San Francisco. Aaron Rodgers on Monday night at Lambeau. Lamar Jackson in Week 3.
It’s easy to bemoan life as a Detroit Lions fan and complain that NFL schedule makers did your team no favors AGAIN this year. Every week it’s Detroit vs. Everybody-That’s-Anybody.
The reality is the NFL is really hard, there’s blue-chip players on every team. The problem is, not enough of them play for the Lions.
Really, there’s only a handful of NFL teams you’d welcome lining up against on Sundays.
The good news is that two of those teams will be coming to Ford Field in October before the first half is over.
With Cincinnati and Philadelphia coming to town, the Lions have chances to win here soon.
Sunday is not as likely, though no team is good enough to sleepwalk to a win.
Not even against the Lions.
Here are five things to watch as the Baltimore Ravens visit on Sunday (1 p.m., CBS, 97.1 FM):
► 1. Jamming up Jackson: We’ll put our obvious hat on here and say there’s no stopping Jackson, especially with this Lions’ defense. But Las Vegas made enough plays to slow Jackson in Week 1 to earn a Monday night win. They did it with outstanding pressure from Eastern Michigan’s Maxx Crosby and a late strip sack from Carl Nassib in a historic game for him. These are not blue-chippers either. There’s no reason why Michael Brockers, Trey Flowers and Romeo Okwara (who are all questionable with injuries) can’t make their presences felt. They are all paid well to do just that.
► 2. Diagnosing dud defense: We’ve mostly ignored the defense in this space through two weeks, but this level of play can’t continue. The Lions have the NFL’s worst defense, according to DVOA, an efficiency rating by Football Outsiders. We excuse defensive coordinator Aaron Glenn for bad overall numbers throughout the season; the talent level is horrific. But it’s up to Glenn to find success somewhere sometimes, and Sunday would be a great start. Let’s see if players such as Derrick Barnes, Bobby Price or AJ Parker can provide a spark.
► 3. Bank on Frank: It’s refreshing to see excellence from the Lions, and center Frank Ragnow delivers most weeks. After signing the big extension this offseason, Ragnow may be the NFL’s best center early this season. With Baltimore’s top defensive interior linemen Brandon Williams and Jason Madubuike possibly out, Ragnow could treat the Ravens’ backups like rag dolls.
► 4. Swift Army knife: Running back D’Andre Swift caught 46 passes in 13 games last season. His six catches per game this year would put him at 102 catches in 17 games. Granted, it’s very early and there’s an extra game this year, but only three Lions have ever caught 100 balls in a season (Hall of Famer Calvin Johnson, who will be honored at halftime Sunday, only did it once!). Swift and Jamaal Williams have combined to lead the NFL in receptions and receiving yards for a running back group. Groan if you want about checkdowns, but these guys in open spaces is better than incompletions to substandard wide receivers.
► 5. Passable passing: The Lions are 1-1 against the spread this year, and we found an expert willing to put their name on a Lions’ bet. Eli Hershkovich of TheLines.com took Detroit +9 earlier this week. He pointed to a banged-up Ravens’ defense and a Lions passing game in the middle of the pack for one advanced metric. Hershkovich pointed to mediocre dropback success rate this season for Jared Goff. Finding a passable stat for the Lions’ passer, with this group of wide receivers, is considered a win (or a cover, anyways).
Matt Schoch covers sports betting for PlayMichigan.com.