The 2023-24 NFL season is set to begin on Thursday night as the Kansas City Chiefs will host the Detroit Lions in an interesting matchup. Kansas City will be celebrating another Super Bowl title while hosting a Lions team that wants to get to that level.
Detroit comes into this season with a ton of optimism after having a great finish to the 2022-23 season. The Lions are the betting favorites to win the NFC North Division, and they will have a chance to make a statement in the first game of the year.
Kansas City is no stranger to playing in prime time, and the fans at Arrowhead Stadium will create a great environment for this one. The Chiefs are the betting favorites to win the Super Bowl again, and their title defense starts in this one.
The spread for this game initially opened up at Chiefs -7.5, but the line has dropped all the way to -4.5 heading into Thursday night.
Lions Want Defense to Lead
The last time we saw the Detroit Lions, they were ending the career of Aaron Rodgers in Green Bay. This is going to be a defense that can put pressure on any quarterback, and there is plenty of talent in the secondary.
Aidan Hutchinson will be doing all that he can to get to Mahomes, and keeping pressure on the former MVP is going to be key. While the defense should be the best unit for Detroit, this offense has a chance to put points on the board as well.
Quarterback Jared Goff is going to have to take care of the ball for Detroit in this game, but he has the ability to hit on some big plays.
Chiefs Missing Some Pieces
Kansas City will begin the 2023 season without two of their most important players, and that could have an impact on the outcome of this game. Tight end Travis Kelce will miss this game due to injury, and defensive star Chris Jones is holding out for a new contract.
The fans in Kansas City will still have Patrick Mahomes, and that’s usually enough to give them a chance to win any game. Even though the Lions are a solid defensive team, Mahomes is good enough to score on anyone.
Kansas City is always going to give up points on defense, but that unit will simply need to give the offense a chance to win this one.
Mahomes Too Much For Lions
Detroit is going to be solid on both sides of the ball this season, but being solid just isn’t good enough to win a game at Arrowhead Stadium. The Lions will hit on some big plays in this game, but they won’t be able to keep up with the Chiefs on the scoreboard.
Not having Travis Kelce is going to hurt the Chiefs on offense, but there are still plenty of other weapons for Mahomes. It will once again be the offense for the Chiefs that decides this game, and that unit will put on another show.
Forget about taking the points and bet on Patrick Mahomes and the Kansas City Chiefs as they begin the 2023 season with a nice win over the Detroit Lions.
