Dan Campbell’s debut as Detroit Lions coach will come against a Super Bowl team from the not-too-distant past.
The Lions will open the 2021 season against the San Francisco 49ers on Sept. 12 at Ford Field, the team announced Thursday.
The Lions are opening at home for the second straight season and fourth time in five years. They have not had a winning record since 2017 and are coming off a 5-11 season in which they lost their final four games.
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The 49ers won the NFC in 2019, but went 6-10 during an injury-riddled 2020 when starting quarterback Jimmy Garoppolo, top defensive end Nick Bosa and Pro Bowl tight end George Kittle missed a combined 32 games.
All three are expected back healthy this fall, though the 49ers traded up to No. 3 in last month’s draft to pick quarterback Trey Lance.
Garoppolo led the 49ers within a whisker of winning the Super Bowl two years ago and the 49ers are a popular pick to win the loaded NFC West this fall.
Campbell was the assistant head coach with the New Orleans Saints the past five seasons. In 2019, the 49ers beat the Saints in a memorable 48-46 game on a Robbie Gould field goal as time expired.
New Lions quarterback Jared Goff went 3-5 against the 49ers while with the Rams in 2016-20. He has 14 career touchdown passes against the 49ers, his most against any team, and averages 197.5 passing yards per game, the fifth-lowest total versus any team in his career.
The Lions play games this season against the other NFC West teams, the Seattle Seahawks, Arizona Cardinals and Los Angeles Rams, plus four games against AFC North teams, home-and-home games against their three rivals in the NFC North and single games against the Philadelphia Eagles, Atlanta Falcons and Denver Broncos
The Lions’ full schedule will be released at 8 p.m. today.
Contact Dave Birkett at dbirkett@freepress.com. Follow him on Twitter @davebirkett.