Week 1 win at Chiefs 'verification' of 'resilient' Lions, coach Dan Campbell says - ESPN

KANSAS CITY, Mo. — While the football world might've been stunned by the Detroit Lions' 21-20 win over the reigning Super Bowl champion Kansas City Chiefs, there was one person who wasn't: Dan Campbell.

The third-year Lions head coach prepared his squad for Thursday's upset at Arrowhead Stadium, as they opened the regular season 1-0 for the first time since 2017.

«I didn't learn anything, I got verification on what I already knew, and this is a resilient team,» Campbell said. «It already was a resilient team and we added pieces to that resilient team, so we're built to handle some stuff and we did that today against a very good opponent.»

Even with the Lions trailing 17-14 entering the fourth quarter, that resiliency was on display as they won their fourth consecutive road game that has been decided by one score, dating back to last season. Running back David Montgomery put the team ahead for good with an eight-yard rushing touchdown up the middle with 7:11 remaining to spoil the Chiefs' championship celebration, with fans exiting early on the night Kansas City's Super Bowl LVII championship banner was revealed.

«We expected to win this game. We came in here and we knew what we needed to do, and we knew it wasn't gonna be easy and we did that,» Campbell said. «Really what it means is that's one [win]. That's one. So, we've got to clean up our issues. It hurt us on some stuff today and be ready for Seattle in 10 days. That's what it is.»

Slow starts have doomed the Lions over the past two years, as they've posted an NFL-worst 2-14 record through Weeks 1-9 in 2021 and 2022 combined. But that wasn't the case this time around.

Dating back to early offseason workouts, even before padded practices, Lions defensive back C.J.