Discussion: Which Detroit Lions player is key to a win over the Kansas City Chiefs?

We’re just a mere four days away from the Detroit Lions season opener, and boy, is it going to be a big one. The Lions travel to the Super Bowl defending Kansas City Chiefs to kick off one of the most anticipated Lions seasons ever.

It’s a tough draw to open the season, but it also presents an incredible opportunity for the Lions to send a message across the league that all of the offseason hype is actually grounded in reality. Of course, a win doesn’t guarantee success for the entire season, just like a loss doesn’t mean Detroit is doomed. Still, it’s impossible not to get excited about this one.

So let’s start digging into the matchup a little bit. Obviously, with the first game of the season, there is an incredible amount of unknown. But let’s do our best with today’s Question of the Day:

Which Lions player is key to a victory over the Chiefs?

My answer: Sorry to take the obvious route, but my answer is quarterback Jared Goff.

As coach Dan Campbell has said multiple times this week, the key to beating a team as dangerous as the Chiefs is to win the turnover battle.

“Look I think we need takeaways. We need takeaways,” Campbell said. “We’ve got to convert on third down on offense and we need takeaways on defense.”

While Campbell is talking about the defensive side of the ball, it’s hard to predict exactly how the Lions will end up producing takeaways. Will it be via pressure with their front seven? Or sticky coverage on the back end? Or more likely, a marriage of the two?

But producing turnovers on defense won’t matter much if Goff doesn’t take care of the ball himself. All you have to do is look back at last year. In the first seven games in which the Lions went 1-6, he turned the ball over nine times. In Detroit’s 8-2 finish to the season, Goff turned it over twice over 10 games.

Expecting Goff to turn it over just once every five games is probably ask too much, but if he can avoid any turnovers on Thursday, they’re going to have a real chance at a Week 1 upset.

Who do you think is key to a Lions victory on Thursday? Scroll down to the comment section and let us know.