The Lions last game was a dominating performance over the Tampa Bay Buccaneers despite playing with only a single regular DB in the secondary. With two full weeks to get healed up, the Lions will now face the Minnesota Vikings to complete the first round of divisional games, looking to keep pace with the streaking Green Bay Packers.  The 3-4 Vikings are coming off a humiliating road loss at the Chargers in LA and are continuing to nurse a beat-up roster, especially on the O-Line. Carson Wentz imploded (along with his shoulder) after having a few good weeks and is headed to IR, so the Vikes will be turning the keys over to the inexperienced JJ McCarthy as he makes his return to Michigan.   The Vikings offense is basically mired in the bottom third of the NFL in every major statistical category.  They don’t really do anything well.  Much of that is due to a lack of a run game and OL that has been down three starters, but even if those players get back, there is no quick fix for the Vikes.  The Lions offense continues to be Top 12 across the board, including top 5 in Pts per game, Yard per paly, Pass Compl % and Rushing TDs. Switching to defense, the Bucs fair a bit better here, with their passing defense especially effective in terms of yardage allowed, but that may be a bit of a misnomer.  Their rush defense is sitting at 25 th  in most yards allowed, their pass rush is great at getting pressures and hurries but not sacks and they have only picked of 3 passes all year.  The Lions meanwhile are, on-paper, significantly better, being in the Top 10 in all major categories except for Pass Yards and Passing TDs allowed.  This culminates in bad timing for the Vikes, coming in with a rookie QB, a beat-up offense and now facing a player in Aiden Hutchison who just got paid to be the best Edge in the NFL and a guy in Brain Branch that is…dare I say…is one pissed off hombre coming off his suspension.   This is a mismatch on paper, but I think the Lions will need to get their mojo back on offense and push the 30-pts barrier in order to feel at ease for this one.   Time:  1:00pm  Location:  Ford Field - Detroit, MI  Field Surface:   Field Turf – Installed 2023   TV:  FOX Single Game Regional  Broadcast Crew:  Kevin Burkhardt, Tom Brady Radio:  Lions Radio Network  Detroit Lions Schedule - Radio Affiliates | Detroit Lions - DetroitLions.com     Radio Crew:  Dan Miller, Lomas Brown, TJ Lang   Streaming:  Sunday Ticket on YouTube TV (Subscription required   Referee:  Clay Martin

Teh Lions came out of the bye week looking fairly healthy with some of the IR guys now practicing and hitting the Injury Report. The Vikings are also getting healthier but have a few concerns at certain spots and a lot of starters that are banged up. Buccaneers Wednesday: The Vikings have been hit hard by injuries over the last month or so, but they also saw some relief with a bunch of guys back to practice that have been hurt. The DNPs were CJ Ham and backups Jeff Okudah and John Oliver. The Full Practice guys are all starters in JJ McCarthy, Andrew Van Ginkel & Christian Darrisaw (FP) along with LPs Brian O’Neil, Jonathan Greenard and Isiah Rodgers. Areas of concern continue to be the OL with guys nicked up and LCB, where both Rodgers and Okudah are also banged up. Lions Wednesday: The Lions came out of the bye week with only two players Not Practicing in Kerby Joseph and Craig Reynolds. Both were expected based on comments earlier this week form Dan Campbell, so no surprises there. The positives were that Terrion Arnold was a full participant, and two injured guys, Malcolm Rodriguez and Daniel Thomas were both back at practice, albeit Limited. The rest of the list includes AQM (Hamstring was his mystery injury), Decker, Maddox and Sione Vaki all back limited, but on the field.

