Halftime at Ford Field in Detroit: Chiefs, Lions tied in battle of unbeaten teams

The Chiefs had their least productive first half of the season and were tied with the Detroit Lions 13-13 at halftime.

In five possessions, the Chiefs managed two field goals and touchdown, along with a missed field goal and punt. The 13 points were the fewest scored by the Chiefs in the first half this season.

Patrick Mahomes wasn’t as sharp as he had been in the first three games, when he averaged 300 passing yards in the first half.

On Sunday, Mahomes was 11 of 21 for 160 yards .

Lions take late lead

The Lions faced a fourth-and-1 from the 25 with 1:08 remaining in the half when the Chiefs called a timeout.

Lions coach Matt Patricia decided to go for it. But an illegal snap penalty nixed the dash of daring and the Lions settled for Matt Prater’s 48-yard field goal.

The Chiefs got the ball back with 1:03 remaining and big completions to Sammy Watkins and Darrel Williams got the Chiefs in field goal position.

Chiefs’ sacks help turn momentum

The Chiefs fell behind for the third straight game when the Lions took the opening kickoff and drove to the 2. But end Alex Okafor came up huge on third down, recording his first sack as a Chief. The Lions settled for Prater’s 25-yard field goal.

The Lions had allowed only three sacks over the first three games. Chris Jones added a sack in the second quarter.

For the third straight game the Chiefs went scoreless in the first quarter. But after trailing 10-0, the Chiefs scored the next 10. They entered the game having outscored their previous two opponents, the Raiders and Ravens, 51-0 in the second quarter.

Yelder breaks into stats column

Deon Yelder entered the game without an NFL reception. He had two on the Chiefs’ first possession Sunday.

He caught passes of 24 and 19 yards to pick up first downs. But the drive ended with Harrison Butker’s missed 36-yard field goal. Butker had made 21 straight field goals on the road.

Yelder, a second-year pro from Western Kentucky, was playing in his fifth NFL game, second this year.