It’s the most wonderful time of the year to be a football fan, and this week starts us off with a hot match-up!
The Detroit Lions finished last season 3-13-1, and hope to rebound in order to make a statement win against the Philadelphia Eagles who are coming off a 9-8 season. These teams previously faced off in 2021, where the Eagles came out on top, with the final score being 44-6.
With the Eagles key additions being Wide Receiver AJ Brown via Draft day trade with the Tennessee Titans, Defensive Back C.J. Gardner-Johnson via trade with the New Orleans Saints, and Defensive Tackle Jordan Davis (Georgia) from the 2022 NFL draft, The Lions clearly have their work cut out for them, and the game could very well come down to how well they can isolate those players from the Eagles Game Plan.
Expectations ride high entering into this game from the fans on both sides, But especially in Detroit, as the Lions have the league buzzing about their appearance on HBO’s Hard Knocks, where the league was introduced to a closer look at the smash mouth coaching style of Dan Campbell, as well as a few of the Lions key additions in Aidan Hutchinson (Michigan) via the 2022 NFL Draft, Wide Receiver DJ Chark, Safety DeShon Elliot, and Defensive Back Mike Hughes who all joined the roster via 2022 Free Agency.
Both teams have 1 thing in common, which is high concerns regarding QB1 Performance. Jared Goff and Jalen Hurts alike have been rather underwhelming thus far in their play style, neither of them being considered faces of their current franchise at any point in time. The Eagles are currently favored to come out on top in this matchup, but that is only because The Lions have not given the league much to believe in over the course of the past several years. This is a can’t miss opportunity for the Lions to put the League on Notice. With a top 3 Offensive Line, a very solid receiving core, and a running back room that could be highly explosive at any moment, the Lions will constantly have the Eagles guessing where the ball is going, and could prove to be very overwhelming for the Eagles defense.
Unfortunately, I see the exact same possibility on the Eagles offense to create challenges for the Lions, where I predict the lone defensive bright spot of week one to be Rookie Defensive End, Aidan Hutchinson.
Luckily, the Lions have learned from some of their mistakes (but not all), and will make this game a much closer matchup than it was in the 2021 NFL season.
Final Score: Eagles 27, Lions 20
