Kansas City, Mo. — The Lions kept pounding and the Chiefs started retreating, and gradually, it happened. Thousands of blue-clad fans advanced toward the field, getting closer and closer, infiltrating the home crowd. By the end, the blue had bled through the red, completely circling the sacred ground, a fitting encapsulation of what the Lions just did.
On the night the Chiefs came to celebrate their Super Bowl championship, the Lions brought their own noise and poise. You could call it shocking, but it didn’t actually feel that way. The star-studded team was felled by the star-crossed team, and if the Lions aren’t careful, they’re going to be changing a whole bunch of labels.
As the final seconds ticked away in the Lions’ 21-20 victory in the NFL’s season-opening gala, their fans cheered and chanted, and “Let’s Go Lions!” echoed across the national airwaves. Dan Campbell could hardly believe what he was hearing. Jared Goff thought the noise caused a false start by the Chiefs late in the game. It’s much too early to suggest roles are being reversed this season, but they sure were flipped for one night.
This was gritty over pretty. Patrick Mahomes and the Chiefs’ fancy vaunted offense looked discombobulated, and part of that was due to the absence of injured star Travis Kelce. But part also was due to the physical, relentless nature of a Lions defense that was the worst in football a year ago, but like many elements of this team, looks transformed. All offseason, others have been cautiously announcing the Lions’ arrival. On this night, the Lions went ahead and announced it themselves, emphatically and physically.
“We didn’t play our best ball today, but the defense kept us in the game for the most part, and when we had to be great, we were, and we found a way,” said Goff, who was 22-for-35 for 253 yards. “We’re to the point now where we’re built for environments like this. We can go on the road anywhere and pull out a win.”
They started doing it the second half of last season, when they went 8-2 and pumped expectations as high as they’ve been in years. The question was, could they carry that aggressive swagger into a new season. And then on opening night, they did almost the exact same thing as closing night a year ago.
When the Lions slapped the Packers at Lambeau Field in the finale last season, they were serenaded by thousands of blue-clad fans who pushed to the front rows in the closing minutes. That home crowd wore green and yellow. This time, the blue parted a sea of red, and it was amazing to see.
“I thought we handled it pretty well,” Campbell said. “Now, do we need to be much better? Yeah, we do. But I know this is a tough environment and that’s why I’m excited, because I can’t wait to get back to Ford Field (for the home opener against Seattle). I know our place is going to be louder than this, and this is a loud place. When I walked out pregame, you see the sea of blue and I’m like, ‘Wow.’ And then about the third quarter, you could start hearing them, and it just started to grow as we got into the fourth quarter, man.”
It began before the game, when almost all of the early arrivals were Lions fans. They cheered every warmup throw and roared when GM Brad Holmes walked past, and he smiled and thrust his arms upward.
Whatever the Lions created last season, they’re determined to recapture it, to prove it was no fluke. Goff picked right up, making tough throws at critical times, and stretched his interception-less streak to 359 passes.
And how about Daring Dan? Oh yes, he’s back, bolder than ever. On their second possession, the Lions faced a fourth-and-2 from their own 17, and every coach in America would punt it away in a 0-0 game. The Lions faked it, and Jalen Reeves-Maybin took the direct snap and plowed for 3 yards and a first down. Imbued with confidence from their coach, the Lions finished off a 91-yard, 14-play, eight-minute drive with Goff hitting Amon-Ra St. Brown for a 9-yard touchdown.
Campbell gambled again late in the game on fourth-and-2 from midfield, and Goff threw an incompletion. It caused no harm, and the defense smothered Mahomes, who was left heaving the ball futilely on fourth-and-25. The next time anyone complains Campbell takes too many risks, remember that fake punt. He basically stole a possession and stole a 7-0 lead.
Why do it then, so early in a scoreless game? Campbell said, “I just felt like it was right.”
He used to gamble out of necessity, when his team was less talented. With an influx of promising young players and experienced free agents, he can do it strategically now, and his staff noticed something in the Chiefs’ alignment during the week that made the fake feasible.
It’s fair to say, the Lions were the more composed team when it mattered.
“We hit some tough spots against a really good opponent, and nobody got down, nobody got frazzled, and we just hung in there,” Campbell said. “I told the team we’re built for this. I’m proud of those guys. … I didn’t learn anything (about his team). I got verification about what I already knew. It already was a resilient team and we added pieces to a resilient team.”
It showed in several areas. On offense, the Lions got numerous clutch plays, including a 33-yard reception by Josh Reynolds that set up the winning touchdown, scored by newcomer David Montgomery on an 8-yard burst. Montgomery ran with punishing authority, and that’s another area the Lions want to emphasize, pounding with their excellent offensive line. In the final seconds, Montgomery ran three straight times for the clinching first down and finished with 74 yards. Rookie Jahmyr Gibbs flashed power and speed and rushed for 42.
But defense is where the Lions really popped. Of course Kelce’s absence was a big break, and the Lions took advantage. The defense was improving the second half of last season and now is further fortified, and it was on display. As the secondary got stickier and stickier, Chiefs receivers got shakier and shakier, especially Kadarius Toney, who dropped at least three passes, eliciting boos from the home crowd.
New defensive back C.J. Gardner-Johnson roamed all over the secondary. Rookie Brian Branch made a huge play, plucking a botched pass and taking the interception 50 yards for a touchdown that tied it 14-14. Rookie linebacker Jack Campbell added a diving pass breakup.
Mahomes finished 21-for-39 for 226 yards, paltry numbers by his standards, and the Lions outgained the Chiefs 368-316 overall. The Chiefs were 5-for-7 on third-down conversions in the first half, 0-for-7 in the second. Mahomes got frustrated without his favorite target Kelce, and as the Lions ratcheted it up, there was a cumulative effect.
“I am a believer in, when you play a certain style of football and you do it repetitively over and over, that things can go your way,” Campbell said. “They had some drops, they were a little out of sorts, but I’d like to believe we had a hand in that by the way we played too. Our aggressiveness, our hustle. I thought we were physical and that really played into our favor today.”
That’s who they are, they keep telling people. And I do believe people are listening. This was momentous for a franchise that now looks capable of piling up more.
Gardner-Johnson played in the Super Bowl last year against the Chiefs, and he like what sees here.
“This win means this ain’t the same Detroit,” he said. “I keep reiterating that. Winners know what winners look like. This team is full of winners, and being on teams that have been successful, I’m just happy to be part of guys who are going to fight.”
The Lions have fought labels and history for a long time, but this is the type of fight that fans have been craving to see. I have a strong suspicion they’re about to see it a whole lot more.
bob.wojnowski@detroitnews.com
Twitter/X: @bobwojnowski