The 2023 NFL season officially kicks off on Thursday Night Football when the Detroit Lions will be traveling to take on the Kansas City Chiefs. It will be the start of the Chiefs Super Bowl defense, as they defeated the Philadelphia Eagles in Super Bowl 57 back in February, 38-35.
For anyone who likes to see some defense during their football games, Thursday Night isn’t for you. The Lions and Chiefs had two of the most explosive offenses in the NFL during the 2022 season and are projected to be very productive once again.
Detroit is led by quarterback Jared Goff, who has a star No. 1 wide receiver in Amon-Ra St. Brown. His newest weapon is running back Jahmyr Gibbs, who could be playing some sort of hybrid role. The Alabama product is someone Cheifs’ defensive coordinator Steve Spagnuolo is keeping a close eye on.
Kansas City may be without star tight end Travis Kelce, but as long as Patrick Mahomes is on the field, this offense cannot be underestimated. There are a lot of young playmakers on the Chiefs offense that will have expanded roles this season, such as Skyy Moore and Kadarius Toney.
The last time that Goff and Mahomes faced off against each other it was an instant classic. Goff was leading the Los Angeles Rams, who won the game 54-51 over Mahomes and the Chiefs in a game both teams entered with 9-1 records.
Goff threw for 413 yards with four passing touchdowns and one rushing touchdown, while Mahomes had 479 yards with six touchdowns and three interceptions. An NFL scout who spoke to NFL Analysis Network believes more of the same is in store for Thursday night.
“We’ve seen one shootout between Patrick Mahomes and Jared Goff, so why not another? I think these two teams score 75 points or more between the two of them. I have Detroit winning by a final score of 41-38.”
That would be quite a bang to start the 2023 season with. The Lions are looking to show that they are for real entering the 2023 season and going toe-to-toe with the defending champion Chiefs is certainly one way to announce their presence.
But, in the end, Mahomes and the Chiefs offense will prove just a little too much to overcome. Even without Kelce being 100 percent and possibly without star defensive tackle Chris Jones, the scout believes Andy Reid’s crew will pull off the win.
