Tonight the NFL season officially kicks off with the Detroit Lions versus the Kansas City Chiefs. With the Chiefs set to defend their crown as Super Bowl champions, the Lions look to play spoiler and show the world they’re the real deal. That’s the expectation for the Detroit Lions as we head into this season opener.
Win the division and make the playoffs or bust.
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Some would even say that the Lions have to not only win their division for the first time since 1993 but they’ve also got to win a playoff game. The expectations are at an all-time high and it’s a weird feeling for fans like myself.
Needless to say, it’s exciting and all signs are pointing to the Lions being a better football team than they were in the past. They’ve just got to execute and all of this should come to fruition.
For their first game of the season against the Chiefs, all eyes will be on the health of tight end Travis Kelce. About as productive and consistent as you can be for a tight end in the NFL, Kelce has proven that he’s the best player at his position. Over the last seven seasons, he’s posted over 1,000 yards receiving and has over 100+ receptions in three of those seasons.
But the attention won’t be on the production we get from Kelce in this game. In fact, it’s all surrounding around his health. He’s currently battling a bad bone bruise on his knee and it’s forced swelling around his knee. This has put his status in serious doubt for the game.
It remains to be seen if Kelce will play or not tonight. If he does, I’d expect plenty of situations where the Lions lock defensive back Chauncey Gardner-Johnson on him. If not him, I’d expect the Lions to bring rookie Brian Branch into the box and have him matchup against Kelce.
However, there’s a much bigger matchup that needs more attention. That matchup is how Detroit Lions edge rusher Aidan Hutchinson does against the Kansas City Chiefs new offensive tackles. For the Chiefs, they have new left tackle Donovan Smith and new right tackle Jawaan Taylor.
Personally, I’d be letting Aidan Hutchinson “pin his ears back” and get after the QB as much as possible. That said, it’s fun watching him drop into a seam-hook and pick one off. pic.twitter.com/1RT5cAqPAx
— Russell Brown (@RussNFLDraft) November 23, 2022
While Smith and Taylor are more than feasible, they’re much different players than the previous tackles Orlando Brown and Andrew Wylie. We’ll see how it goes for both Smith and Taylor but it’s always interesting how a player does in a new scheme with new players around them.
Last season for the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, Donovan Smith finished with a PFF Grade of 58.1 while giving up a total of 6 sacks. His 12 penalties were tied for 4th most in the NFL last season. As for his new teammate, Jawaan Taylor, he had given up 5 sacks last season. This earned him a PFF Grade of 58.7 overall.
So while Smith and Taylor aren’t great, they’re not terrible either. They’re feasible. But the Lions have Aidan Hutchinson and he could needs to start his sophomore season in the NFL the same way he ended his rookie season.
That would be red hot.
Last season, Hutch had four tackles, 0.5 sacks and an interception in a 41-10 victory in week 17 over the Chicago Bears. This set up the Lions game of the year with an end of the season tilt in week 18 against the Green Bay Packers.
With their backs against the wall in Lambeau Field, the Lions emerged victorious with a 20-16 win over Green Bay. In the win, Hutch ended up with four tackles, two tackles for loss and two sacks.
One of the three sacks for Aidan Hutchinson from Sunday. It’s absolutely beautiful pic.twitter.com/ApnvuZNnTZ
— Russell Brown (@RussNFLDraft) September 21, 2022
It was a statement win for Detroit. Meanwhile, it was a statement made by Hutchinson. He ended his rookie season on a high note and helped his team get a much needed win on the road in Green Bay. With that, he showed that when he loads the stat sheet and gets after the quarterback, the Lions end up winning the game.
In seven games last season, Hutchinson recorded a sack or a half sack and in six of those games, the Lions ended up winning the game. The only game they lost was when they fell 24-6 to the Dallas Cowboys. Other than that, the Lions came out victorious.
While it’ll be tough to bring Patrick Mahomes down, anything is possible. For Mahomes, he’s been sacked a total of 121 times in his 80 game career. The most he’s been sacked in one game in his career was five times in 2018 against the Arizona Cardinals. It’ll be tough to bring him down five times tonight but if they can find ways to pressure him or keep him contained in the pocket, the Lions defense could do enough to hold on for a victory.
Helping with that pressure and containment on the planet’s best quarterback is Detroit Lions defensive end Aidan Hutchinson. Keep tabs on what he does on every snap. From where he’s aligned to how he wins during his pass-rush. His presence could be felt from the very first play of the game. Hutch was viewed as the best draft prospect on a plethora of draft boards during the 2022 NFL Draft. Tonight he gets to prove that last season was no fluke and that everyone was right with their assessment on the talented defensive end.