Chiefs vs Lions: Four vital takeaways from a gut-wrenching loss
By Matt Conner
60 Minutes of Aggression
Perhaps more than anything else on Thursday night, the newest members of the Chiefs were introduced to the sort of effort put up by opponents week in and week out for a full 60 minutes.
Think of just how tiring this must be, to see the absolute best efforts from every opponent for a full 60 minutes every week. While that should be the case for every team in every game, the truth is that it's exhausting to go all-out all the time (and it might just make for bad football strategy at specific times to be so aggressive). But when playing the Chiefs, it's what teams have to do to come away with a victory.
On Thursday, Lions head coach Dan Campbell knew early on he couldn't let the Chiefs halt them on early drives. After going 3-and-out on the first drive of the game, the Chiefs once again stopped the Lions on another 3rd-and-long on their second drive. However, the Lions decided to fake a punt to convert a 4th-and-2. The end result was a momentum shift for Detroit en route to a 90-plus yard scoring drive.
This overly physical, aggressive tone was the way the Lions played for all 60 minutes. This is the reason why Andy Reid forces his players to develop such stamina in the preseason. It's amazing the Chiefs have been able to stay so healthy and competitive year after year knowing they have to play so hard for so many weeks—and even then so many more games into the postseason more than other teams.