Kansas City, Missouri — The Detroit Lions braved the storm surrounding Patrick Mahomes (and his behind-the-back passes) in Saturday’s preseason game against the Kansas City Chiefs to celebrate a thrilling 24-23 comeback victory at Arrowhead Stadium after the teams exchanged fumbles within three minutes, leading to a 43-yard field goal by Jake Bates as time expired.
With the Lions trailing 23-21 in the final minutes, Lions defender Josh Paschal was able to foul Ian Book, giving the Lions a first-and-goal attempt at the Kansas City 5-yard line with 2:59 left. The Lions immediately gave the ball back when Hooker took a high snap in the shotgun and gave his ball to Zonovan Knight just a few plays later, but the Lions managed a stop, allowing a fourth attempt.
Isaiah Williams returned the ball 20 yards to the Kansas City 38-yard line, and after a quick 14-yard pass from Hooker to Tom Kennedy, the Lions were content to let the clock run out and allow Bates to complete a 43-yard pass that he put right into the net.
Quarterback Nate Sudfeld started again for Detroit and performed much better than he did in Week 1 of the preseason, throwing for 196 yards on 14 of 27 passing with one touchdown and one interception. Hooker, who left the preseason opener last Thursday after his second series with a concussion, played the entire second half at quarterback and completed 12 of 15 passes for 150 yards with one rushing touchdown.
Williams had six catches for 71 yards, Kaden Davis had two catches for 64 yards with a 61-yard touchdown and Sione Vaki had four catches for 60 yards and 22 rushing yards for Detroit (1-1).
Mahomes got the Chiefs into the red zone on four plays, including a 39-yard pass to Xavier Worthy against a broken coverage and a 20-yard toss to Justin Watson. However, the Lions held Kansas City and Harrison Butker to a 33-yard field goal as Josh Paschal stopped Isiah Pacheco for just 2 yards on first down and Jalen Reeves-Maybin deflected a third-down pass to Worthy, limiting the damage to 3-0.
RESULT: Lions 24, Chiefs 23
Sudfeld and the Lions managed two first downs on the opening series and were going for a fourth-and-two attempt from the midfield, but the attempt ended prematurely when Sudfeld was penalized for a false start.
Lions edge rusher Isaac Ukwu, one of the standout players from last week’s preseason game, limped off the field during the Chiefs’ second possession after taking a cut block on his knee while pushing off the edge. Mahomes completed a behind-the-back pass to Travis Kelce before the Lions managed to limit Kansas City to a 37-yard field goal again.
UDFA receiver Jalon Calhoun got his first chance to return a kickoff but dropped it, so the Chiefs took over at Detroit’s 25-yard line and brought in Carson Wentz at quarterback. After three plays, Worthy got behind the entire defense and caught a Wentz layup, leading to a 13-0 lead with 1:47 left in the first quarter.
The Lions’ second drive ended when receiver Kaden Davis failed to turn his head in time on a throw over the middle on third down. Lions kicker Jake Bates eased the frustration by making a 55-yard field goal.
Isaiah Williams became the third Lions returner to have a fumble in the first six quarters of the preseason when the ball was knocked out of play on his punt return in the second quarter and only recovered by CJ Moore.
Williams recovered with a 17-yard catch to start the next drive, which was quickly ended when Kaden Davis caught a pass over the middle and ran about 40 yards for a 61-yard touchdown, Detroit’s first of the preseason, making the game 13-6 after Bates missed the extra point.
The Chiefs scored another field goal on the next possession. Chiefs running back Deneric Prince managed a 41-yard run on the first play, but the Lions got off the field when Mathieu Betts ran inside from the sidelines and sacked Wentz for a loss of 8 yards. Butker sank a 56-yard attempt.
The Lions’ offense couldn’t stay on the field for long, however, as Sudfeld threw a pass to a very well-covered Donovan Peoples-Jones and it was intercepted by Keith Taylor as Kansas City gained the upper hand at Detroit’s 46-yard line.
Vaki came alive on the Lions’ final drive before halftime, gaining 62 yards on four touches during the possession, including a 20-yard pass to move the chains on third down. The Lions’ drive stalled at the 5-yard line, allowing Bates to kick a 23-yard field goal.
After Detroit struggled to move the ball on Hooker’s first possession, he found his rhythm on his second drive, completing five straight passes for a total of 62 yards to set up another field goal by Bates, this time from 32 yards.
Bates then made a perfect squib kick on the next kickoff, but it was poorly defended and Kansas City returned it 43 yards. A few plays later, Ukwu ended the threat with a third-down sack of Chiefs quarterback Chris Oladokun that forced a 13-yard loss.
The Chiefs extended their lead with 9:25 left in the fourth quarter. Oladokun threw a pass just out of reach of Lions cornerback Steven Gilmore and Cornell Powell ran for a 64-yard touchdown to give the Chiefs a 23-15 lead.
Hooker put together another great drive, completing three of three passes, a 37-yard catch by Williams and a 12-yard haul by Calhoun before Hooker ran the ball in himself from 7 yards out. The two-point conversion failed, however, as Hooker was sacked well behind the line of scrimmage.
The Lions got another chance with Paschal’s strip sack of linebacker Abraham Beauplan at the Kansas City 5-yard line with 2:59 left. The Lions didn’t officially put the nail in their coffin with the fumble on Hooker’s handoff to Knight, because they got the ball back at the two-minute warning and Bates was able to deliver in crunch time.
@nolanbianchi