Name: Clay Martin Age: 50 Promoted To Referee: 2018 Graphic Courtesy of Football Zebras Last Game: Week 7 2025 PIT @ CIN Last Lions Game: 10/20/24 – DET 31 @ MIN 29 The Detroit Lions committed 8 penalties for 49 yards. They were flagged a total of 12 times. The Minnesota Vikings committed 8 penalties for 59 yards. They were flagged a total of 10 times. Together there were 16 penalties for 108 yards. There were 22 total flags in this game. The Lions will be looking for some hometown help with the crowd noise to rattle JJ McCarthy and the Vikings Sunday afternoon at Ford Field. Clay Martin and crew are notorious for calling a lot of penalties within the five yards on either side of the line of scrimmage. Offensive holding, False Start, Illegal Formation and Defensive Offsides are four of their top five (along with DPI), and although both teams are guilty of those penalties quite a bit, it appears to be a benefit for the Lions. The big one is the Vikings Offensive Line, as they have committed 14 offensive Holding penalties so far, and Martin’s crew has called it 25 times so far this year. Hutch, McNeil, Reader, Williams and AQM are likely to feast again, especially when McCarthy tries to scramble and leaves his OL hanging out to dry.

Multiple NFL Media National guys (Adam Schefter had it first) are reporting that the Lions have signed Aiden Hutchinson to a four-year extension this morning. Per Hutch's agent, the extension is four-years for $180M with $141M guaranteed. Hutchinson has been one the best EDGE players in the NFL since he joined the Lions, and the extension was a matter of when, not if. What is interesting is that he actually took less money on the deal than Micah Parsons but below shows how he compares to the following recent EDGE extensions. He did reset the market for most guaranteed money of any of them: Comparisons Aiden Hutchinson 4-Year $180M with $141M Guaranteed APY is $45M Micah Parsons 4-year $186M with $136M Guaranteed APY is $46.5M TJ Watt 3-year $123M with $108M Guaranteed APY is $41.0M Myles Garrett 4-year $160M with $123.6M Guaranteed APY is $40.0M Speculation on deal This will extend him past his Fifth-year option, likely putting him under contract until 2030 when he will still only be 30-years old. Holmes likely will have multiple Vois years tacked on at the end to spread out the cap hit. In recent deals, he has used only one (Goff, Swell), Three (St Brown) and four (JAMO)

Week 9 NFL coverage reverts back to a normal schedule with the Thursday night Amazon streaming only* game (BAL @ MIA), no London game Sunday morning and a single Monday Night Football game (ARX @ DAL). The Lions return from their bye week and will be part of the FOX single-game regional coverage as an early game. CBS has reginal early games of CHI @CIN, SF @ NYG, IND @ PIT, ATL @ NE and LAC @ TEN. The CBS Late game is national KC @ BUF. The Fox single game is split between MIN @ DET, CAR @ GB and DEN @ HOU in the 1pm slot, with NE @ LAR and JAX @ LAV in the Late slot. Detroit will get most of the US coverage for Fox, while Indy and Pitt will get the bulk fo the CBS early audience with the KC/BUF late game being national. Byes: Cleveland, NY Jets, Philadelphia, Tampa Bay NATIONAL BROADCASTS Thursday Night: Baltimore @ Miami (Amazon) Sunday Night: Seattle @ Washington (NBC) Monday Night: Arizona @ Dallas (ESPN/ABC) *BAL-MIA will be simulcast on WMAR (ABC/2) Baltimore and WFOR (CBS/4) Miami. CBS Early and Late Games Fox Single Game All listings are unofficial and subject to change. Check back often for updates. Courtesy of the folks at 506 Sports

Final injury report dropped, and the Lions will be without key starters Arnold and Joseph and there is question on whether Reader, Decker, and McNeil will play. It’s assumed all three will be in, but until elevations are made today, we won’t know the general direction of the trending. The Bucs appear to be playing games with Egbuka on their report and in public comments, claiming he is Questionable after having him out for stretching only on Saturday. Others of note, David and Evans appear to be able to play, but both could be limited. But the rest of the top guys are all out including Godwin, Irving and starting OL Haggard. Buccaneers Saturday: Surprise is that Egbuka was listed as Questionable, as he looked down and out. A trye game-time decision, but I bet he tries to give it a go. Everyone else as expected for designations and practice. Friday: The Bucs saw star WR Mike