Goff, Lions vs. Mahomes, Chiefs Revealed as Season Opener of 2023 NFL Schedule

The 2023 NFL regular season will kick off with reigning NFL MVP Patrick Mahomes and the defending Super Bowl champion Kansas City Chiefs taking on Jared Goff and the Detroit Lions.

The league announced on Thursday the Lions and Chiefs will play at Arrowhead Stadium on Sept. 7 at 8:20 p.m. ET on NBC.

As has become tradition, the reigning Super Bowl champs are always featured in the kickoff game the following season.

This will mark the second time the Chiefs have opened the NFL regular season in the past three years. They hosted the Houston Texans to begin the 2020 campaign after their victory in Super Bowl 54.

Things will certainly feel different for the Chiefs this time around with a sell-out crowd in attendance. They had a limited audience of just under 16,000 fans at Arrowhead three years ago because of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Mahomes will be looking to extend his winning streak in season openers to 6-0. He has never lost in Week 1 in his NFL career as a starting quarterback. The Chiefs haven't lost their first game of the season since 2014.

Coming off an impressive finish last season, the Lions have become a trendy pick to win the NFC North in 2023. They closed the 2022 campaign by going 8-2 after losing six of their first seven games.

Going against the Chiefs will be a great measuring-stick game for the Lions to see where they stack up in the NFL hierarchy.

Jared Goff had one of the best years of his career in 2022. The three-time Pro Bowler threw for 4,438 yards and 29 touchdowns in 17 starts. His current streak of 324 pass attempts without an interception is the fifth-longest in NFL history.

The Lions finished 9-8 last season and will be looking to post back-to-back winning years for the first time since 2016 and 2017.