Detroit Lions Open Season In Kansas City: Everything You Need To Know

DETROIT — The Detroit Lions open their season Thursday night in Arrowhead Stadium against the reigning Super Bowl Champions, the Kansas City Chiefs.

Kickoff is scheduled for 8:20 p.m. on NBC and Peacock with Football Night in America. As of Tuesday Kansas City is a 6.5-point favorite, while the over/under for total points scored is 54.5.

Although the Lions have the current longest playoff drought (2016), they enter the season as favorites to win the NFC North. The Lions' last division title came in 1993 (NFC Central).

Nonetheless, Lions Head Coach Dan Campbell and company finished last season strong, winning eight of their last ten games and barely missed the playoffs. The Lions defeated division rival Green Bay Packers in the last game of the year, knocking them from the playoffs and earning a statement win.

Lions Quarterback Jared Goff especially stood out, finishing last season with a 99.3 passer rating and a total of 29 passing touchdowns, his best numbers since 2018. The Lions’ offense is expected to be even better under Offensive Coordinator Ben Johnson’s leadership in year two.

The Kansas City Chiefs, on the other hand, enter the new season looking to become the first team to earn back-to-back Super Bowl titles since the 2003-04 Patriots.

Chiefs Quarterback Patrick Mahomes is coming off another stellar season, in which he led the league with a career high of 5,250 passing yards last season and had an NFL-high of 41 touchdown passes, en route to claiming his second career MVP.

Chiefs Head Coach Andy Reid and company, have led the team to five straight AFC Championship games, two of which culminated with Super Bowl victories.