Evans, who was a Limited Participant on Thursday, regress to a Non-Participant on Friday. This may have been planned as part of his process working back form the Hamstring, but we will know for sure his direction when the game designations come out later today. The only other movement was Punter Riley Dixon, who was back from his personal day. Thursday: The Bucs beat up WR and RB rooms were well known, and it is seen on the initial report. Egbuka (NP), Godwin (NP), Evans (LP) and Irving (NP) are their top four weapons, and only Evans looks to be trending toward suiting up. They did get back both CBs (McCollum and Morrison) to Ful Practice, but starting LB LaVonte David being NP could severely impact the defenses’ ability to make splash plays, as he does a bit of everything. Lions Saturday: No glaring changes or surprises, but McNeil will be activated and likely both Reader and Decker are in. Friday: The Lions were pretty much in line with expectations, but both Terrion Arnold (NP to LP) and DJ Reader (NP to LP) so progress from Thursday to Friday. Reality is that Reader is probably getting vet maintenance days, and Arnold may still be a couple weeks away with the Bye next week, but there is a possibility he could help a depleted secondary playing through the issue with a shoulder harness. Otherwise, it appears that Joseph, Maddox and Vaki are trending to be out and Alim McNeil should be activated as part of a flurry of moves today or tomorrow, with him filling the Branch spot caused by suspension and likely two DBs being elevated if Decker is able to go. Thursday: Lions report was pretty much as expected, Arnold, Joseph, Maddox and Vaki were all expected to be No Practice guys. The inclusion of DJ Reader (bad surprise) with a back injury was NOT expected and can only hope to be precautionary to help him get rested up before Monday. Seeing Taylor Decker back with a Full Participant designation (good surprise) is excellent news, as Campbell seemed to indicate he wasn’t expected at practice today. McNeil and Cunningham being Full Participants was also good news, as they will bolster the DL and LB depth if they can go, helping to offset the weakened secondary.

There was some movement for both teams on a couple of key players on Friday, good for the Lions and potentially bad for the Bucs.  Otherwise, a lot of status quo. Buccaneers Friday:  The Bucs saw star WR Mike Evans, who was a Limited Participant on Thursday, regress to a Non-Participant on Friday.  This may have been planned as part of his process working back form the Hamstring, but we will know for sure his direction when the game designations come out later today.  The only other movement was Punter Riley Dixon, who was back from his personal day.   Thursday:  The Bucs beat up WR and RB rooms were well known, and it is seen on the initial report.  Egbuka (NP), Godwin (NP), Evans (LP) and Irving (NP) are their top four weapons, and only Evans looks to be trending toward suiting up. They did get back both CBs (McCollum and Morrison) to Ful Practice, but starting LB LaVonte David being NP could severely impact the defenses’ ability to make splash plays, as he does a bit of everything. Lions Friday:   The Lions were pretty much in line with expectations, but both Terrion Arnold (NP to LP) and DJ Reader (NP to LP) so progress from Thursday to Friday.  Reality is that Reader is probably getting vet maintenance days, and Arnold may still be a couple weeks away with the Bye next week, but there is a possibility he could help a depleted secondary playing through the issue with a shoulder harness.  Otherwise, it appears that Joseph, Maddox and Vaki are trending to be out and Alim McNeil should be activated as part of a flurry of moves today or tomorrow, with him filling the Branch spot caused by suspension and likely two DBs being elevated if Decker is able to go.   Thursday:  Lions report was pretty much as expected, Arnold, Joseph, Maddox and Vaki were all expected to be No Practice guys. The inclusion of DJ Reader (bad surprise) with a back injury was NOT expected and can only hope to be precautionary to help him get rested up before Monday. Seeing Taylor Decker back with a Full Participant designation (good surprise) is excellent news, as Campbell seemed to indicate he wasn’t expected at practice today.  McNeil and Cunningham being Full Participants was also good news, as they will bolster the DL and LB depth if they can go, helping to offset the weakened secondary.

