By EDUARDO PAZ-MARTINEZ
McALLEN, Texas | Those Lions. Man, those Lions. Is this the same professional football team that's been sucking the air out of bummed-out Detroit for - what? - more than 10/12 years? Used to be late-night comedians would tell you that the Edsel and mediocrity were born in Detroit.
Well, last night the Lions knocked-off the defending National Football League champion Kansas City Chiefs - in Kansas City!
(Disclaimer: I was at P.F. Chang's in West McAllen for dinner with my lovely galpal Laura, so I missed this game on TV.)
This from usatoday.com: [ Jared Goff, the Lions quarterback, who didn’t play a lick in preseason, pretty much picked up where he left off from his 2022 Pro Bowl effort, passing for 253 yards and a TD while effectively protecting the ball.
Chiefs defense: The unit was without All-Pro DT Chris Jones, his ongoing holdout landing him at an Arrowhead Stadium suite to watch the action, and suspended DE Charles Omenihu, one of the team’s primary offseason signings. Nevertheless, K.C. held up fairly well, surrendering just two touchdowns.
AFC hopefuls: No better outcome for title aspirants like the Jets, Bills, Bengals, Ravens, Jaguars and a few others than watching the champs stumble out of the blocks in what promises to be a hypercompetitive conference.
Lions rookies: They didn’t necessarily take over the game, but you wouldn’t expect players making their professional debuts to do as much. Still, RB Jahmyr Gibbs (60 yards on nine touches), TE Sam LaPorta (5 catches, 39 yards) and DB Brian Branch (50-yard pick-six) all flashed the ability that projects them to be big-time contributors. And presumably Branch, who exited the game before the fourth quarter with cramping, will be OK for Week 2.
1-0 start for Detroit: Now in his third season, head coach Dan Campbell won his opener for the first time. The Lions started 0-10-1 in 2021 and 1-6 last year prior to strong finishes but could finally be on the way to their first NFC North crown in club history.
0-1 start for Kansas City: Patrick Mahomes lost in Week 1 for the first time since becoming the Chiefs’ QB1 in 2018. It may not seem like a big deal, but the ramifications could be huge for a team seeking to become the first to win back-to-back Lombardi Trophies in 19 years. Since the NFL expanded to 32 teams in 2002, roughly half the teams that win their openers make the playoffs, while teams that start 0-1 qualify for postseason about a quarter of the time. Prior to Thursday, the Chiefs had won their last eight season debuts overall. ]
It's onto Sunday for the rest of the NFL schedule.
Dallas is in New York to lose big to the NY Giants. Game is set to begin at 7:00 PM.
Go Jets!!!...
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Cowboys not going anywhere again this year. Not raising my hopes anymore. Zeke will be needed and he's gone. Dallas will finish 9-8.
ReplyDeleteis the Texas-Alabama game on TV tomorrow? ESPN has it but cable people are in some sort of fight with them.
ReplyDeleteTexas/Bama game will be shown on CBS.
ReplyDelete