Throughout the 2024-2025 season, two teams have shown pure dominance in the National Football League. Those two teams are the Kansas City Chiefs and the Detroit Lions. The difference between the two teams however, is that one lost their first game in the playoffs and the other is playing against the Philadelphia Eagles in Super Bowl 59.
The Lions tragically got eliminated in the Playoffs against the Washington Commanders in a loss of 41-31. This is a game that the Lions should have won by a mile. Nearly everyone who watched football thought that the Lions would blow out the Commanders, and would advance to the NFC Championship against the Philadelphia Eagles. As we now know, that did not happen.
On the AFC side, the Kansas City Chiefs went 15-2, making their way up to the AFC Championship. Beating the Bills in that game, they then went on to the Super Bowl to get annihilated by the Philadelphia Eagles.
That raises the question, why are the Lions better than the Chiefs? One example that many reporters like to use is the points in a game. These can be used for multiple statistics, for instance, the amount of points scored in a game (ppg) shows how strong an offense is. The Chiefs had a PPG of 22.6 while the Lions had a 33.2 PPG according to ESPN. While this statistic may seem irrelevant, 10 points can dictate the outcome of a game easily.
Another way that points can be used to show the strength of a team is the point differential in games. The Chiefs have won 12 out of their 15 by one score, with some of these teams being at the bottom of the league. This means that one score could have had a different outcome. Their total point differential was 59 points. On the opposing side, the Lions have blown out bad teams, with a Point Differential of 222 according to Statmuse. The reason this is so important is because this is how many points the Lions and Chiefs have racked up on other teams. Comparing the two, 59 to 222 is an insane difference, with the Lions being number one in the NFL for it.
Moving on, offense is only one part of the game. Defense is considered more important by many people and with the Lions’ defense almost entirely being out, many thought that their season was over. Despite having 21 players on IR (injured reserve) they still fought their way to a first-round bye and the number one overall seed in the NFC. Comparing this to the Chiefs, the Chiefs had a full-strength defense heading into the playoffs and struggled with bad teams putting up touchdowns on them throughout the regular season.
Finally, a team is ultimately run by the coaching staff. The Lions’ coaches are among the best in the NFL. The reason why is that both Defensive Coordinator Aaron Glenn and Offensive Coordinator Ben Johnson were selected with head coaching opportunities with different NFL organizations. Aaron Glenn took his talents to the New York Jets while Ben Johnson was selected for the Chicago Bears role. The reason why this makes them stand out more than the KC coaches is because they both got multiple interviews, while Kansas City’s did not. Along with that, the Lions head coach, Dan Campbell has been nominated for Head Coach of the Year numerous times in recent years.
Ultimately this team could have easily made it to the Super Bowl, however, with a heavily injured defense and coaches getting poached by other teams, their run of the playoffs was halted. If this Lions team ever played the Kansas City team this year, it would have been an absolute blowout. Along with that, the Chief’s humiliating loss in Super Bowl 59 showed that they didn’t belong in that game in the first place. I truly believe if the Lions were ever in the position of being down by 24 going into halftime, they would persevere and show that they were the more dominant team. That, however, will never happen as the Eagles and Lions are in the same conference.
In conclusion both the Lions’ defense and offense are superior to the Chiefs, and the only reason why the Chiefs made it to the Super Bowl was due to luck and one-score games. Everyone should hope to see these two teams play in the future, as they are both great in their own way.
