Lions' Dan Campbell on Upset of Patrick Mahomes, Chiefs: Verification of What I Knew

Detroit Lions head coach Dan Campbell wasn't surprised by his team's 21-20 victory over the Kansas City Chiefs in the 2023 NFL season opener on Thursday night.

Campbell told reporters after the win he "didn't learn anything" about his team, but rather "got verification on what I already knew" about them.

"It already was a resilient team and we added pieces to that resilient team," he said, "so we're built to handle some stuff and we did that today against a very good opponent."

This was similar to the message Campbell delivered to his team in the locker room after beating the reigning Super Bowl champs.

The Lions showed their resiliency by outscoring Kansas City 14-6 in the second half. They put together a nine-play, 75-yard drive midway through the fourth quarter that was capped off by David Montgomery's eight-yard touchdown run to put Detroit ahead 21-20.

Kansas City's seven drives in the second half ended in three punts, two field goals, a pick-six and turnover on downs.

Some of the Chiefs' offensive woes can be attributed to their receivers not reeling in catchable passes from Patrick Mahomes. They had four drops in the second half, including three from Kadarius Toney.

This wasn't a perfect performance from the Lions, but they made enough plays and caught enough breaks to steal a road win against one of the teams favored to win the Super Bowl.

Campbell has figured out a lot of things with the Lions since midway through the 2022 season. They have won eight of their past 10 games after starting 1-6 last season. Their last two wins have come on the road at Lambeau Field and Arrowhead Stadium.

Detroit will look for its first 2-0 start to a season since 2019 when it hosts the Seattle Seahawks at Ford Field on Sept. 17.