive in terms of time of possession came in the 3rd quarter after they punted on a 4 minute and 36 second drive.
They did have two drives that went 71 yards and 81 yards — Both drives ended in touchdowns. Outside of that, the Lions got in their own way. We saw a rare drop on 4th down from WR Amon-Ra St. Brown and there were missed blocks out in space on two particular plays. These two plays happened back-to-back with one of them being a swing screen to RB Jahmyr Gibbs and the next being a WR screen to WR Jameson Williams. Both plays occurred while the Lions were faced with needing 8+ yards on consecutive plays.
These two plays were somewhat questionable but I do understand the idea of getting the ball in the hands of your playmakers. Maybe the thought was get it out to them quickly and allow them to create in space. Always hard to say but when it’s a two score game like it was (20-10), you’ve got to be prepared to call your best plays. Especially when you know who is on the other side of the field. I’m not sure those were the best plays.
One thing is for sure, the Lions offense should have no issues getting back on track. They showed they could run the football and we saw the combination of Amon-Ra, Jamo and LaPorta combine for 166 yards on 20 receptions. At one point, Jared Goff was 13-for-13 in the second half. Even after just scoring 17 points, I think the Lions will be just fine offensively. The Sportsbook in Vegas must feel the same way as the Lions open as 5.5 point favorites next week.
Refs, dropped balls and what comes next?
I’ll touch on the referees briefly but we’ll be moving on quickly. So I will say that it is weird that the Chiefs only had one penalty called on them and it was an offsides penalty on Chris Jones late in the 4th quarter. With how much contact was made on Sam LaPorta’s touchdown, it felt like something could have been called there. Especially since Lions CB Rock-Ya Sin got called for pass interference while covering Kelce on 3rd and 10 right before the half. However, putting the shoe on the other foot, the Lions shot themselves in the foot in this game.
Like it or not, Jared Goff was not set on the touchdown he caught on the opening drive. Within the rules of the NFL, he has to be set. You live and learn. Also, I know Hutch is always seeing red when a quarterback drops back to throw but you have to know that when the ball is out of the hands of any quarterback, specifically Mahomes, you have to let up. The roughing the passer penalty on Hutch was crucial on 3rd down and put the ball past midfield. It helped extend the drive and it contributed to the Chiefs touchdown that put the final nail in the coffin.
Moving to dropped balls and Travis Kelce…I’m sorry Taylor Swift, I’m not talking about your new album either. I just want to know, what is a catch and what is the point of replay assist if we still can’t get the calls right? Say whatever you want but that “catch” from Kelce is not a catch for 31 other teams in this leage. If it would have been properly reviewed or replay assisted or whatever you want to call it, this should have setup a 3rd and 10 from the Lions 44-yard line. Instead it setup a 1st and down and the Lions were offsides on the next play as they were trying to substitute as the Chiefs hurried to the line-of-scrimmage to run a play and avoid replay.
Oldest trick in the book, I know.
So what comes next? The Lions return home to face the Tampa Bay Buccaneers on Monday Night Football. With Baker Mayfield coming to town, you should expect fireworks. Especially since Baker and Goff are both playing at an MVP caliber level to start the season. While the Lions have injuries on defense, the Bucs do have injuries on offense. They’ll be without rookie WR Emeka Egbuka and there’s a chance they’ll be without veteran WRs Mike Evans and Chris Godwin as well.
There will be plenty more to monitor and discuss as we move forward to Week 7 in the NFL. For now, we sulk in the Lions’ disappointing loss against the Chiefs. Fortunately, we have a 4-2 football and the sun will still rise tomorrow.
This article originally appeared on Lions Wire: Monday Morning Coffee: Lions win streak ends with tough loss to Chiefs
