With uncertainty around his return for the 2026 NFL season amid his recovery from a season-ending injury, the Kansas City Chiefs quarterback Patrick Mahomes was hit with another reality when Ryan Clark chose the Detroit Lions over the Chiefs while appearing on the Power Hour segment of The Mina Kimes Show. 

“I'm gonna take Detroit,” Clark said. “Um, when you ask your quarterback to do what Patrick Mahomes has been doing for the last three or four years, a breakdown is inevitable, right? The man carried the world on his shoulders.” 

While ranking the Motor City team 16th over the Chiefs, Ryan Clark called out the Chiefs’ choices that have ultimately resulted in a multi-year burden on their star quarterback Patrick Mahomes.

“...You get Kenneth Walker, but that's another offensive line…and they've tried free agency,” he said. “They've tried draft. It just hasn't taken that step that they need in order to be elite.” 

While justifying his choice, Clark argued that even after adding running back Kenneth Walker III, the Chiefs’ offensive line still underperformed. 

Before suffering a season-ending ACL and LCL tear, Mahomes was the production machine for the Chiefs. 

As argued by Clark, in the last three seasons, Mahomes has appeared in 46 games, while throwing for 11,698 yards and scoring 75 TDs. He was sacked 97 times. 

Statistically, Mahomes did the heavy lifting for the Chiefs. 

On the other hand, Clark believes that the roster around Jared Goff is pretty solid. It features Aidan Hutchinson, Jahmyr Gibbs, Amon-ra St. Brown, Jameson Williams, Isiah Pacheco, and more. 

He thinks if the Lions remain injury-free, then this could be the decisive factor for the Lions in the 2026 NFL season. 

With the Lions widely viewed as one of the NFL's most complete teams, the spotlight now shifts to the quarterback expected to turn that potential into results.

Detroit Lions carry high expectations for Jared Goff into the 2026 NFL season

Under the new offensive coordinator, Drew Petzing, the Motor City team is expected to make a rebound to the 2026 NFL playoffs. But to achieve this feat, the Lions’ quarterback coach, Mark Brunell, laid out his expectations for Jared Goff. 

“Staying consistent. Staying at the top of his game. He will. He works very hard,” Brunell told reporters during veteran minicamp. “He’s smart and has been in this system. He’s very accurate.”

Brunell accepted that Goff has remained a production machine since the historic trade with the Los Angeles Rams. 

Per StatMuse, he has appeared in 82 games where he threw for 21,451 yards and scored 149 TDs.

“And we expect him to play at a high level, and he will. That’s what he brings to the table every day,” he added. “Listen, this is just OTAs, this is minicamp, and you approach every day as if it were the regular season, which we love.”

But for the upcoming season, he expects more from him.

After missing the 2025 NFL playoffs with a record of 9-8, the Lions under Jared Goff’s leadership are heading on their redemption path to the Lombardi Trophy.

Read more at the Detroit Lions Community!

Written by

Kunwar Yashaswee Chhaunker