Detroit Lions at San Francisco 49ers
Michael Zagaris/San Francisco 49ers/Getty Images
Kick-off: Sunday, January 28 at 6:30 p.m. ET/3:30 p.m. PT
Why Detroit will win: The Lions are riding high and looking to cap off the best season in team history. Jared Goff has plenty of confidence, and no shortage of experience having already competed in a Super Bowl with the Rams. If there’s one area San Francisco’s defense is susceptible, it’s on the ground. We just haven’t seen teams pound the Niners because San Francisco has typically played with a lead. If the Lions start strong, we could see their offensive line open up holes for Detroit’s potent RB combo of David Montgomery and Jahmyr Gibbs. Also, we can’t count out head coach Dan Campbell and the advantages he grants his team. If the Lions pull out the upset, it will be because Campbell’s aggressiveness leads to a big fourth down conversion or two.
Why San Francisco will win: The Niners shook off the rust against Green Bay. Despite going up against an inferior team, San Francisco looked to be on the ropes. Brock Purdy proved some doubters wrong with a strong final drive to give his team the lead after taking the last two weeks off. The Lions had been strong against the run defensively throughout the year but got gashed by Tampa’s ground game which ranked dead last during the regular season. Kyle Shanahan will surely pick up on the weaknesses that the Buccaneers exposed. Goff loves to the throw the ball across the middle of the field, which is exactly where All-World LB Fred Warner will be lurking. A couple of early turnovers from the Lions QB could make this a rout.
Prediction: San Francisco has dominated the NFC all year long (an 11-1 record against NFC opponents — — excluding Sam Darnold’s Week 18 start — with a plus-174 point-differential). Detroit is a worthy adversary and will give San Francisco a different sort of matchup than they’ve seen thus far. Dan Campbell will pull out all the tricks, and this is a Lions group that doesn’t have any quit in them. However, the 49ers are going into this with the utmost confidence after beating the Packers despite not putting together their best overall game. Behind their raucous crowd, the Niners pull away in the second half as Kyle Shanahan leads San Francisco to another Super Bowl berth.
Prediction: San Francisco 31, Detroit 22
