The 2019 season rewatch project hits Week 4 with two undefeated teams clashing in Ford Field. The Kansas City Chiefs coming to Detroit is a great matchup and a fun game to revisit, even if the final outcome didn’t go Detroit’s way.
Pregame notes
Darius Slay and Danny Amendola missed the game with injuries, the only regular starters out for Detroit. Both players left the second half of the Week 3 win in Philadelphia. The Chiefs were missing WR Tyreke Hill and LT Eric Fisher.
Lions wore the vintage uniforms with no logo on the helmets and plain blue jerseys/silver pants.
First quarter
Lions get the ball first and quickly march down the field. Kerryon Johnson is running decisively, getting downhill right away and attacking the hole. Matthew Stafford hits Kenny Golladay on a perfect pitch-and-catch up the seam for a big gain. Lions are using the pulling OL (usually RT Rick Wagner) effectively on the run. Great drive until it sputters inside the Chiefs 10. Stafford gets sacked on 3rd down, a coverage sack where he had over four seconds to pass but couldn’t find anyone. Matt Prater’s short FG puts the Lions up 3-0.
During that first drive, coach Matt Patricia challenged a spot on a Johnson run. The ruling on the field was upheld, creating a 3rd-and-1 instead of giving the Lions a first down. It’s an odd time for a challenge and the Lions picked up the first down on the next play anyway. In looking at the replay it’s clear Patricia was right in his assertion the spot was bad, but the officials don’t give that up very often and don’t here.
The Chiefs come out throwing and Patrick Mahomes is very good at choosing the correct option. Not all of his throws are pinpoint, but he hits third-string TE Deon Yelder twice on crossers and gets into field goal range.
Great pressure from Trey Flowers and A’Shawn Robinson on separate plays helps the defense hold eventually, and the Chiefs miss the FG attempt wide right. Mike Ford and Justin Coleman had nice drives in coverage. The broadcast feed of the crowd is as loud as I’ve heard a non-NFC North contest in Ford Field.
Stafford comes back firing too. Two defensive penalties help, but this is prime Stafford. He finds T.J. Hockenson on a sweet delayed-release route for a 5-yard TD. Marvin Hall’s speedy presence on the outside is impacting the safeties in the middle of the field and Stafford is happy to exploit it. Hall also drew a holding penalty on the drive. 10-0 Lions.
Second quarter
The Chiefs manage a field goal on a drive that spans the 1st and 2nd quarters, where Mahomes converted a 3rd down with a 26-yard run that probably could have gone for much more if really felt like risking his body a little. Two penalties helped the Chiefs too. Coleman makes a fantastic hit on Sammy Watkins in the end zone to physically separate him from a TD reception. It’s 10-3 Lions and the defense is showing confidence.
Outside of one pass (Watkins beating Coleman on a deep cross), the Lions coverage down the field remains very good. Safety Tracy Walker is consistently making the right read to deny Mahomes.
The Chiefs defense is settling in and attacking with more line gimmicks up front and it’s working. Stafford gets drilled on 3rd down as both Wagner and Dahl got beat cleanly. Jalen Reeves-Maybin strips the ball out on the punt return (great punt by Sam Martin too) but the Chiefs recover.
Lions defense opens the next drive in a 2-3-6 formation, with Tavai and Christian Jones playing EDGE and Davis the only real LB. Chiefs are in 11 personnel but TE Kelce is lined up wide. Mahomes misses a couple of open throws
Stafford gets walloped by three different Chiefs on the first play of the next drive. He fumbles but recovers. Wagner got badly beaten. Decker was the only lineman to win his battle. Golladay did land a nasty down block from his tight alignment that sent a Chiefs defender sprawling backward. The play gets negated by a defensive hold, but the Chiefs defense has figured something out here. Other than a nice Kerryon Johnson run–foiled at the end by Nick Bawden missing a block–this series is a disaster for the OL and the Lions offense. Even Frank Ragnow gets beaten badly twice, including a play where he’s (rightly) called for a hold.
First play for the Chiefs is a great run by LeSean McCoy. Lions are in a 2-man front again, this time with four safeties on the field. Both Tavon Wilson and Will Harris badly whiff on open-field tackles after a wicked cutback by McCoy. A run-heavy drive ends in a game-tying TD plunge by McCoy.
T.J. Hockenson is tasked with crossing the formation and cut-blocking the opposite EDGE/LB in the run quite a bit. He’s not good at it, diving too early. Chiefs EDGE Frank Clark is not happy with him and lets Hock know it.
The teams trade field goals to enter the half tied at 13. Kerryon Johnson continues to thrive. Mahomes hit Damian Williams on a simple RB wheel where Jarrad Davis was initially in great position but paused for a half-step and it created a window for Mahomes to throw a perfect strike.
Third quarter
Jamal Agnew is known for his return ability, but he creates a big play on the opening kick coverage. Agnew punches the ball cleanly out of Mecole Hardman’s hand and the Lions recover.
An apparent TD catch by Golladay in the back of the end zone gets overturned upon review. He did not maintain complete control through the process of the catch. However, the officials missed a blatant pass interference call on Fuller in coverage that aided in the incompletion.
The very next play, Stafford gets stripped of the ball inside the Chiefs 5-yard line as he tries in vain to scramble and create with his legs. Chris Jones recovers and the Lions blow a major opportunity. The initial OL blocking was fine; nobody was open. Had Stafford tried to just run it in instead of still looking to throw he might have scored but the Chiefs D was closing quickly.
