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USA Today Sports Media Group
USA Today Sports Media Group
Sport
Zack Moran

Lions vs 49ers: 3 key matchups for the Week 1 game

The new-look Detroit Lions will look to get off on the right foot playing the San Francisco 49ers at home in front of a fan base who are dying to step back into Ford Field.

With Dan Campbell driving the ship along with his band of former players on the Lions coaching staff, they are ready to bring Detroit out of a state of apathetic purgatory to one of competitiveness and drive. The players have been injected with newfound energy and are ready to fight every minute on the field. Even though most predictions don’t have the Lions mounting too much as they are transitioning, they will be a fun team to watch and compete in every game.

It will be hard to gauge or predict how the Lions will open their season with a whole slew of new personnel from the coaching staff to the players, especially with a vanilla preseason where most starters barely played. There are a few areas where the Lions can hang their hat, and others have massive questions surrounding them that could make it problematic through the season. With the Lions behind in the odds by 7.5 to open the season, many believe the bad will outweigh the good when it comes to their 49er matchup.

If they can pull ahead in this week’s three key matchups, they might have a fighting chance to pull off the upset to start the season.

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