Terrion Arnold fires back at Mahomes hype as Lions limp into Arrowhead

For those unfamiliar with the meme, that's Detroit Lions head coach Dan Campbell standing behind a laughing Mahomes as an ominous presence—a popular callback to Wrestlemania 36 , back in 2020, when The Undertaker surprised a completely unaware A.J. Styles, who thought he'd buried his opponent and scored a victory.

As for Arnold, who will be sitting on the sidelines in Week 6, the confidence is, in some ways, understandable. Detroit is red hot right now. They've reeled off four consecutive wins and have averaged over 40 points per game in the last month. The offense is first in points scored in the entire NFL, while the defense ranks No. 8 in yards allowed. They're playing like a contender.

That said, doubters can point to the run of opponents early in the year and wonder just how tested the Lions have really been. No one would refer to a four-game span featuring the Chicago Bears, Baltimore Ravens, Cleveland Browns, and Cincinnati Bengals as a daunting stretch.

Arnold is also assuming the "next man up" philosophy is going to hold up well at multiple positions. The Lions will be using their third left tackle with injuries to Taylor Decker and Giovanni Manu. In the secondary, Arnold is out as is Avonte Maddox and D.J. Reed. Brian Branch and Kerby Joseph, both starting safeties, are also game-time calls. That's only part of the pile.

As for the Chiefs, they're relatively healthy coming into Week 6 and are feeling the pinch after a frustrating 2-3 start to the season. With the Buffalo Bills and Washington Commanders on the horizon, they can ill afford to slip to 2-4 while playing at home. Mahomes and company are also finding their momentum since the return of Xavier Worthy.

While the Lions will be a formidable opponent, the fact that they're limping into Arrowhead in primetime against a team that will be focused on correcting their egregious mistakes from a week prior should keep Arnold from being too confident. Only time will tell who will end up buried in Week 6.