Inside The Vikings

Lions Take (Extremely) Early Lead in NFC North With Gutsy Win Over Chiefs

The Vikings have their work cut out for them this season, but we already knew that.
Will Ragatz|
Lions Take (Extremely) Early Lead in NFC North With Gutsy Win Over Chiefs
Lions Take (Extremely) Early Lead in NFC North With Gutsy Win Over Chiefs

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On opening night of the 2023 NFL season, the Detroit Lions showed why they're the favorites in the NFC North. The Lions went to Kansas City to take on the defending Super Bowl champions and came away with a gutsy 21-20 win over the Chiefs on Thursday night.

To be clear, this wasn't an overly pretty or awe-inspiring victory from the Lions. The Chiefs were missing All-Pros Travis Kelce and Chris Jones and got a horrific performance from Kadarius Toney, who dropped three key passes — one of which caused a pick-six.

But Dan Campbell's team deserves credit nonetheless. Detroit opened the scoring after converting an audacious fake punt from inside their own 20 in the first quarter, then rallied from a one-score deficit twice in the second half. David Montgomery's touchdown run midway through the fourth quarter proved to be the game-winner. To find a way to pull out a win like that in Arrowhead Stadium, regardless of context, is impressive.

And there's reason to believe this Lions team will have more complete performances as the season progresses. All four of the rookies they drafted with top-45 picks this year — Jahmyr Gibbs, Jack Campbell, Sam LaPorta, and Brian Branch — had some nice moments in this game, including Branch's pick-six. Gibbs was far more efficient with the football than Montgomery, and his role will undoubtedly expand over time.

Amon-Ra St. Brown and Aidan Hutchinson are stars, C.J. Gardner-Johnson looks like an important veteran addition, and the Lions' offensive line is a strong unit. We need to see more, but this is a Detroit team that looks like it will be — as expected — the Vikings' top competition in the division.

It's obviously as early as it gets — we are 1/271 games into the regular season — but this was an impactful win for the Lions. They've now got a victory over a common opponent that the Vikings, Packers, and Bears will all face later in the season. Minnesota hosts Kansas City in Week 5, when Kelce (and perhaps Jones) will likely be available.

Of course, all the Vikings can control is winning their own games. That starts on Sunday against the Buccaneers in what feels like a game they have to have, considering their schedule for the next month afterwards.

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Will Ragatz
WILL RAGATZ

Will Ragatz is a senior writer for Vikings On SI, who also covers the Twins, Timberwolves, Gophers, and other Minnesota teams. He is a credentialed Minnesota Vikings beat reporter, covering the team extensively at practices, games and throughout the NFL draft and free agency period. Ragatz attended Northwestern University, where he studied at the prestigious Medill School of Journalism. During his time as a student, he covered Northwestern Wildcats football and basketball for SB Nation’s Inside NU, eventually serving as co-editor-in-chief in his junior year. In the fall of 2018, Will interned in Sports Illustrated’s newsroom in New York City, where he wrote articles on Major League Baseball, college football, and college basketball for SI.com.

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