Kansas City Chiefs vs Detroit Lions Prediction: Expect an entertaining regular season 2023 NFL opener

On Friday, September 8, the Kansas City Chiefs, who are the most recent winners of the Super Bowl, will kick off the new National Football League season by playing an inter-conference game against the Detroit Lions. It is not surprising that Kansas City is a heavy favorite to win this matchup given their status as the defending champions; nevertheless, do you believe that the Lions have what it takes to pull off an upset in this game?

The Kansas City Chiefs are the overwhelming favorites to win another Super Bowl, and there is no question that winning back-to-back Super Bowls will be the top priority for the home club throughout the upcoming season. They parted ways with wide receiver JuJu Smith Schuster during the transfer period for the year, and he ended up signing with the New England Patriots. Even though Travis Kelce is Patrick Mahomes' favorite target, Marquez Valdes-Scantling will be this year's No. 1 wide receiver. The tight end had a season in which he gained 1,000 yards for the seventh year in a row and recorded 12 touchdowns. This marked the third time in the tight end's career that he had 10 or more touchdown receptions. It is anticipated that the Kansas City Chiefs will have an easy time moving the chains in this game, taking advantage of the run defense of the Detroit Lions, which finished last in the league with an average of 146.5 yards allowed per game the previous season.

The Detroit Lions concluded the previous season with a record of 9-8, marking the first time in five years that they had a record that was above .500. However, that was not enough for the Detroit Lions to qualify for the playoffs; thus, for this season, the visiting team will be shooting for 10 wins or more and the top slot in the National Football Conference North. In fact, with a current odds differential of +130, the Detroit Lions are the favored team to win their division. The already formidable squad of the Lions is now bolstered with two first-round picks (running back Jahmyr Gibbs and linebacker Jack Campbell), so the team's outlook is positive. However, they will play the reigning champions at their home stadium, which presents a formidable challenge for the young Detroit Lions team. Wide receiver Jameson Williams is going to miss the first six weeks of the season due to a suspension and will not be available to Jared Goff. Goff will mostly aim his aerial attacks towards Amon-Ra St. Brown and Marvin Jones Jr. during this encounter.

These two rivalries from different conferences have only faced each other five times in this century. The most recent head-to-head matchup took place in September 2019, when the Kansas City Chiefs scored a late touchdown in Detroit to celebrate a 34-30 victory. Five out of the previous seven matches were won by the Kansas City Chiefs heading into this season opener.

In this matchup, the most powerful attack will go against the defense with the fewest defensive capabilities. The Kansas City Chiefs finished first in the league with an average of 413.6 yards per game, while the Detroit Lions allowed the fewest receiving yards per game (392.4) in the league. The Kansas City Chiefs averaged 29.2 points per game, which was good enough for first place, while the Detroit Lions scored 26.6 points per game, which was good enough for fifth place. However, the Detroit Lions' defense is a complete and utter disaster. Due to the fact that the Detroit Lions allowed 25.1 points per game while Kansas City only allowed 21.7 points per game, I feel that the defense of the Detroit Lions will play a significant factor in their loss at Arrowhead. It would shock me if the home team didn't rack up 30 points or more and easily win this one by a wide margin. Because of the offensive performance of the home team, I will back them to cover the point spread.