The defense gets the ball right back with a brilliant punch-out from Trey Flowers that A’Shawn Robinson scoops up inside the KC 30. The 3-man rush and over/under coverage on Kelce is working nicely.
Flashback of the 2014 playoff nightmare when a Stafford pass hits LB Anthony Hitchens in the back as he is interfering with the receiver down the field. This time it’s Kerryon Johnson and a flag never even comes to get overruled. Had Stafford looked to his inside he had Hockenson for an easy TD on a post route.
This gets very tough to watch on 1st-and-goal from the 1 after a great J.D. McKissic run. Kerryon Johnson runs into a wall of Chiefs at the goal line. The ball comes out, Chiefs CB Bashaud Breeland (having an otherwise awful game) scoops it up in the end zone and runs it all the way back for a TD. The ball did come out just before Johnson hit the ground as he tried to extend the ball over his head falling toward the end zone. Several of the officials on the play flat-out stop even before Breeland picks the ball up. Players from both sidelines leak onto the field while Breeland is running it back, no flags. The touchdown stands and the Chiefs take the 20-13 lead.
I love the design of a 1st-down rep on the ensuing Lions drive. McKissic motions across, then doubles back on a play fake as Johnson fakes the inside handoff. Lions run it beautifully but the designed post route to Golladay just isn’t open, zero separation. Stafford instead has to fire it to Marvin Jones and it falls incomplete. Give Tyrann Mathieu credit for never biting on the fakes because this play should be six points to Golladay. Next play the officials miss an obvious facemask penalty against the Chiefs. Detroit does get a 53-yard FG from Prater to close the gap.
Mahomes misses an easy TD of his own on the next Chiefs play. Watkins flies down the seam uncovered but Mahomes, under no pressure, checks down to DeMarcus Robinson on a drag route. Coleman steals the ball back again two plays later, punching it from Robinson and recovering it himself. Phenomenal play by Coleman, who is having a great game overall.
Another flexbone look from the Lions offense. Hockenson throws a great seal block out of it and springs Kerryon for a nice gain. Hockenson gets hurt later in the drive attempting to hurdle a defender. The replay is worse than I remember from watching this back in October.
Using McKissic as the feature back on this drive after Kerryon’s early run doesn’t work. Fortunately Stafford screams a laser into Golladay between two closing defenders for a TD. Tremendous throw. Lions back up, 23-20.
The quarter ends with five fumbles (the Lions had two) between the two teams, an NFL record for a game played indoors.
Fourth quarter
Getting a look at Harris as the single-high safety and it’s not a good look. He has no anticipation of routes or targets. He’s also very slow to react to the run. The Chiefs get an impromptu hook-and-ladder with Kelce pitching the ball to McCoy as soon as he catches it. Harris has a bead on McCoy but doesn’t come within three yards after a simple cut. Ugly. Chiefs score the TD after a nice initial goal-line stand by the Lions defense, and it’s 27-23 Chiefs with 12 minutes to play.
The Lions have a nice drive working until a brilliant Mathieu sack on 3rd down. Stafford is alone in an empty backfield and the Chiefs rush six. Jesse James never touches Mathieu on a perfectly timed blitz. Stafford has no chance to even throw it away. Ragnow also got beaten badly by Jones on the play.
Walker and Devon Kennard have a great series to force the Chiefs to punt on the following series. However, another bad Harris rookie mistake on the final play as Mahomes rolls to his right. Harris continues to backpedal to the far side of the field away from the action, he never reacts to the action he should be seeing. Coleman talks to him about it as they go to the sideline.
A fantastic drive from Stafford follows. He’s pitch-perfect and incredibly accurate. Even breaks two tackles on a run. Stafford connects with Hall on a deep shot to set up another Golladay TD on another throw that required a very high degree of difficulty. Fantastic contested catch by Golladay to somehow get both feet inbounds in the front corner. Other than Wagner, the OL held up nicely on this drive. Lions go up 30-27 with just over two minutes remaining.
Terrible awareness by David and Harris allows Mahomes to scramble for a huge gain, and then the Lions blow coverage (between Jones and Walker) on Kelce on the next play, and the Chiefs are in business. Walker makes a great open-field tackle to save a Watkins TD, and Coleman narrowly misses an end zone INT on a terrible decision by Mahomes on the following play. But the Cheifs punch it in on a play where the Lions initially stop Williams at the goal line but he gets tackled forward by a KC lineman and into the end zone.
The Chiefs are guilty of at least two obvious holds on the extra point, no flags. Romeo Okwara was held where no man wants to be held as he nearly blocked it. The refs return the favor by ignoring a blatant hold by Graham Glasgow on the Lions first play, a perfect strike down the middle from Stafford to Jones to move the ball to midfield.
Alas, two Stafford Hail Mary’s fall incomplete. Neither was close to being completed. Chiefs win 34-30.
Good games: Stafford, Kerryon Johnson (minus the critical fumble) Marvin Jones, Golladay, Coleman, Flowers, Decker in pass protection
Bad games: Wagner, Ragnow, Bawden, Harris, Davis, Jesse James, Damon Harrison outside of one run-stuff, Walt Anderson’s officiating crew (impacting both teams)
The Lions were the better team overall. Stafford was the better QB overall than the reigning MVP Mahomes. But the two giveaways inside the Chiefs 5-yard line doomed Detroit. Bad red zone execution was a killer; the Lions managed just 10 points out of four drives that went inside the Chiefs 10.
