Detroit Lions vs. Tennessee Titans – 9/18/16 NFL Pick, Odds, and Prediction

But he knows the task this week will be stiffer than what Detroit faced against the Colts, who played without three defensive starters and lost three more during the course of the game.

The Lions home opener for this year, sees them once again taking on AFC South opposition and it seems that they are playing teams based on ascending strength of defense.

Detroit opened with a 39-35 victory at Indianapolis, its seventh win in nine games dating to past year. They face a far more talented, and balanced, offense in the form of Stafford and the Lions, but a far less imposing defense. Titans QB Marcus Mariota has 10 passing TDs, one rushing TD, one receiving TD and one INT in six career road games.

Pettigrew’s recovery from a torn ACL is going well and he should be ready for game action about that time, but the Lions still have to decide if they want him on the active roster. And they picked right up where they left off in Week 1 this year with a 39-35 win over the Colts. The projection has the Lions winning 29-26.

“Last year, we came home for our first game, we were 0-2”. I also expect Delanie Walker to play a more central role against a weaker defense.

Colton Wesley (1-0) – The Lions should move the ball effectively against an unimpressive Titans defense; Matthew Stafford and the receivers specifically should have a field day.

“I said this morning, ‘They have two backs that are unsafe in both areas and so do we, ‘” said Titans coach Mike Mularkey, referring to DeMarco Murray and rookie Derrick Henry. Lions win 38-24. Mariota’s projections are also what I’d expect.

Offensively, Tennessee accumulated 316 total yards and the enter team couldn’t recover from their two turnovers that resulted into two touchdowns for opposing teams. This unit held Vikings All-Pro rusher Adrian Peterson to 31 yards on 19 carries. But that was against a Shaun Hill led offense.

Detroit has already proven they are capable of going toe to toe in a shootout, with Matthew Stafford and Andrew Luck trading scores last week. This offseason, the Titans hired Jon Robinson as general manager and the Lions brought in Bob Quinn to run their front office. Mularkey is 0-1 against Detroit. The Titans defense allowed 301 yards and while it will go down as 25 points against the bulk of those were scored against their offense. The key for the Lions will be in not letting their scoring drives stall for field goals.

Overall this is a grim match-up for most National Football League defenses, but it plays directly into the Titans weaknesses from a week ago. While defensive coordinator Dick Lebeau will not have to build his game plan around taking out one of the best in the business this week, the Titans defense can not take the Lions’ two-headed rushing attack lightly. If the Lions offensive line, led by center Travis Swanson and tackle Riley Reiff, keeps the Titans defenders off Stafford like Minnesota’s offensive line did, Stafford will throw for 400-plus yards.

Zac Snyder (1-0) – The offense exceeded expectations while the defense failed to meet expectations last week against the Colts. The home field atmosphere should help out the Lions defense with the roar of Lions fans helping to make things hard on the Titans offense.