If Thursday night's game is anything similar to Patrick Mahomes and Jared Goff's first game against one another, the NFL's opening night of the 2023 season will be one for the books.
Five years ago, the two quarterbacks helped put up a combined 105 points in one of the most exciting and high-scoring games in league history. While that number will be tough to top, Thursday's game should have similar drama given the talent that exists on both sides of the ball for each team.
The headliner for the defending champion Chiefs is Mahomes, who last year joined Tom Brady and Joe Montana as the only players to win league and Super Bowl MVP honors in the same year multiple times. The Chiefs may be without two of their other top three players, however, with defensive tackle Chris Jones holding out and tight end Travis Kelce dealing with a knee injury.
The Lions are hoping to once again play the role of spoilers on Thursday night eight months after their Week 18 upset win in Green Bay in what was Aaron Rodgers' final game as a Packer. Lions fans hope last year's 9-8 season will serve as a springboard for more success this season. Detroit's roster is filled with talent that includes Goff, wideout Amon-Ra St. Brown, rookie running back Jahmyr Gibbs and defensive end and fellow former first-round pick Aidan Hutchinson.
How to watch Lions-Chiefs
- When: Thursday, Sept. 7 | 8:20 p.m. ET
- Where: Arrowhead Stadium -- Kansas City, Missouri
- TV: NBC | Live stream: fuboTV
- Follow: CBS Sports App
- Odds: Chiefs -5; O/U 53 (via SportsLine consensus odds)
Prediction
The Lions are a formidable foe, but it's hard to fathom the Chiefs dropping this game on a night where the franchise will raise its third Super Bowl championship banner, even if Kelce can't go. Detroit will show that they will be a team to be reckoned with, but the Chiefs will remind everyone that the road to the Super Bowl in the AFC still goes through Arrowhead.
Thursday night's game will also be our first look at Kansas City's re-vamped receiving corps that will feature second-year wideout Skyy Moore, veterans Marquez Valdes-Scantling and Justin Watson, former 49ers and Giants wideout Richie James and undrafted rookie Justyn Ross.
Score: Chiefs 31, Lions 29
