KANSAS CITY, Mo. - The Detroit Lions weathered the storm of Patrick Mahomes (and his behind-the-back passing) in Saturday's preseason game against the Kansas City Chiefs and came up with a rousing 24-23 comeback victory at Arrowhead Stadium after the teams exchanged fumbles inside of three minutes, leading to a 43-yard field goal from Jake Bates as time expired.
With the Lions trailing 23-21 in the final minutes, Lions defensive lineman Josh Paschal strip-sacked Ian Book to set up first-and-goal for the Lions at the Kansas City 5-yard line with 2:59 minutes remaining. The Lions gave it right back when Hooker took a high snap in the shotgun and fumbled his exchange to Zonovan Knight just a few plays later, but the Lions got a stop to set up a fourth down.
Isaiah Williams returned it 20 yards to the Kansas City 38-yard line, and after a quick, 14-yard completion from Hooker to Tom Kennedy, the Lions were content with running down the clock and allowing Bates to try a 43-yarder, which he put right down the pipe.
Quarterback Nate Sudfeld once again got the start for Detroit and had a much better showing than he did in Week 1 of the preseason. He threw for 196 yards on 14-for-27 passing with a touchdown and an interception. Hooker, who exited last Thursday's preseason opener with a concussion after his second series, played the entire second half at quarterback and was 12-for-15 passing for 150 yards with a rushing touchdown.
Williams had six catches for 71 yards, Kaden Davis had two catches for 64 yards with a 61-yard touchdown and Sione Vaki had four catches for 60 yards and 22 rushing yards for Detroit (1-1).
Mahomes got the Chiefs into the red zone in four plays, including a 39-yard completion to Xavier Worthy against busted coverage and a 20-yard throw to Justin Watson. The Lions held Kansas City and Harrison Butker to a 33-yard field goal, though, as Josh Paschal had a first-down stop of Isiah Pacheco for just 2 yards and Jalen Reeves-Maybin defended a third-down pass to Worthy, limiting the damage to 3-0.
Sudfeld and the Lions picked up a pair of first downs on the opening series and were set to go for it on fourth-and-2 from around midfield, but the attempt ended prematurely when Sudfeld was flagged for a false start.
Lions edge rusher Isaac Ukwu, one of the standouts of last week's preseason game, limped off the field during the second Chiefs possession after taking a cut block to the knee while coming off the edge. Mahomes completed a behind-the-back pass to Travis Kelce before the Lions managed to again hold Kansas City to a 37-yard field goal.
UDFA receiver Jalon Calhoun got his first chance to return a kickoff but fumbled it, resulting in the Chiefs taking over at Detroit's 25-yard line as the Chiefs brought Carson Wentz in at quarterback. Three plays in, Worthy got behind the entire defense and caught a lay-up from Wentz for a 13-0 lead with 1:47 left in the first quarter.
The Lions' second drive ended when receiver Kaden Davis didn't turn his head around in time on a third-down throw over the middle. Lions kicker Jake Bates alleviated the frustration by nailing a 55-yard field goal.
Isaiah Williams became the third Lions returner to fumble through the first six quarters of preseason when the ball was punched out on his second-quarter punt return before getting recovered by C.J. Moore.
Williams rebounded with a 17-yard catch to kick start the next drive, which was finished quickly when Kaden Davis caught a pass over the middle and ran about 40 yards for a 61-yard touchdown, Detroit's first of the preseason, to make it a 13-6 game after Bates missed the extra point.
The Chiefs added a field goal on the next possession. Chiefs running back Deneric Prince ripped off a 41-yard run on the first play, but the Lions got off the field when Mathieu Betts raced inside off the edge and sacked Wentz for a loss of 8 yards. Butker put home an attempt from 56.
The Lions offense didn't stay on the field long, though, as Sudfeld threw to a very covered Donovan Peoples-Jones and was intercepted by Keith Taylor as Kansas City took over at the Detroit 46.
Vaki came alive on the Lions' last drive before the half. He had 62 yards on four touches during the possession, including a 20-yard reception to move the chains on third down. The Lions' drive stalled at the 5-yard line, setting Bates up for a 23-yard field goal.
After Detroit struggled to move the ball on Hooker's first possession, he found a groove on his second drive and completed five straight passes totaling 62 yards to set up another Bates field goal, this one from 32 yards.
Bates then hit a perfect squib kick on the next kickoff, but it was poorly defended and Kansas City returned it 43 yards. A few plays later, Ukwu ended the threat with a third-down sack of Chiefs quarterback Chris Oladokun that forced a loss of 13.
The Chiefs added to their lead with 9:25 to go in the fourth. Oladokun feathered a pass just out of reach for Lions cornerback Steven Gilmore and Cornell Powell was off to the races for a 64-yard touchdown and a 23-15 Chiefs lead.
Hooker put together another great drive, going three-for-three on passing with a 37-yard catch by Williams and a 12-yard haul by Calhoun before Hooker ran it in himself from 7 yards out. The two-point conversion failed, however, as Hooker was sacked way behind the line of scrimmage.
The Lions got a shot of life with Paschal's strip-sack, which was recovered by linebacker Abraham Beauplan at the 5-yard line of Kansas City with 2:59 left. The Lions didn't officially put the nail in their own coffin with the fumble on Hooker's handoff to Knight, as they got the ball back at the two-minute warning and Bates was able to deliver in crunch time.
