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Patrick Mahomes just exposed a scary truth about the Lions' defense

Originally posted on Side Lion Report | By Brad Berreman | Last updated Oct 14, 2025 9:00 AM ET

With cornerback D.J. Reed on injured reserve and fellow starting corner Terrion Arnold set to miss time, the Detroit Lions were already thin in the secondary heading into Week 6 against the Kansas City Chiefs. Then Avonte Maddox joined those guys in missing the game. Star safeties Kerby Joseph and Brian Branch also entered the game banged up, and their status was not locked in until pre-game warmups.

So far this season, the Chiefs' passing offense has opened up in terms of the deep ball more than it has in the last couple of seasons. It was a bad week to be so depleted in the secondary, even though Joseph and Branch were able to play.

The Lions' defense had no real answers for the Chiefs' offense on Sunday night. Patrick Mahomes had another nice outing, going 22-for-30 for 257 yards and three touchdowns while continuing to be a factor with his legs (10 carries for 32 yards and a touchdown).

Chiefs turned a strength of the Lions' defense into a weakness

According to Pro Football Focus, Mahomes had one pass attempt that traveled 20-plus yards in the air on Sunday night. Just seven of his 30 pass attempts traveled 10 or more yards in the air.

Next Gen Stats quickly revealed where the Chiefs had their best success through the air against the Lions.

Patrick Mahomes took advantage of the Lions linebackers in coverage, completing 13 of 17 attempts for 165 yards & TD targeting LBs in coverage.

The Chiefs offense used 11 personnel on a season-low 33.9% of plays, which kept the Lions in base defense.

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— Next Gen Stats (@NextGenStats) October 13, 2025

More than once, Lions linebacker Jack Campbell just missed making a play in coverage. No quarterback makes you pay for those near-misses quite like Mahomes does.

Upon their evaluation, Pro Football Focus broke down the coverage stats for the Lions' three starting linebackers this way.

Jack Campbell: 8 targets (5 catches for 66 yards allowed)
Alex Anzalone: 7 targets (6 catches for 56 yards allowed)
Derrick Barnes: 2 targets (2 catches and 18 yards allowed)

Chiefs tight end Travis Kelce developed into a particular problem for the Lions on Sunday night, with the linebackers of course in the spotlight there. Matched up against Jack Campbell (three catches for 40 yards) or Alex Anzalone (one catch for 13 yards), he totaled four catches for 53 yards (on five targets) on his way to six catches for 78 yards in the game.

It would have been easy for the Chiefs to try to exploit the Lions' secondary with a heavy dose of downfield passes. But those are low-percentage plays even if you find success.

The Chiefs found something they could exploit with the Lions' linebackers in coverage, despite Campbell and Anzalone both entering Week 6 with top 20 PFF coverage grades. They got it done, and now it's on tape for future Lions' opponents to study.

This article first appeared on Side Lion Report and was syndicated with permission.

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