Lions fans have to be hoping Taylor Decker comes back soon after Bengals win
The Detroit Lions' new look offensive line has shown great progress since its struggles in the season opener against the Green Bay Packers. Entering Sunday's matchup against the Cincinnati Bengals, the Lions' offensive line had a three-game streak of not allowing a sack, and were looking to extend that mark to four straight games.
While the Lions still came out of Cincinnati with a 37-24 win over the Bengals, many fans were left concerned about the offensive line.
Taylor Decker's absence on the offensive line felt against the Bengals
The absence of left tackle Taylor Decker, who was out with a shoulder injury, however, caused the Lions' offensive line to struggle during certain moments of the game.
The offensive line's struggles began in the first quarter when a promising drive was stalled as Bengals defensive end Trey Hendrickson recorded a strip sack on Lions quarterback Jared Goff, leading to a Cincinnati fumble recovery. Hendrickson finished the game with two sacks for the Bengals. Defensive ends Joseph Ossai and Myles Murphy also collected sacks for the Bengals.
The Lions' offensive line allowed four sacks in the win against the Bengals, which tied the season high that the group gave up in the season opener loss to the Packers.
Should Lions fans be concerned about offensive line moving forward?
As the Lions exit Cincinnati with a 4-1 record and prepare to take on the reigning AFC Champions, the Kansas City Chiefs, at Arrowhead on Sunday, the offensive line will need to have a much better showing than they did against the Bengals.
One poor offensive line showing after three straight games of not allowing a sack shouldn't raise too much concern, given that the Lions were without their key left tackle, Decker. Heading into the game against the Chiefs, Decker's availability is still uncertain. After struggling in the start against the Bengals, offensive tackle Giovanni Manu will need to step up for the Lions moving forward.
Sunday night's matchup will be a crucial game for both teams. The Chiefs are starting to find their way after getting off to a 0-2 start, while the Goff will look to get the best of Kansas City quarterback Patrick Mahomes once again and lead the Lions to a 5-1 start.
Goff is undefeated against Mahomes with a 2-0 head-to-head record. One win came with the Lions in 2023 and the other with the Los Angeles Rams in a thrilling Monday Night Football game in 2018.
Patrick Mahomes Lays Down the Law: Chiefs Must “Be Better” After Heartbreaking Loss!
The Chiefs have reacted to Patrick Mahomes’ postgame comments after Monday’s loss to the Jaguars.
Kansas City Chiefs star quarterback Patrick Mahomes completed 29-of-41 passes on Monday night against the Jacksonville Jaguars for 318 yards and one touchdown. The two-time NFL MVP also had six carries for 60 yards and another rushing TD.
Mahomes, however, threw an interception late in the third quarter, which resulted in a stunning 99-yard pick-6 for the Jaguars. Jacksonville took a 21-14 lead after that sequence, and despite a formidable comeback attempt by the Chiefs, it was the Jaguars who ultimately secured a hard-fought 31-28 victory on “Monday Night Football.”
This resulted in the Chiefs’ third loss in their first five games of the season, and Mahomes did not sugarcoat his comments during his postgame interview.
“We got to be better,” he said. “We’ve lost too many games already. We got to find a way to be better as a team and come together and play better throughout the rest of the season.”
Mahomes then set his sights on Kansas City’s next game.
“We have another great challenge this next week,” he continued. “We’re playing the Lions. That’s a great football team who scores a lot of points themselves and plays with a lot of pride.
“It’ll be super important for us to go in with the right mindset, knowing it’s going to be a great challenge.”
Mahomes and Co. return to action on Sunday for a Week 6 matchup against the Detroit Lions at Arrowhead Stadium. This is also what’s on the mind of the Chiefs at this point as the team shared its blunt reaction to Mahomes’ postgame message.
“Eyes forward,” the Chiefs posted on X, sharing a video of Mahomes’ interview after the loss.
Kansas City will now be looking to move past this tough loss to the Jaguars as soon as possible. It’s a quick turnaround for the Chiefs, who have five full days to travel back home and prepare for another challenging matchup against a 4-1 Lions side.
As Mahomes pointed out, Detroit has a lot of firepower on its side. The Lions currently lead the entire NFL in points scored as of Week 5, having already put 174 points on the board, including their 52-21 blowout win against the Chicago Bears in Week 2.
Defense has been a bit of an issue for the Chiefs to start the campaign, and this will be put to the test in Week 6 against Jared Goff and the Lions.
