Both teams will be looking for their first win of the season in Week 2 as the San Francisco 49ers host the Detroit Lions. Game time is scheduled for 4:05 EST on Sunday, September 16, at Levi’s Stadium in Santa Clara, California. Fans in local markets can watch the game on Fox.
The 49ers are currently listed as a 6-point favorite at home. The over/under for the game is set at 48 points. Click here to see a full listing of the Week 2 NFL odds.
Despite coming up a little short in Week 1, the 49ers made a valiant effort against the Vikings. Few would have expected them to leave Minnesota with a win, so starting the season 0-1 wasn’t a huge surprise. While there were some concerns, most notably the four turnovers, Jimmy Garoppolo and company forged a 2nd-half comeback to close within eight points and give themselves a chance to tie in the end, which is a positive takeaway.
The Lions, meanwhile, have a lot less to be happy about after Week 1. In Matt Patricia’s debut as a head coach, Detroit was blown out by the Jets 48-17 despite being spotted seven points at the start of the game. To be fair, the Lions were in the game until the middle of the 3rd quarter when the Jets got a pick-six and a punt return for a touchdown in less than 90 seconds. Nevertheless, the final score has created some serious concerns in Detroit.
Obviously, both teams enter this game in a state of desperation. Both teams knew before the season that they faced an uphill battle to get into the playoffs in the NFC. Whatever team ends up falling to 0-2 will find themselves in a huge early-season hole, so both teams will pull out all the stops in order to win this game.
While both teams lost last week, the 49ers showed a little more fight and promise. It’s also important to keep in mind that the Lions are on a short week and have to travel three time zones to the west coast. To me, that’s a dangerous combination, especially for a team that looked so terrible last week. All of those factors give me the confidence to swallow the points and lean toward San Francisco to win by at least a touchdown to cover the spread.
Detroit’s biggest problem right now may be that they’re putting too much on the shoulders of Matthew Stafford. The Lions had just 39 yards rushing on 15 attempts in Week 1 against the Jets. As mentioned, the game didn’t get away from them until the 3rd quarter, so it’s not as if they abandoned the run right away. Stafford’s track record tells us that he can put up some impressive numbers but that he’s also prone to turnovers when the Lions leave everything up to him. Without better success on the ground, Stafford is liable to keep turning the ball over.
If you take away a few quarterback scrambles, the 49ers did a nice job of slowing down Minnesota’s running game last week. If they can keep that up this week and put all the pressure on Stafford, they’ll have a chance to create some takeaways. Obviously, San Francisco didn’t win the turnover battle last week. But being able to win it at home will put them in a great position to win.
On the other side of the ball, Garoppolo will also be looking to bounce back after he threw three interceptions last week. It’s also important to keep in mind that Patricia is quite familiar with Garoppolo from their days together in New England, so the Lions should have a good game plan in place to slow down the San Francisco passing attack.
The question is whether the Lions have the talent to execute against Garoppolo the way the Vikings were able to keep him contained and force a few turnovers last week. Detroit’s defense allowed rookie Sam Darnold to complete 16 of 21 passes for 198 yards and two touchdowns last week. Those numbers may not jump off the page, but Darnold was efficient if nothing else. In Garoppolo, the Lions will be facing a quarterback who’s a little more established and polished, which should definitely raise some concerns in spite of Patricia’s familiarity with the San Francisco quarterback.
In the end, the team that will win this game is the team that can run the ball better, enabling them to take some pressure off their quarterback. After Week 1, I don’t have a ton of faith in the Lions to either run the ball effectively or stop the run. On top of everything else, that’s the one factor that makes me want to lean toward the 49ers. Even with six points to cover, I still think San Francisco at home is the smart play in this game.