Sunday Night Football: Patrick Mahomes scores four TDs, Chiefs beat Lions 30-17

Perhaps the demise of the Chiefs has been a little exaggerated?

There is still much to be determined in the 2025 season, but for at least one night, Kansas City once again looked like a contender, defeating Detroit 27-17 on Sunday Night Football.

Quarterback Patrick Mahomes played one of his best games of the season, finishing the night 22-of-30 for 257 yards with three passing touchdowns, plus 34 yards rushing with a TD.

His first score of the night was his 300th career touchdown pass, with the 6-yard scoring strike going to Xavier Worthy to give Kansas City a 6-3 lead in the first quarter (Harrison Butker missed an extra point).

While the Lions responded with a Jameson Williams touchdown reception, the Chiefs took the lead for good late in the second quarter with Mahomes’ 1-yard touchdown run.

Kansas City then successfully doubled up, with Hollywood Brown catching his first of two touchdowns to cap the first drive of the third quarter for a 20-10 advantage.

The Lions made it interesting at the beginning of the fourth quarter with Sam LaPorta’s terrific 4-yard touchdown reception. But the Chiefs went up 27-17 with Brown’s second TD catch, this time coming from 3 yards.

Butker capped the scoring with a 33-yard field goal with 2:26 left in the final period.

The Lions were playing with a decimated secondary, but the club’s offense not coming through in key situations was more of the issue. On Detroit’s first drive, the club had fourth-and-goal at the 1-yard line and appeared to have a touchdown with a pass from running back David Montgomery to quarterback Jared Goff. But Goff did not stop after stepping away from being under center prior to the snap, which resulted in an illegal shift penalty that nullified the score.

Then, midway through the second quarter, Goff’s fourth-down pass in Kansas City territory to Amon-Ra St. Brown was a little low and wasn’t caught. The Chiefs went down and scored on their two-minute drill to take the lead.

Goff finished 22-of-29 for 203 yards with a pair of touchdowns. The Chiefs limited Jahmyr Gibbs to 65 yards on 17 carries and Montgomery to 24 yards on four carries. Jameson Williams led with 66 yards on six catches with a touchdown. LaPorta caught five passes for 55 yards while St. Brown caught nine passes for 45 yards.

On the other side, Travis Kelce had his most productive game of 2025, catching six passes for 78 yards — a season-high. Isiah Pacheco led with 51 yards on 12 carries while Kareem Hunt had 23 yards on six carries.

As the game ended, Lions safety Brian Branch appeared to have started a fight as teams were heading to the middle of the field to shake hands. The NBC broadcast showed Branch using an open hand to hit JuJu Smith-Schuster in his facemask, starting the fracas that also primarily involved Pacheco.

Now back to .500 at 3-3, the Chiefs will stay at home to face the division-rival Raiders in Week 7.

At 4-2, the Lions will have an extra day to prepare for the red-hot, 5-1 Buccaneers, as Detroit will host Tampa Bay next Monday night.