Coming off a very disappointed loss to the Chiefs in Kansas City, the Lions will be heading home on the early (7:00pm EST) MNF game this week against the NFL leading Tampa Bay Buccaneers. Not much went right in KC, as the offense sputtered, the defense bent and finally broke, and the Lions appeared to once again be on the short end of the stick of the mystical Chiefs officiating vibe. Oh, and Brian Branch, one of the remaining healthy DBs on the roster, got suspended for a face palm as the game was ending. So, Yikes? Anyways, Tampa comes into Detroit tied with the Colts with a league-best 5-1 record and on a two-game winning streak. They have been doing it without many of their offensive weapons, leaning on rookie WR Emeka Egbuka after Mike Evans, Chris Godwin and Bucky Irving have gone down or unavailable all season. Well, this week Egbuka is potentially out with a bad hamstring, and while mike Evans is back at practice coming off his own sever hamstring, he may not be the Mike Evans of Old. This creates a pre-season worthy matchup of potentially the Bucs No 1, 4, 5 and 6 WRs against a Lions secondary with NB Amik Robinson, and CBs 3, 5, 8 & 9 and S 3, 4 and 5 on the depth chart. The X factor will be the return of DT Alim McNeil in helping control Baker Mayfield in the pocket, and the Lions coming home, in Prime Time and breaking out the black Motor City Muscle unis. There is a new leader in the weekly predictions by virtue of turning his back on the beloved Lions last week, and that is Brent. He picked the Chiefs, so his has the lead at 5-1 followed by Dan at 4-2 and Mike and Chris in a dead heat for 3rd at 3-3 and separated by 1 point. Dan still holds the tie breaker as closest to the pin, only off by 9 points in Lions cumulative scoring for the season. Mike The Tampa Bay Bucs roll into the Motor City for a Monday night clash with the Lions this week, for a renewal of old NFC Central rivals. The Bucs are coming off a big win against the 49ers and are now 5-1 and leading the NFC South. This game will come down to the battle of the backups. TB on Offense where their WR's are hurting bad, and Detroit is hurting equally as bad in the Defensive backfield. The Lions offense is in good shape and may be getting Decker back at LT after being out for 2 weeks. This will be big for the OL. The Lions offense is ranked 11th overall in the NFL with the No. 2 scoring offense and 10th in pass yards per game. This aligns nicely with the Bucs on Defense. The Bucs are 14th in total Defense but are 27th against the pass, But 1st against the Run. Lions are favored by 4.5 points on ESPN. The QBs will determine the outcome of this game. While under pressure Jared Goff is the No. 1 QB in the NFL, Baker Mayfield is below average, but he is at his most dangerous when he is scrambling around the field. I think Hutch and McNeil (welcome back big guy!!) will apply just enough pressure to have Mayfield missing his 4th string WR's and protecting Detroit's battered Defensive Backfield. Lions: 31, Bucs 24 Brent The Detroit Lions have not lost back-to-back games in three years. The Tampa Bucs come in as a media darling with MVP front runner Baker Mayfield coming into Ford Field for a Monday Night Football matchup. The 5-1 Buccaneers are likely to have Mike Evans back from a hamstring pull barring any unexpected relapses. The Bucs defense continues to get enough stops to give the Bucs a chance to win at the end. Lions 38, Bucs 21 Chris Dan Campbell rarely loses back-to-back games, and after that officiating circus in Kansas City, this team has extra motivation brewing. Nothing bonds a locker room quite like feeling wronged by the zebras, and Campbell's already channeling that energy into Monday night preparation. Alim McNeill's return couldn't come at a better time. Even on limited snaps, his presence up the middle will collapse Baker Mayfield's pocket and create havoc for Aidan Hutchinson and company to feast on. Meanwhile, our patchwork secondary gets help from a pass rush that should be licking its chops against Tampa Bay's offensive line. The NFL finds itself in an interesting spot after Sunday's controversy. All eyes are on the officiating now, which actually works in Detroit's favor. The league can't afford another questionable call fest, especially against the team that just got hosed on national television. Expect the Lions to come out swinging in those