Detroit Lions vs Kansas City Chiefs Prediction, 9/7/2023 NFL Picks, Best Bets & Odds Week 1

Game: Detroit Lions vs Kansas City Chiefs

Date: Thursday, September 7, 2023

Location: GEHA Field at Arrowhead Stadium in Kansas City, MO

TV: NBC

Odds/Point Spread: Chiefs (-6.5)

Total/Over-Under: 54

The Kansas City Chiefs (16-3 last year) host the Detroit Lions (9-8 last season) at GEHA Field at Arrowhead Stadium on Thursday. Detroit opens as 6.5-point dogs from oddsmakers. The over/under has been set at 54.

The Detroit Lions wrapped up their year having a 9-8 record. The last time they stepped on the gridiron, the Lions stepped onto the field against the Packers and walked away with a win by a score of 20-16. Jared Goff finished 23/34 with 224 yards through the air. He had a quarterback rating of 85.9 and ended the contest without throwing an interception. Jamaal Williams led the offense in rushing for the Lions with 16 totes for 72 yards (4.5 yds per carry). Kalif Raymond left with an average of 16.5 yds per reception by notching 66 yards on 4 catches. The Detroit Lions rushed the ball a total of 25 different times and totaled 104 yards, which is an average of 4.2 yards per carry. In all, they tallied 60 plays for 323 yards. Detroit conceded 17 pass completions on 27 attempts for a total of 188 yds, and a completion rate of 63.0%. When it came to stopping the run, the Lions conceded 103 yards on 28 attempts, which is an average of 3.7 yds per run allowed.

Concerning getting in the endzone, the Detroit Lions were sitting at 26.6 points per outing. As a unit they averaged 128.2 yards in the run game, which ranked them 11th in the National Football League. The Lions racked up 6,460 total yards for last season. Detroit amassed 228 1st downs as a team, and they committed 90 penalties for 773 yards. They gave the ball to the opposition 15 times (7 interceptions and 8 fumbles lost). Detroit totaled 29 passing touchdowns and 23 rushing touchdowns.

The Lions sat in 29th in the NFL in terms of the opposition scoring, allowing 25.1 points per game. They allowed 5.2 yards per rush on the ground and 146.5 rushing yards per contest for the previous season. For the year, they conceded 2,491 running yards through 17 games. Regarding yards through the air, the Lions gave up 4,179 yards which had them sitting in 30th in the league. In their 17 games played last year, they conceded 245.8 yards per outing via the pass and allowed a completion percentage of 63.0%. They relinquished 392.4 yards per contest which had them sitting 32nd in the National Football League. They gave up 26 touchdowns via the pass in addition to 22 running touchdowns.

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The Chiefs ended the year with a 16-3 record. The last time they took the field, the Chiefs went home victorious with a score of 38-35 when they played the Eagles. Patrick Mahomes (3 TDs) ended the contest with 182 yds on 21/27 through the air while his QB rating was 131.8. He didn't throw any picks and his average yds per pass attempt was 6.7 yds. Noah Gray was a featured target for the Chiefs, hauling in 1 balls for 6 yards (6.0 yds per reception). Patrick Mahomes ran the football 6 times for 44 yds, finishing the game with 7.3 yards per carry for Kansas City. The Chiefs finished the contest with a total of 340 yds while they ran 53 plays (6.4 yds per play). Kansas City ran the football for 6.1 yds per attempt, finishing the contest with 158 yards on 26 carries. Kansas City conceded 32 rushing attempts for 115 yds (3.6 yards per carry). The Chiefs pass defense allowed a completion rate of 71.1%, surrendering 302 yards on 27 out of 38 passing.

When discussing their ability to score points, the Chiefs were 1st out of all teams in the league averaging 29.2 points per game. Last season, the Chiefs compiled 5,062 yards through the air as well as an average of 297.8 passing yards per outing, which had them sitting 1st in the league. They held an average of 115.9 yards via the ground game and toted the ball for 1,970 yards overall. The Kansas City Chiefs maintained an average of 413.6 yards per contest which was good for 1st in football. The Kansas City offense compiled 838 yds of penalties on 87 infractions, which had them ranked 26th in the league in terms of helping out the other team. They threw 12 picks while letting opponents recover 11 fumbles and they obtained 272 first downs.

The Chiefs surrendered 21.7 points per game, which had them in 16th of all teams in the league. They gave up 33 touchdowns through the air and 220.9 yards per contest, ranking them 18th in football. Overall, they relinquished 369 total points. Kansas City conceded a total of 1,823 yards on the ground (107.2 yards per contest) and 10 touchdowns rushing last year. The Chiefs defense took the field for 1,093 plays, which was good for 25th in the NFL. Their defense tallied 20 takeaways (9 fumbles recovered and 11 picks) during the previous year.

Who will win tonight's Lions/Chiefs NFL game against the spread?

Tony's Pick: Take the Lions +6.5

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