It was a sloppy season opener for the NFL on Thursday night, but the Detroit Lions used a second-half surge to take down the Kansas City Chiefs, 21-20, to kick off the new year.
Patrick Mahomes clearly missed his star tight end Travis Kelce, who suffered a bone bruise at practice on Tuesday and couldn't play.
There were drops all over the field in both halves for the Chiefs, and the Lions ended up taking advantage.
First, Detroit made things interesting in the fourth quarter when quarterback Jared Goff took a shot downfield to Josh Reynolds
and connected for 33 yards to set up a red-zone opportunity down by six points, 20-14.
Two plays later, David Montgomery rushed it into the end zone from eight yards out for his first touchdown in a Lions uniform, giving the team a one point lead at 21-20.
Detroit's defense, which was vastly improved this offseason, showcased its ability to get big stops after taking the lead. They halted the Chiefs on the next drive on third-and-1, forcing a punt.
Then, despite head coach Dan Campbell surprisingly going for it on the ensuing drive and not picking up a first down, the defense stepped up again to essentially cap their win.
Normally, Mahomes with over two minutes to play in the fourth quarter and down one point is a victory for the Chiefs. But his supporting cast didn't help him at all.
The most disastrous drive of the night started with another Kadarius Toney drop – he missed two others earlier in the game,
one resulting in a Brian Branch pick-six in the first half. A holding and false start followed by more dros ended a drive where the Lions took over on downs.