sharp Black Motor City Muscle uniforms. Home crowd, primetime stage, and a chip on their shoulder makes for a dangerous combination. Lions 30, Bucs 27 Dan For the third game in a row, I am predicting it will come down to a shootout with the Lions prevailing. Last week sucked for the team, the fans, and frankly, for the respect, dignity and reputation of the NFL and its officials. On to a new game, and a greater challenge in the ever-dangerous Baker Mayfield and the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. Although Tamps is tied for the best record in the NFL at 5-1, they have been doing it the hard way, battling through significant offense skill-position injuries and with a defense e that ranks in the bottom half of the NFL in many major categories. Their offense is propped up by the passing game, with the passing game in particular top 10 in most stats along with points per game at 27.5. The Lions counter with a completely healthy offense that averages 31.8 pts per game (2nd in NFL) and is Top 10 in most major Passing, Rushing and total offense categories. Defensively, both teams are mainly in the middle third in raking's, but the Lions, despite last week's debacle in KC, still hold the edge in most defensive categories. On Paper, the Lions are the better team. Now, that may be primarily due to stats accumulated prior to the secondary being wiped out by injury and Suspension, but it is what it is. I think once again, it will come down to a shootout, with the Lions prevailing in a high scoring affair. Lions 31, Buc 27

Week 7 NFL coverage starts Thursday night with on Amazon streaming only* game (PIT @ CIN) and a fourth straight Sunday Morning UK game LAR @ JAX) in London at Wembley Stadium and back to double-header Monday Night. This includes our Detroit Lions hosting the Tampa Bay Buccaneers at 7:00pm on ESPN/ABC and HOU @ SEA at 10PM on ESPN. The Lions, after having a not-so-great time in Kansas City will get a shot at redemption against the red-hot Buccaneers, but it will be a battle of backups in Detroit Secondary against Tampa’s WRs and skill guys. CBS has a single regional game, with the bulk of the country getting subjected to an Early game featuring KC hosting Las Vegas. NE @ TEN and MIA @ CLE round out the other two early games, with IND @ LAC and NYG @ DEN being the two late games. The FOX early game has all of West Cast and most of the Midwest getting PHI at MIN, with regional coverage of NYG @ CHI and CAR @ NYJ. The Fox Late game is split between WAS @ DAL and GB @ ARZ, with the South and both coasts getting Dallas/WAS and the upper Midwest and Arizona getting the Packers and Cardinals. BYE weeks are Baltimore and Buffalo NATIONAL BROADCASTS Thursday Night: Pittsburgh @ Cincinnati (Amazon) Sunday morning: LA Rams @ Jacksonville (in London) (NFLN) Sunday Night: Atlanta @ San Francisco (NBC) Monday Night: Tampa Bay @ Detroit (ESPN/ABC) Monday Night 10 PM ET: Houston @ Seattle (ESPN) PIT-CIN will be simulcast on WTAE (ABC/4) Pittsburgh and WCPO (ABC/9) Cincinnati. LAR-JAX will be simulcast on KTTV (FOX/11) Los Angeles and WFOX (FOX/30) Jacksonville. HOU-SEA will be simulcast on KHOU (CBS/11) Houston and KING (NBC/5) Seattle. CBS Single Game FOX Early Game FOX Late Game All listings are unofficial and subject to change. Check back often for updates. Courtesy of the folks at 506 Sports

Name: John Hussey Age: 61 Promoted To Referee: 2015 Last Game: Week 6 2025 CAR @ DAL Last Lions Game: 12/05/24 – GB 31 @ DET 34 Graphic Courtesy of Football Zebras The Green Bay Packers committed 7 penalties for 59 yards. They were flagged a total of 7 times. The Detroit Lions committed 7 penalties for 56 yards. They were flagged a total of 7 times. Together there were 14 penalties for 115 yards. There were 14 total flags in this game. Notable After last week, where a crew that flags teams 18 per game threw 7 total, and only 1 on one team, hard to look at the trends and think they will hold up. John Hussey and crew are very cognizant of the Line of Scrimmage, with their top penalties False Start, Offensive Holding and Illegal Formation. The others heavy hitters are DPI and Defensive Holding. Unfortunately for the Lions, they hit all five of those I their top called penalties this year, but the Buccaneers are even worse, having been called for 14 Offensive Holds in 6 games so far. Could be the week that Hutch and AQM feast for real.

