The Detroit Lions made good on their preseason hype by beating the Kansas City Chiefs on NFL kickoff night, but apparently NBC play-by-play man Mike Tirico thought the win wasn’t quite legit. As the clock expired on Detroit’s upset W, Tirico claimed the victory had an “asterisk” resulting from Kansas City being without tight end Travis Kelce and pass rusher Chris Jones.
Detroit beat the defending champs by owning time of possession and had more total yards than Kansas City. The Lions were equal on turnovers. But Tirico couldn’t let Lions fans have their moment.
Mike Tirico did not make Lions fans happy suggesting their victory over the Chiefs had an asterisk because of the absence of Travis Kelce and Chris Jones. pic.twitter.com/nHOn0AygOM
— Awful Announcing (@awfulannouncing) September 8, 2023
Kelce was a gametime decision with a bone bruise in his knee, while Jones is holding out for a new contract.
The Lions were also without cornerback Emmanuel Moseley on Thursday night, while another DB in Brian Barnes left the game with cramps. Yet Detroit still scored a pick-six against the Chiefs to help notch the win.
NFL kickoff was a fairly big Chiefs celebration overall. That’s understandable coming off an NFL championship, but Lions fans have every reason to be proud and even a bit defensive coming off a huge victory.
Pregame, Fox Sports commentator (and Chiefs fan) Nick Wright predicted a 20-0 Kansas City blowout.
Cris Collinsworth said America was going to finally see just how good two-time MVP Patrick Mahomes was on Thursday.
"I think America is about to find out how good he really is."- Cris Collinsworth on 2-time NFL MVP and 2-time Super Bowl MVP Patrick Mahomes pic.twitter.com/N734Do71FV
— Awful Announcing (@awfulannouncing) September 8, 2023
Tirico noted when the game was tied 7-7 that the Lions were still in it, disregarding the tie on the scoreboard.
To cap it all off, Mike Tirico couldn’t even let Detroit fully celebrate its win to kick off what is expected to be a strong Lions season. If the asterisk talk puts a bigger chip on the Lions’ shoulder for the rest of the season and gives them some extra motivation, it could serve them well.
[NBC]
