The Detroit Lions will get a terrific opportunity to see just where they stand among the NFL's elite as they travel to Kansas City to take on the defending Super Bowl champions in front of a national audience to kick off the 2023 NFL season on Thursday night.
Defending NFL MVP quarterback Patrick Mahomes and the No. 1 ranked Chiefs offense will be a terrific early test for a revamped Detroit defense that spent considerable resources improving their secondary this offseason with the signings of veteran cornerbacks Cam Sutton, Emmanuel Moseley and C.J. Gardner-Johnson. Kansas City ranked No. 1 in total yards (413.6) and points per game (29.2) last season.
It's the first meeting between these two clubs in Kansas City since 2003. The last time the Lions had a road game against Kansas City it took place in London, and the Chiefs won, 45-10. The Chiefs have won the last two matchups between the two teams.
View photos from offseason workouts on Wednesday, May 10, 2023.
The NFL featuring Detroit and Kansas City to kick off the 2023 NFL season says a lot about the kind of team the league thinks the Lions can be this season. The Lions were 9-8 last year and nearly made the playoffs with one of the youngest rosters in the NFL. There's a real buzz around this team making a run at the NFC North, and the NFL wants to showcase that.Â
"It's about raising expectations, you know? We've got to be thinking that way, and everything we do has to be with that type of purpose," Lions head coach Dan Campbell said at the Annual League Meetings earlier this year.
A Week 1 matchup against Mahomes and the Chiefs will certainly give Campbell a good indication of where his young football team stands to start the year.