Basically, the Lions are beat up, and the Chiefs are fully healthy. Four players were ruled out (as expected) and six were listed as Questionable, but St Brown is good to go. Of the six, are both starting Safeties unfortunately. Elevations tomorrow will tell us where the help is needed, but likely will see a CB (Flowers) and either a S or another CB most likely determined by Branch’s availability. Chiefs Friday: Everyone is a go, not sure why they listed so many players all week, but whatever. Thursday: Another day of just stupid Practice report posting by the Chiefs, listing the same players form yesterday that all have some sort of minor injury but still practiced in full. Complete waste of time probably toes the line on the NFLs reporting rules. They did have one player downgraded, and that was WR Xavier Worthy, who was listed as NP for today. Wednesday: Not even gonna try, this is dumb to list their entire team as FP with a bunch of ouchies. Someone must have run afoul of the leagues reporting in the recent past. Lions Friday: Out is Arnold, Vaki, Cunningham and McNeil. Questionable is Decker, Manu, Joseph, Branch, Raymond, and Maddox. ST Brown is good to go. Thursday: Both Khaliff Raymond (LP) and Amon-Ra St Brown (FP) were upgraded Thursday, showing that they are trending toward playing on Sunday night. However, two unexpected additions at the Lions two hardest hit positions were added in Gio Manu (LP – Knee) and Avonte Maddox (LP – Hamstring). Unclear if the injuries occurred yesterday at practice or if they left during practice today. The rest of the listed players had the same designation as yesterday and continue to trend not available this weekend. Wednesday: The report was littered withs starters that Did Not Practice, including new additions St Brown, Arnold, Joseph and Raymond joining holdovers Decker, Cunningham and Vaki. Brian Branch was a surprise Limited participant with and ankle, but Alim McNeil was a full participant, bolstering is odds of being activated before Sunday.

The Lions and Chiefs are meeting as two teams going in opposite directions. The 4-1 Lions, winners of four straight, head into Arrowhead on Sunday Night Football to take on the 2-3 Chiefs in what was likely anticipated to be a game between two unbeatens when the schedule came out. However, something changed, and it is the Chiefs are simply not winning the close games this year. They were on an NFL-Record 17-straight one-score game wins , including 12-0 in 2024, but this year they are 0-3 and the mystic seems to be gone. They are still the Chiefs though, and the Lions aren't healthy, but this one still seems destined to be a tight one with both teams putting plenty of points on the board and probably a one-score game when it is all said and done. After five weeks, there is finally a new leader in the prediction game sitting at 4-1 and only off Lions cumulative score by nine points. Nipping at his heels is prior leader Brent, with the same 4-1 record, but off by 15 points after overestimating the Lions output the last few weeks. Mike and Chris continue in their dead heat, with each sporting identical 3-2 records and within four points of one another. Could be some serious separation this week, as Dan went with the Lions and Brent went with the Chiefs, so points won't matter with one likely being 5-1 and the other 4-2. On to the Picks!!! Mike Week 6 we have a matchup of 2 Heavyweights in the NFL, however one is struggling while the other appears to be finding their footing, however and old foe (injuries) has raised its ugly head once again. The Lions lead the Chiefs in almost every category on Offense and Defense. That does not mean anything in the NFL as we have seen over the years. The Chiefs still have one of the best QBs in the NFL, and while Travis Kelce is dreaming about becoming a Showgirl he is still a valuable weapon at the TE spot. The Chiefs running and passing offense still rank in the Top 10 in the NFL. So, this might suggest a very evenly matched offenses with the Lions ranking 1st or 2nd in almost all categories. Looking at Defense the Chiefs are the middle of the pack with the one big glaring exception that I am sure John Morton has been looking at - they are giving up on average 123 yards per game while the Lions average 134 yards per game on the ground. This is an area the Lions can exploit. It will all come down to how Jim Spagnoulo can find ways to slow down the running game and put pressure on Jared Goff. For the Lions it is going to be how the Defensive Secondary holds up and if the Lions can continue to generate pressure on Mahomes. A big road win for the Lions. Lions 24, Chiefs 17 Brent The Detroit Lions enter this week’s matchup with the Kansas City Chiefs riding a four-game winning streak. The Lions offense, after setting a record last season as the 4th highest scoring offense in NFL history, are on pace to exceed