The 2023 NFL Kickoff Game will take place on Thursday with the Kansas City Chiefs hosting the Detroit Lions.
With their last playoffs appearance occurring in 2016, the Detroit Lions presently have the NFC’s longest ongoing playoff drought. However, the Lions are the NFC North favorites as Dan Campbell enters his third season as Detroit’s head coach.
QB Jared Goff finished last season with a 99.3 passer rating and a total of 29 passing touchdowns—his best numbers since 2018—under the leadership of first-year offensive coordinator Ben Johnson. The Lions’ offense is expected to continue to improve under Johnson’s leadership in year two.
Following their 38-35 victory over the Eagles in Super Bowl LVII, the Kansas City Chiefs, led by quarterback Patrick Mahomes, are aiming to win back-to-back championships for the first time since the 2003–04 Patriots.
Mahomes led the league with a career high of 5,250 passing yards last season and had an NFL-high of 41 touchdown passes, en route to claiming his second career MVP. Since becoming the starting QB ahead of the 2018 season, Mahomes’ magic has helped Kansas City reach the AFC Championship for the last 5 straight seasons.
Most Thursday night games will be on Amazon’s Prime Video, but as the kickoff to the 2023 season, this Thursday’s game between the Chiefs and Lions will be on NBC and Peacock starting at 5:20 p.m. PT (8:20 p.m. ET).
Here are five things to watch out for in tonight’s matchup:
DEFENSIVE LINE DEPTH
Since the time of Brad Holmes and Dan Campbell, Detroit’s defensive line has had more talent and depth than ever before. Throughout training camp, we witnessed and heard about the enormous strides forward that players like Alim McNeill and Aidan Hutchinson have made.
What effect would Charles Harris having a healthy body have opposite Hutchinson at the SAM linebacker position? With eight sacks in his first seven games played last season, will James Houston continue where he left off? Levi Onwuzurike had a very successful camp despite missing the entirety of the previous season due to a back issue. Can he have the kind of effect that the Lions anticipated for when they selected him in the 2021 second round? What is Josh Paschal capable of in Year 2?
The Chiefs are working in two new tackles in Jawaan Taylor and Donovan Smith but think this is the best offensive line they’ve put together in front of Mahomes.
RB USAGE
David Montgomery and Jahmyr Gibbs have completely replaced D’Andre Swift and Jamaal Williams in Detroit’s backfield. With Montgomery and Gibbs carrying the load, the Lions believe they have a chance to be even more dynamic than they were last season, when they rushed for more over 2,000 yards and scored 23 running touchdowns.
It will be intriguing to see how offensive coordinator Ben Johnson uses both backs in his scheme as Montgomery and Gibbs are anticipated to have a significant impact in the passing game.
ALL 5 UP FRONT
Running behind arguably one of the NFL’s greatest offensive lines, which will for the first time in two seasons have all five of its star players on the field, will be advantageous for Montgomery and Gibbs.
It’s sort of crazy to think about considering how good Detroit’s offensive line has been the last two years that Taylor Decker, Jonah Jackson, Frank Ragnow, Halapoulivaati Vaitai, and Penei Sewell are anticipated to line up together for the first time during a regular season game. Watching should be enjoyable.
The Chiefs are likely without All-Pro defensive tackle Chris Jones. He’s expected to miss tonight’s game as he continues to hold out in a contract dispute. Kansas City has had a lot of turnover along their defensive front and is working in some new players tonight.
ARROWHEAD ENVIROMENT
One of the most recognizable and reputedly loudest venues in the NFL is GEHA Field at Arrowhead. It goes without saying that Chiefs supporters will be fired up for a Thursday night home game that will be nationally televised to open the season on the same night they will hoist the banner for their 2022 Super Bowl victory.
SECONDARY GAINS
Against the league’s #1 passing offense from the previous season and the reigning MVP quarterback Patrick Mahomes, Cam Sutton, C.J. Gardner-Johnson, and Brian Branch all make their Lions debuts tonight.
Sutton, Gardner-Johnson, and Branch are now joined by Kerby Joseph and Jerry Jacobs in what appears to be a secondary that has improved significantly in terms of its capacity to cover, grab footballs, and force turnovers. Any member of the Detroit offense will tell you how much harder it was during camp to move the ball in the air against this Detroit secondary than it had been in previous seasons.
The secondary will certainly be tested in this one. In five career Week 1 openers since being named the starter in Kansas City, Mahomes has completed 121 passes on 169 attempts (71.6 percent) for 1,542 yards, 18 touchdowns, no interceptions, and a 133.9 passer rating. It’s the most touchdown passes without an interception in Week 1 games in NFL history.
