The Detroit Lions have steamrolled everything in their path over the last four weeks. After a disappointing showing in the season opener against the rival Green Bay Packers, Detroit has won four in a row. The Lions have scored 34 points or more in all of those victories.
There is one thing that Detroit has seemingly been unable to escape, however. The injury bug is once again taking its toll on the Lions' roster. Last season, their team was ravaged by injuries as bad as any we’ve seen in recent memory. The Lions still found a way to earn the NFC's number one seed and win 15 games. But by the time the playoffs rolled around last January, much of the roster was unrecognizable, especially on the defensive side of the ball.
Injuries are always something that teams have to deal with throughout the course of a season. Yet, Detroit has not had that luck revert back to the mean on their side. The Lions are facing multiple injury issues on the defensive side of the football. Specifically, the Detroit secondary is severely banged up entering their Week 6 meeting with the Kansas City Chiefs.
The Detroit Lions have endured serious injuries at defensive back. Will Kansas City be able to capitalize on that opening in Week 6?
Veteran cornerback D.J. Reed was a meaningful addition for the Lions in free agency this offseason. He left their Week 4 win over the Cleveland Browns with a hamstring injury. Ultimately, he was placed on the injured reserve list because of that ailment. He cannot return until at least Week 10.
Depth defensive back Khalil Dorsey was also placed on the IR list by the Lions this week. A wrist injury and a concussion were issues he was working through. Overall, he will be out for a significant period of time.
Terrion Arnold is the latest Lions defensive back to get banged up and ruled out. The second-year cover man is dealing with a shoulder injury. He also suffered a similar issue a couple of weeks prior. Head coach Dan Campbell mentioned that Arnold would be “out for a long time.”
Since those initial comments, a second opinion revealed that Arnold's shoulder injury is hopefully not as bad as originally feared. But with the Lions taking every precaution, Arnold will likely be unable to play this week against the Chiefs.
Reed, Dorsey, and Arnold are already ruled out. Cornerback Avonte Maddox was originally questionable. Though, Detroit downgraded him to out on Saturday. But that is not all. Detroit listed safeties Kerby Joseph and Brian Branch as questionable on their final injury report. Healthy cornerbacks include Amik Robertson and Rock Ya-Sin. Detroit added veteran Arthur Maulet to the practice squad on Wednesday. Tre Flowers, Nick Whiteside, and Erick Hallett are a few other cornerback options currently on the practice squad.
The Chiefs' passing offense has found its groove over the last few weeks. Patrick Mahomes is taking more chances downfield. Schematically, Kansas City has also done more to create and derive production by infusing different looks and designs into the passing offense. By not simply leaning on the straight dropback passing game, Mahomes has begun to find more comfort with his playmakers.
Kansas City is essentially in a must-win game on Sunday against the Lions. The offense was not the issue on Monday night in the loss to the Jacksonville Jaguars. But with Detroit hurting badly in their defensive backfield, Mahomes and his weapons must take advantage to ensure the Chiefs do not fall to 2-4.