That's one way to start your NFL season. Coming into the 2023 season, there were a lot of expectations for the Detroit Lions. Despite narrowly missing the playoffs, Detroit's strong play had fans encouraged that they would be better. Even with all that hype, though, no one really gave them a chance against the defending champions Kansas City Chiefs in Week 1.

Now everyone is realizing that the hype might actually be legit for the Lions. They went blow-for-blow against the defending champions, keeping in step with the Chiefs. Detroit eventually stopped Kansas City after a couple of lucky breaks and a solid defense against Patrick Mahomes and co. After the game, Dan Campbell was hyped up in his post-game speech to the team. (video from the Lions' official X)

Campbell reiterated that the Lions were “built for this”. After that game, it's easy to see why. The Lions were given a slight advantage with Travis Kelce's injury, but it's not like the Chiefs rolled over after this game. Patrick Mahomes was still being Patrick Mahomes: elusive in the pocket, and he gashed the defense for some runs down the middle. Even with the drops from his receivers, he still threw for 226 yards.

The real stars of the show were Jared Goff and the Lions, though. It was Detroit that drew first blood, with Goff driving the offense all the way to the endzone after a three-and-out in their first drive. The offense methodically broke down the Chiefs' defense. Their defense got in on the scoring action as well, with rookie Brian Branch picking off Mahomes for six points. After KC scored two field goals, Goff once again drove Detroit to the end zone, which culminated in a David Montgomery touchdown run,

Campbell further reiterated his point during the post-game press conference, per Adam Schefter. The Lions coach boldly claimed that they didn't learn anything from their win over the Chiefs. Rather, they just confirmed what they knew about themselves.

Asked what he learned about his team after its Thursday night win in Kansas City, Lions’ HC Dan Campbell said: “I didn’t learn anything. I got verification on what I already knew. This is a resilient team. It already was a resilient team….We are built to handle some stuff.”

Dan Campbell and the Lions proved that they belong in this league. Now, they'll just have to sustain this pace for the entire season.