Week 4, 2019 Kansas City Chiefs vs the Detroit Lions @ Home

Mistakes.

The 2-1-1 Detroit Lions gave away game 4 of the 2019 season to the 4-0 Kansas City Chiefs 30-34. Of course the national talking heads say the Lions played well and the Chiefs played poorly but managed a win anyway. I think it was more an equal matchup then anything, with the difference being one too many mistakes by the losing team. Both teams did a lot of things right, but both teams messed things up a bit here and there too. Overall, it was another nail biter that the Lions defense gave up the losing TD... no wait... it was the offense the fumbled in the endzone and the chiefs ran it back for a TD... or was it the TD catch that was called incomplete after the review showed some air between the ball and the body so the process was once again not completed. Yeah it was all those things, but any one of them would have made the difference in a 4 point game. What's worse, had those calls all gone the Lions way (we're talking inches here, if that much) the Lions might have actually won this game by multiple scores. So you national talking heads, the Lions did not play well, they played just as well as the Chiefs, which is to say, with mistakes.

Matthew Stafford was 21 of 34 (61.76%) for 291 yards 3 touchdowns and no interceptions and 1 fumble lost. The offense also produced 186 yards of rushing plays (18 by Stafford). I already mentioned the fumble that was returned for a touchdown, that was Kerryon Johnson trying to score a TD on another rushing play. Overall though, the Lions scored 30 points, it might have been more with fewer mistakes, but usually 30 is adequate to win a football game.

Now the defense did a lot right too. They allowed Patrick Mahommes to go only 24 of 42 (57.14%) for 315 yards (lots of yards after the catch) and no touchdowns and no interceptions along with 54 yards rushing (converting some key third downs). Overall the Lions defense allowed a total of 123 yards rushing and 3 TDs and recovered 3 fumbles. In other words, some really good plays to mix in with some mistakes. Not there were a lot of mistakes, just poorly timed ones as it turns out.

It was a game that was both fun to watch and moments of suspense that could test the heart of any Lions fan. It means the Lions are improving as they can hang with a top 5 team, and if they can limit even one more key mistake in this kind of game, they could beat that team. The Lions have a bye week for week 5, so no Lions football for 2 weeks. That's good though, Lions were playing without some starters, namely slot WR Amendola, both 3 tech DTs and their top CB Slay (S Diggs when out early, CB Ford was also out for part of the game and TE Hockenson went down in the 2nd half into the concussion protocol when he failed to hurdle the defender he was trying to hurdle). As it turns out, the Lions need a week off to heal up before they head to Green Bay in a very important divisional game. Here's hoping for fewer mistakes (for the Lions) that game.