Kansas City Chiefs drop preseason tilt with Detroit Lions 24-23

The Kansas City Chiefs lost in their second preseason game of the year, falling to the Detroit Lions 24-23.

Detroit mounted a late comeback to win after Kansas City led following the first, second and third quarters. A field goal by rookie Jake Bates as time expired was the decisive score.

The Chiefs’ starters saw more action in Preseason Week 2 than they did in the opener, including a pair of drives for quarterback Patrick Mahomes. He went 8-of-14 passing for 93 yards, including a behind-the-back completion to tight end Travis Kelce.

Rookie Xavier Worthy was one of the most impressive individual performers on Saturday, catching three passes for 62 yards and a touchdown. Fourth-year wide receiver Cornell Powell had the biggest play of the day, a 64-yard touchdown reception in the third quarter.

Deneric Prince was the game’s leading rusher, pacing the Chiefs with seven carries for 47 yards. Rookie Carson Steele, who made headlines for his performance in the loss to the Jacksonville Jaguars a week ago, carried the ball three times for eight yards against the Lions.

“There were some good things early, then periodically as it went on,” Chiefs coach Andy Reid said. “We’ve got to make sure we do a little better job blocking and tackling, both sides of the ball, with the twos and the threes.”

Detroit rested many of its starters for the game, including quarterback Jared Goff, wide receiver Amon-Ra St. Brown and defensive end Aidan Hutchinson, among others.

The Chiefs have one more preseason game coming up this Thursday, Aug. 22 against the Chicago Bears. The Bears have already played three preseason games and have won them all. The regular-season opener will follow exactly two weeks after that against the Baltimore Ravens.

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