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Chiefs Plan to Play Starters First Half. How Should Lions Respond?

Should Lions match Chiefs and play starters the entire first half?

John Maakaron

Detroit Lions quarterback Jared Goff
Detroit Lions quarterback Jared Goff / Eric Seals / USA TODAY NETWORK
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The Detroit Lions have a dilemma heading into their second preseason game against the Kansas City Chiefs.

According to reports, the Chiefs are planning to play their starters, including star quarterback Patrick Mahomes, for the first half at home against Detroit.

Detroit had originally planned to conduct a scrimmage in the final practice open to fans. This would've served as the replacement for game action this weekend.

Unfortunately, a rash of injuries to players, including Terrion Arnold, Carlton Davis, Ennis Rakestraw and Jahmyr Gibbs, in recent days forced Dan Campbell to change his plans.

The team did not don pads and instead conducted a routine practice, with team and individual periods designed to get starters a good amount of reps.

The Lions should not fall into the trap of matching Reid's strategy of playing starters Saturday.

With such high expectations, Detroit should use the game as an opportunity to evaluate how those lower on the depth chart compete and execute against one of the league's best teams.

Players like Kindle Vildor, Brandon Joseph and Steven Gilmore in the secondary can gain valuable experience matching the efforts of one of the game's best signal-callers.

Related: Lions Starters Who Should Play Against Chiefs

Detroit can ill-afford to lose a key skill player on offense or defense in a game that is essentially meaningless.

While the depth on Detroit's roster has improved, it has already lost multiple players to season-ending injuries, including wideout Antoine Green.

Detroit's top units competing against each other in practice on a daily basis should be sufficient for Campbell and the coaching staff to withhold key contributors from appearing in Week 2 of the preseason.

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John Maakaron
JOHN MAAKARON

John Maakaron has covered Detroit Sports since 2013. Brings a vast array of experience covering the Detroit Tigers, Detroit Lions, Michigan Wolverines, Michigan State Spartans, Detroit Mercy Titans, and Oakland University Golden Grizzlies. John brings a wealth of sports broadcast experience. In 2013, John had the vision to establish the Detroit Sports Podcast Network. Has recorded over 3000 podcasts analyzing Detroit Sports. In 2019, Sports Illustrated Media Group, a historical sports media outlet, partnered with Detroit Sports Podcast to provide daily Lions content for their growing and expanding digital media outlet. Our Lions content can also be read in the newspaper at The Oakland  Passionate about Detroit Sports and it is reflected in his coverage of the local teams!

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