Sunday Night Football Picks: Detroit Lions vs Kansas City Chiefs

by Mike Allen - 10/9/2025

For the first time in 11 years, we are in Week 6 of the NFL regular season, and zero unbeaten teams remain in the league. After Week 1's drubbing by the rival Green Bay Packers, everybody seemed to think that the Detroit Lions were suffering from losing not one but both of their coordinators to head coaching jobs.

It's been a month since then, and Detroit has looked incredible. Their offense doesn't seem to have missed a beat, really. I understand Ben Johnson is a smart guy, but the Lions still have the #1 offense in the NFL, averaging nearly 35 points per game for the year.

Quarterback Jared Goff is having his best statistical season of his career, completing more than 75% of his pass attempts as well as carrying a career-high QBR and QB Rating into Week 6.

The offense looks fine, but what about the other side of the ball? Getting stops when they needed to was one thing Detroit struggled with last season. The defense is much better, though!

I can remember watching that unit last season and thinking their defensive coordinator at the time, Aaron Glenn, was overrated. Seeing the Jets' struggles, but more so the improvement from the Lions' defensive unit, confirmed this in my mind.

Pardon the pun, but in Glenn's defense, the absence last season and subsequent return this year of edge rusher Aiden Hutchinson has made all the difference in the world for Dan Campbell's boys.

Hutchinson was shut out against the Pack but recorded five sacks over his next four games. The homegrown Detroit product and Michigan Wolverine is making a strong early case to win the Defensive Player of the Year award.

Hosting the Lions this week on Sunday Night Football are the 2-3 Kansas City Chiefs. They're finally getting healthy at wide receiver. It seems like Andy Reid and Patrick Mahomes have had to deal with a banged-up receiving corps for years now.

They are a different team when they can take the top off the defense with burners like Xavier Worthy and Rasheed Rice. The former is back, albeit slightly hampered by an ankle, and the latter should be back next week.

Going back to defense, it was that side of the ball that carried the Chiefs over the past several seasons, but this year, they're having trouble getting stops, especially against the run.

Let’s compare and contrast these two titans and make a prediction for their Week 6 Sunday Night Football matchup.

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Detroit Lions (+2.5) at Kansas City Chiefs (-2.5)

This line opened up at just (+1) for the Lions, and you can actually still find some (+2)'s out there if that's what you're looking for. The script is calling for a shootout in Kansas City this Sunday night. The weather looks nearly perfect, and both quarterbacks are more than capable of taking their respective teams past the 30-mark.

Point Total: 53

This is one of the highest point totals we've seen all year, and at first glance, it makes sense. The Chiefs have struggled to stop the run, and if Detroit knew how to score slowly, we might look towards the under because they could drain the clock with their two-headed monster at running back.

Moneyline Odds

Lions: +117

Chiefs: -141

Detroit Lions at Kansas City Chiefs Betting Analysis

I know we spent a few moments selling the Lions' defense, but they are pretty banged up in their secondary, which is a massive concern against the Kansas City Chiefs, one of the most pass-heavy teams in the league this year.

Mahomes is also at the top of the NFL in air yards, meaning the ball is traveling through the air for more yards on average than other passers in the league. That's an excellent sign for KC, as their offense had become anemic over the past few years, relying on short, non-threatening pass plays.

I expect the Chiefs to air it out early and often because they might still struggle to keep up at this track meet.

The KC defense doesn't match up well with Detroit's offense, as nobody executes play action more effectively than the Lions. Guess who ranks dead last in defending the play-action pass?

Yup, the Chiefs rank 32nd in that regard. They’re also struggling mightily to stop the run. This game looks like it could go over the high total of 53.

I'll take the Lions to go over their team total of 24.5 here. We need them to put up 10 less than their average.

Detroit Lions at Kansas City Chiefs Betting Pick

Pick: Lions Over Their Team Total of 24.5

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Start:	October 10, 2025 @ 11:30 PM
Expert:	Tony George
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Sunday Night Football Picks: Detroit Lions vs Kansas City Chiefs

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