Football is back. The 2023 NFL season begins on Thursday, and the Kansas City Chiefs will celebrate their Super Bowl win in February by taking on the Detroit Lions at Arrowhead Stadium. The 2023 NFL Kickoff game will start at 8:20 p.m. ET and air on NBC and Peacock.
The Lions come into the game with a lot of momentum after finishing the 2022 season with a 9-8 record. It’s the first winning season for the Lions since the 2017 season when they finished 9-7. A win against the Chiefs would give the Lions more respect around the league, and head coach Dan Campbell understands how big the game is for his team.
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“We get Kansas City, the heavyweight champ,” Campbell said on Good Morning Football in May, per NFL.com. “So we’re excited. I can’t [even] tell you. The staff’s excited. I know our players are excited. I think everybody wants an opportunity to play the champ and see where you stack up. I know what (Chiefs coach) Andy Reid’s about. We know what that team’s about. Highly competitive, they’re a champ. Year in and year out, they’re gonna be in the running. We’re looking forward to it. It’s gonna be great.”
The Chiefs are looking to begin their quest to win their second consecutive title. And since they have won two championships in four seasons, Kansas City is one of the favorites to win it all again. However, the Chiefs are dealing with some issues as tight end Travis Kelce is dealing with a knee injury and defensive end Chris Jones could miss the game due to a holdout. The good news is Patrick Mahomes will be ready to go, and he enters the contest as the No. 1 quarterback in the league.
Last month, Mahomes talked to Peter King of NBC Sports about chasing Tom Brady and winning seven Super Bowls. “Seven’s a lot, but I’ll strive to get as close as I can,” Mahomes said. “To win seven Super Bowls and be in 10 Super Bowls, it’s crazy to even think about, even for me today. The other stats kinda come with it. I knew at Texas Tech, I put up a lot of stats but didn’t win games. When I got to the NFL, I knew I wanted to be a winner [first]. Try to win Super Bowls and give my team the best that I can.”
