The Kansas City Chiefs planned on having a Super Bowl party on Thursday night to kick off the 2023 season, but it was Detroit Lions fans who ended up becoming the guests of honor.
Thousands of Lions fans made the journey to Kansas City to watch their team pull off a 21-20 upset to kick off the season, and they made their presence felt throughout the night, especially late in the fourth quarter as quarterback Jared Goff led the team into the victory formation.
They weren’t in any hurry to leave after the game was over either.
Lions players and coaches took notice before and after the game. Head coach Dan Campbell said he noticed the blue in the stands before the game and really started to notice them in the third quarter.
“When I walked out pregame, I’m looking, you see the sea of blue,” Campbell said. “I’m like, ‘Wow.’ And then about the third quarter, you could start hearing them. You could hear them. And it just started to grow as we got into the fourth quarter, man. Our fans, they made themselves known and we could feel it. So it’s outstanding to have fans that travel like that, man. We see you and it’s much appreciated.”
Goff said it reminded him of the way Lions fans took over Lambeau Field in the team’s Week 18 win to keep the Green Bay Packers out of the playoffs, while wide receiver Amon-Ra St. Brown also showed his appreciation on social media.
This might become a trend throughout the season as Lions fans finally have a reason to be excited about their team.
They have always had a tendency to travel well over the years, even when the team was stuck at the bottom of the NFL standings. Now that the Lions appear to be good and opened the season with an impressive win against the defending Super Bowl champions on the road that excitement is only going to continue to build.
It’s staggering just how many Lions fans were able to get into Arrowhead Stadium. Kansas City has one of the best home-field advantages in the league, to begin with, and getting that many visiting fans in that stadium for a season-opening game when they were celebrating their most recent Super Bowl championship is almost a little unbelievable.
The Lions’ next two games will take place at Ford Field in Detroit against the Seattle Seahawks and Atlanta Falcons. Those are two extremely winnable games where they should get a very warm welcome from their home fans, while also presenting them with an opportunity to get off to a fast start to the 2023 season.