Kansas City, Mo. — The Detroit Lions weathered the crowd, some communication errors on both sides of the ball, and a costly turnover in the red zone, surviving and announcing their legitimacy to the nation with a 21-20 victory over the defending Super Bowl champion Kansas City Chiefs in the opening game of the NFL season.
Things started out well enough for the Lions Thursday night at Arrowhead Stadium, but they needed a spark from a fake punt to get moving in the early going. At risk of going three-and-out consecutive possessions to open the game, the team executed the fake deep in their own territory when linebacker Jalen Reeves-Maybin took a direct snap and ran for the first down.