their totals from last season. In contrast, the Chiefs are coming off a devastating loss to the Jacksonville Jaguars where their star defender Chris Jones was criticized for not trying to stop the Jaguars quarterback Trevor Lawrence where Jones claimed he “thought he was down.” Jones will bring his A game this week. There has been a lot of chatter in NFL and media circles questioning the Chiefs and whether their best days are behind them. The Super Bowl exposed them as a team that cannot hold up to strong defensive fronts. The Detroit Lions have a strong defensive front and linebackers that make plays. The strength of the Lions defense is stopping the run and forcing teams to throw the football. The Chiefs are likely to take advantage of a banged-up Lions secondary given they are down both starting cornerbacks. The key to the game is whether Aidan Hutchinson and the other defensive linemen can bring enough pressure to impact the Chiefs ability to throw the football. My prediction, even with the Lions starting cornerbacks, would be a shootout. Without them, the Lions will have to overcome injuries to both starting safeties as Brian Branch has an injured foot and Kerby Joseph has a banged-up knee. Offensively, the Lions offense is clicking on all cylinders. Amon-Ra St Brown is banged up but make no mistake about it, he will be impactful in this game. Jared Goff played his 70th game as a Detroit Lion (after playing 69 as a starter for the LA Rams) and continues to play as effectively as any quarterback in the NFL. There were rumblings last season for him to win the NFL MVP Award until his five turnovers in Houston last season. Expect calls for him to win the NFL MVP to pick up if he continues the pace he is on this season. He is second in the NFL with a 120.7 quarterback rating and leads the NFL with 12 touchdown passes. Expect the Lions to be able to move the football and if the offensive line can hold up, the Lions will exceed (174 total points in five games) their 34.8 point per game average. In the end, Patrick Mahomes will take advantage of the Lions beat up secondary and the Chiefs will out duel the Lions 38-35. Chiefs 38, Lions 35 Chris The oddsmakers may as well have this game as a pick 'em. Detroit's riding a four-game hot streak fueled by opportunistic defense and that plus-seven turnover margin tells the whole story. We've been taking the ball away and making teams pay for mistakes. The challenge comes when Patrick Mahomes starts doing his Houdini act in the pocket. Our secondary depth gets tested when he extends plays, and those backup corners better be ready for extended coverage assignments they haven't faced yet. But here's the thing about confidence: beating Kansas City 21-20 two seasons ago planted a seed that this Lions team can hang with anyone. John Morton's offense has found another gear since that Week 1 stumble, and even championship-level defenses struggle when our skill position players get rolling. Mahomes will make his plays, but Detroit's offense proves too balanced and too explosive down the stretch. Jake Bates connects when it matters most because that's just how this season is unfolding. Lions 27, Chiefs 24 Dan This is a game the Lions look destined to lose. They are super beat up, especially in the secondary, and the Chiefs are about as healthy as a team can be. However, the Chiefs are not playing like the Chiefs of the last few years. Sure, the offensive numbers are there, with the Chiefs ranking near or within the Top 10 in most Offensive categories. But guess what, the Lions offense is ranked at or near the top FIVE in all major offensive categories. Where the Chiefs are starting to look vulnerable is on defense. While their pass defense statistically is still one of the best, I think this is a bit if a misnomer because teams have had major success running the ball against the Chiefs and trying to keep Mahomes and company off the field, so why pass the ball. Couple this with the Chiefs rush defense and pass rush being bottom third in many major categories, and the Lions rush offense and deadly play-action-pass offense top 10, I think this is a recipe for disaster for the Chiefs. The X factor for this game is the Officiating crew and how they handle Chiefs RT Juwan Taylor. He is the most penalized player in the NFL right now, and this crew loves to call Offensive Holding, False Start and Illegal Formation, everything teams have been complaining about to the NFL for the last few years, and the three penalties Taylor has been flagged for the most. Bottom line, this will likely be a shootout due to the Lions secondary being ripe for exploitation by the Chiefs and Mahomes. In the end, I think a great offensive game plan and Juwan Taylor finally being held to the standard of the NFL rulebook will make the difference, and the Lions will squeeze out a tight victory on Sunday night. Lions 35, Chiefs 31