When the Detroit Lions’ schedule was first released, we all knew their Week 6 matchup against the Kansas City Chiefs would be tough. After all, the Chiefs have represented the AFC in the Super Bowl in five of the last six years. Even after they got off to a slow start to begin the 2025 season, you always figured they would get things right before the games really began to matter later in the season. And after their Week 5 loss to the Jacksonville Jaguars in Week 5, we knew they would be hungry to get back into the win column.
For the Lions, things got more complicated heading into Kansas City due to all of their injuries in the secondary. They were without starting cornerbacks D.J. Reed and Terrion Arnold, while also missing depth players like Avonte Maddox, Khalil Dorsey, and Ennis Rakestraw. On top of that, both safeties Kerby Joseph and Brian Branch were nursing injuries of their own, making them gametime decisions. The result was more mistakes on the back end than we are normally accustomed to, making it difficult for the Lions’ defense to get off of the field when they needed a stop.
Let’s get into the All-22 to breakdown key third-and-fourth down situations against the Chiefs’ offense, and why these mistakes aren’t anything to worry about in the long term.
Third-downs
First up we are in the second quarter with under eight minutes to play. The Chiefs are faced with a third-and-18 with Chiefs quarterback Patrick Mahomes operating out of the shotgun. He motions in his running back pre-snap, and appears to check into something. Once the ball is snapped, Kansas City wide receiver JuJu Smith-Schuster makes himself available in the slot, while right guard Trey Smith disengages from his assignment, and works up field in front of the ball carrier.
Just look at how much space Lions linebacker Jack Campbell has to cover once the ball is caught by Smith-Schuster—nearly 15 yards. And to make things more difficult, he also had to deal with Smith barreling down the field towards him. The result is a 17-yard pickup for the Chiefs, setting them up to go for it on fourth down.
Luckily for the Lions in this instance, they come up with the stop and force a turnover on downs. Still, this was a sign of things to come for Detroit’s shorthanded defense. Kansas City gashed them with their quick passing game all night. Simple concepts, but when a defense is not playing as fast as they usually do, they can be quite effective.
In our next example we have the Chiefs facing a third-and-7 in the third quarter, backed up inside their own 10-yard line with the Lions trailing 20-10. Kansas City has three receivers towards the top of your screen, with Mahomes in the shotgun again. Before the snap, Mahomes sends tight end Travis Kelce in motion towards the formation, forcing Detroit cornerbacks Rock Ya-Sin and Arthur Maulet to adjust.
This is where Mahomes routinely got the better of the Lions’ defense on Sunday night. Rarely were the Lions able to make him think too much in terms of what coverage they were showing pre-snap. Kelce chops his feet a bit at the top of his route and breaks towards the boundary. Mahomes immediately knows where he wants to go with the ball, delivers a perfectly-placed pass, and Kelce picks up 17 yards and a first-down. Tough to blame Maulet here given the fact that he only had been with the team for a matter of days prior to the game against the Chiefs.
Jumping to the fourth quarter now with the Chiefs leading 20-17 with 9:35 remaining. It’s third-and-3 with Kansas City in 11-personnel, and three receivers towards the top of the screen. Running back Isiah Pacheco goes in motion towards the bunch, and releases into the flat. Watch as Chiefs wide receiver Marquise Brown and Smith-Schuster execute a switch-release, allowing Brown to work underneath across the middle of the field, with Kelce running towards the back of the endzone.
For the Lions, it looks as though they are in man-coverage, and at first glance—they seem to handle the switch-release okay. But as Brown approaches the goaline, Lions linebacker Jack Campbell doesn’t run with him, which results in an uncontested touchdown catch. Clearly there was a miscommunication somewhere for Detroit. This is a good example of how Kansas City was able to take advantage of a defense that was scrambling to get their ducks in a row all night.
For our last clip, we are going back to the first quarter to a fourth-and-3 situation on the Lions’ 6-yard line. The Chiefs are in 12-personnel now (one running back, two tight ends), with the Lions in their base defense. You can see a bit of confusion among the Lions’ secondary pre-snap, with cornerback Amik Robertson moving towards the top of your screen just before the snap.
Kansas City executes a perfect rub with Smith-Schuster on Robertson, giving Worthy all the room he needs for an easy score.
In short, the Chiefs didn’t do anything too special against the Lions in Week 6. They knew Detroit was down several starters, and had a sound gameplan that they executed to near-perfection.
Fortunately for the Lions, they will eventually get players like Reed, Arnold, and Maddox back. And as far as their Week 7 matchup with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers is concerned, I expect Lions defensive coordinator Kelvin Sheppard to have a much better plan in place to ensure the Lions come out with a victory prior to their bye in Week 8.
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