The most surprising aspect of Thursday night’s Kansas City Chiefs loss to the Detroit Lions has to be that the offense was the problem. Entering the night, the Chiefs knew that they would be without both tight end Travis Kelce and defensive tackle Chris Jones.
The offense without Kelce felt manageable — while the defense without Jones felt impossible. But the way it played out, the opposite was true. Without Kelce, the offense could never find rhythm and consistency. Meanwhile, the defense gave up 14 points all night — and had the special teams unit not given up a first down on an early-game fake punt, it might have been only seven points.