The 3-0 Chiefs will be traveling to Detroit to take on the undefeated 2-0-1 Lions. The Lions have been a little bit of surprise so far this season. The Chiefs will have their work cut out for them as Mahomes and company try to keep things rolling. Here are five things to watch for this Sunday.
Will we see more of Mr. Consistent?
Darrel Williams was a nice surprise last week against the Ravens as he led the team in rushing against the Ravens with 62 yards on nine carries. He also had 47 yards receiving, including a screen pass that would seal the win for the Chiefs. For the Chiefs coaching staff, this isn’t much of a surprise as Williams has been given the nickname, “Mr. Consistent.”
The Chiefs are still without one of their starting RB Damien Williams, so it wouldn’t be a shock for Darrel to split reps with Lesean McCoy this week against the Lions. We could even see Darrel get more touches than McCoy this week considering McCoy has been fighting an ankle injury. If the Chiefs jump out to an early lead like they have a few times this season, expect to see Darrel as the featured back. If he has another solid performance there could be a possibility of him moving up the depth chart and stealing some snaps away from Damien when he returns to health.
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Patrick Mahomes playing in a dome
Patrick Mahomes will have a career first this week against the Lions. It will be the first time he plays in a dome during the NFL regular season. The last time Mahomes played in a dome was back during the 2018 preseason before Mahomes made his first real NFL start. During that game, he averaged 11.5 yards per throw, which is a good four yards higher than his current average.
It’s believed that quarterbacks play better in domes since the weather and wind do not play a factor. Believe it or not, we could see Mahomes play his best game of the season thus far.
The last time Mahomes played in a full game in the dome was back when he was in college at Texas Tech. He had 586 yards passing and six touchdowns against Baylor, having one of the best games in his college career. During college, he played four total games in a dome and averaged nearly 500 passing yards per game. That’s over 100 more yards than he is currently averaging.
All signs point to Mahomes playing better in the dome against the Lions. If he throws for 554 passing yards he can set the NFL’s single-game passing record. It wouldn’t be so out of the ordinary with this offense.
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How will the Lions plan to keep up with the Chiefs offense?
Last week the Ravens had an interesting game plan when it came to playing against the Chiefs. The Ravens went for it on fourth down multiple times and also went for multiple two-point conversions. The Ravens head coach John Harbaugh said that they were going to try to score as many points as they possibly could even if that meant going for it on fourth down at midfield.
Could a team like the Lions take a similar approach when facing the Chiefs this week? Their highest point total of the season was 27 points against the Eagles and Cardinals. That likely won’t be enough to beat the Chiefs.
If the Lions run the ball a lot, we could see them going for it on fourth down. It will be a good test for the Chiefs defense to get off the field. They’ll want to secure as many opportunities as they can for Patrick Mahomes to put up points.
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Receiver roulette: Who has the big game this week?
The Chiefs haven’t missed a beat without their starting wide receiver Tyreek Hill during the first three weeks. The success can’t all go to the great play of Patrick Mahomes. Other wide receivers on the team have been making the most of their opportunities. Each week a different wide receiver had led the Chiefs in receiving. Check it out:
- Week 1 – Sammy Watkins: 9 receptions, 198 yards, 3 touchdowns
- Week 2 – Demarcus Robinson: 6 receptions, 172 yards, 2 touchdowns
- Week 3 – Mecole Hardman: 2 receptions 97 yards, 1 touchdown
It will be interesting to see which receiver has a big game this week against the Lions. They’ve struggled to cover tight ends in the past, so perhaps it will be Travis Kelce who steps up and leads the Chiefs in receiving. He’s currently sixth in the NFL in
It should also be considered that the Chiefs are playing in a dome this week, so we should expect not only Mahomes to have a big day but also the wide receivers. Hopefully, the trend continues to help keep the offense dynamic until Hill returns to the lineup.
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Will we see another good performance from the Chiefs secondary?
The Chiefs secondary took some big steps against this last week against the Ravens as they held Lamar Jackson to under 300 yards and didn’t allow him to have a passing touchdown. It was also impressive that the Chiefs were able to hold Marquise Brown, who was has been one of the most dangerous weapons during the first few weeks in the NFL to two catches. Tyrann Mathieu even got going with three passes defended on the day, with two being near-interceptions.
The Chiefs secondary will be looking to continue their solid play this week against Matthew Stafford and the Lions. Stafford is a respected quarterback in the league, so the Chiefs secondary will need to have a strong performance to keep the team undefeated.
One player to keep an eye on, in particular, is Charvarius Ward who will be looking to hang on to his starting job since Mo Claiborne will be returning to the team after serving his four-game suspension. Ward will need to have a big game and now allow receivers to get those 50-50 balls like he did against the Ravens if he wants to remain the starter.
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