Detroit didn’t look like championship material during Sunday night’s 30-17 beatdown in Kansas City.
The Lions dropped to 4-2 overall and 2-2 on the road after getting outplayed at Arrowhead Stadium. What we saw raised some serious questions about whether this team can truly compete for a Super Bowl.
The Uncomfortable Truth
Here’s the problem Detroit faces: They struggle badly when playing catch-up.
NBC’s Cris Collinsworth said it out loud during the broadcast, and honestly, it stung because it felt true. When you watch this team fall behind by double digits, something changes. The offense that hung 34-plus points in four straight games suddenly looks ordinary.
My first reaction was to disagree with Collinsworth. How can you call yourself a contender if you can’t overcome a ten-point deficit? This offense scores 40 on random Tuesdays. A ten-point hole shouldn’t feel like climbing Mount Everest.
But then you watch the tape. You see what happens when Detroit abandons their run game. You notice how different Jared Goff looks without play-action working off those David Montgomery and Jahmyr Gibbs runs. The offense loses its identity.
Where It All Went Wrong
That Amon-Ra St. Brown drop on fourth-and-2 in the second quarter changed everything. He catches that ball, and maybe we get the shootout everyone expected. Maybe the offense finds its rhythm early and never loses it.
Instead, Detroit spent most of the night chasing points. And here’s where Collinsworth’s point hits hardest – this offense functions best when the ground game sets up everything else. Take away those Montgomery and Gibbs carries, and suddenly Goff doesn’t have the play-action opportunities that make him dangerous.
Look, I’m not trying to bury Goff here. He wasn’t the main problem in Week 1 against Green Bay, and he wasn’t the biggest issue Sunday night either. The Green Bay game was about adjusting to new offensive coordinator John Morton. Against Kansas City, the defense couldn’t get off the damn field. They gave up 26 first downs. That’s embarrassing.
Defense Folded When It Mattered
Remember when Detroit cut the lead to three points early in the fourth quarter? The defense had a chance to make a stop and give the offense another crack at taking the lead. Instead, they let Patrick Mahomes march down and hit Hollywood Brown for a touchdown. Just like that, back to a ten-point game.
The secondary got picked apart all night. Brian Branch waited until after the game to talk trash, which is cute but useless. Andy Reid’s offense put on a clinic for four quarters. The Lions defense looked lost, confused, and completely outmatched.
Some Positives Buried in the Loss
When Detroit had to throw, Goff completed eight straight passes for 81 yards. He capped that drive with a four-yard touchdown to Sam LaPorta. Finished the night 23-of-29 for 203 yards and two scores. Those aren’t terrible numbers.
The offense needs more from LaPorta and Jameson Williams though. Leaning so heavily on St. Brown, Gibbs, and Montgomery makes you predictable. Get those other guys involved, and this offense becomes nearly impossible to stop.
Here’s the thing – if St. Brown catches that fourth-down pass, Detroit probably wins this game running their normal offense. That’s how close this was despite the final score. One play changes everything.
Reality Check Time
Detroit faces Tampa Bay at home next week. The Buccaneers are 5-1 and rolling right now. Beating them requires Goff to ball out and the defense to actually show up for once.
Then comes the bye week, which couldn’t arrive at a better time.
I’m not ready to call the Lions pretenders after one bad road loss. This roster has too much talent. They’ve won playoff games with Goff under center. He got the Rams to the Super Bowl seven years ago, so acting like he’s incapable of leading a championship run feels lazy.
But that defense needs fixing immediately. The secondary looks vulnerable. The pass rush disappeared when it mattered. You can’t win a Super Bowl giving up 26 first downs to good teams.
The Bigger Picture
Everyone wrote off the Lions this offseason when Ben Johnson left for Chicago. People assumed losing the offensive coordinator meant the offense would fall apart. Through six weeks, that hasn’t happened. Morton has done solid work.
The real concern isn’t whether this team can score points. They’ve proven they can light up the scoreboard. The question is whether they can win ugly games on the road against elite competition when nothing goes right early.
Sunday night in Kansas City, we got our answer. And it wasn’t pretty.
Detroit needs to figure out how to play from behind without abandoning everything that makes them dangerous. They need the defense to make stops in crucial moments. They need contributions from more than just three or four offensive players.
Fix those issues, and this team absolutely can compete for a championship. Ignore them, and we’ll be talking about another disappointing playoff exit come January.
One game doesn’t define a season. But it sure as hell revealed some cracks in the foundation that need addressing fast.
