Lions training camp star in for rude awakening against Patrick Mahomes

Dan Campbell’s team wrapped up a 2-1 preseason on Friday with a 26-17 win at Carolina. Now the Detroit Lions will continue to prepare for their primetime Thursday night clash with the defending Super Bowl champions at Arrowhead Stadium on Thursday, Sept. 7.

The team addressed the league’s 32nd-ranked defense in 2022 with picks in the first (LB Jack Campbell), second (DB Brian Branch) and third round (NT Brodric Martin) in April. Branch is looking forward to the team’s encounter with the reigning NFL MVP and Super Bowl LVII MVPr

“I’ve been thinking about (Patrick) Mahomes since last week,” said the 2023 second-round pick, via Kyle Meinke of MLive.com. “I think I’m going to really start watching film on them this week, for sure, just seeing what their tendencies are. We’ve got (to face) a great quarterback, but we also go against a great quarterback here. I feel like he’s prepared us. So, we’ll see.”

Lions: Brian Branch thinks Goff prepared Detroit to face Patrick Mahomes

Any team would be facing quite the task knocking off Andy Reid’s team in Week 1 when you consider these numbers. Despite the fact that the Los Angeles Rams were blown out by the visiting Buffalo Bills in last season’s Thursday night opener, it’s worth noting that defending Super Bowl champions are an impressive 38-17-1 in their first game the following season after hoisting the Lombardi Trophy.

With Reid at the helm, the Kansas City Chiefs have won eight straight season openers dating back to 2015. In their last five Week 1 contests, the club had quarterback Patrick Mahomes at the controls. In those five contests, he’s combined to connect on 72.5 percent of his passes (121-of-167) for 1,542 yards and 18 touchdowns without an interception. Kansas City scored at least 33 points in each of those games.

The Thursday night opener features the two teams that finished first (Chiefs) and fifth (Lions) in the NFL in scoring in 2023. It figures to be an exciting evening.

“Football is football,” explained Branch. “They’re good, but we’re also a good team, too. May the best team win.”