National media has no faith in the Lions upsetting the Packers in Week 2
Last week, the national media were confident the Detroit Lions would walk away with a victory against the Chicago Bears. Unfortunately, it was the Bears who got the last laugh beating the Lions 27-23.
At the time of this writing, an overwhelming 96-percent of the experts polled are confident the Packers will out muscle the Lions for their second victory of the season, according to NFL PickWatch.
It didn’t take long for the prognosticators to dropship on the Lions after their fourth-quarter collapse against the Bears, but at this point, it’s hard to blame the picks for being one-sided towards the Packers.
Especially considering the Packers’ defense was able to hold the Vikings offense down the majority of the game, while the Packers’ offense looked in mid-season form with Aaron Rodgers throwing for four scores and making minced meat of an inexperienced secondary.
Further tilting the scales towards the Packers, the Lions will be without three starters in Week 2, including Kenny Golladay, Desmond Trufant, and Joe Dahl. Fortunately, first-rounder Jeff Okudah should make his debut this week in place of Trufant.
One area the Lions did have some flashes on offense last week was in the run game, lead by Adrian Peterson. With Kenny Clark ruled out, the Lions need to take advantage of the gap in the middle of the Packers’ defensive line and find a way to run the ball effectively. If the Lions can establish the run early, it could open up the offense and keep Rodgers on the sideline, which will be their best bet for upsetting the Packers.
