Chiefs QB Patrick Mahomes on Lions DE Aidan Hutchinson: 'He's a gamechanger'

The Kansas City Chiefs offense knows that they're going to have their hands full against a talented young defense in Week 1. In the first six weeks of the 2022 NFL season, the defense was not a strength for the Detroit Lions. However, things changed for Aaron Glenn's unit as the season progressed. In six of […]

Charles Goldman — NFL Managing Editor

Sep 4, 2023 9:45 AM EDT

The Kansas City Chiefs offense knows that they're going to have their hands full against a talented young defense in Week 1.

In the first six weeks of the 2022 NFL season, the defense was not a strength for the Detroit Lions. However, things changed for Aaron Glenn's unit as the season progressed. In six of their last 10 games, they held opposing offenses under 20 points scored.

"They had a lot of young guys playing last year," Chiefs QB Patrick Mahomes told reporters on Sunday. "You could see throughout the season how they grew and got better and better."

One of those young players who improved every step of the way was No. 2 overall pick Aidan Hutchinson, who finished the 2022 NFL season with 52 total tackles, 9.5 sacks and three interceptions.

Account for Aidan Hutchinson

Chiefs QB Patrick Mahomes was asked about the Detroit defensive line and specifically No. 97 on Sunday. Mahomes knows that they're going to present a big challenge and a lot of it has to do with the year-over-year growth from Hutchinson.

"Yeah, I think he was one of the guys that I was talking about," Mahomes said of Hutchinson. "You could see at the beginning of the year he played hard; he was trying to figure everything out but as the season went on, he really started coming into his own. He’s a great football player, there’s a reason he was drafted where he was drafted and a reason he had success in college where he did."

The reigning league MVP gave Hutchinson his flowers. The Chiefs' offense will have to account for the second-year defender on every snap, whether he's pinning his ears back to come after Mahomes or dropping into coverage.

"He’s a great football player, has the physical talent, but also a smart football player," Mahomes continued. "He had three interceptions last year so you know he can do a little bit of everything. We’ll have to account for him every snap because you know he’s a gamechanger type of player and we can’t let him affect the game on some of those big moments."

Kansas City will need to be sharp on offense if they're to come out of this game with a win. That means finding a way to slow down Hutchinson and his cohorts as they seek to disrupt the Chiefs' passing game.