San Francisco 49ers vs Detroit Lions Prediction, Odds and Preview - 09/12/2021

Game Time: 1:00 pm ET, Sunday, September 12, 2021

Venue:  Ford Field, Detroit, MI

Where to Watch:  FOX

DraftKings:  Point Spread:  49ers -7.5, Lions +7.5; Over/Under:  45.5 points

Bet365:  Point Spread:  49ers -7.5, Lions +7.5; Over/Under:  45.5 points

BetMGM:  Point Spread:  49ers -7.5, Lions +7.5; Over/Under:  46 points

 

San Francisco 49ers:  0-0 (NFC West)

Detroit Lions:  0-0 (NFC North)

 

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San Francisco 49ers:  First Game of the Season

Detroit Lions:  First Game of the Season

The San Francisco 49ers will be taking on the Detroit Lions on Sunday in what will be their first game of the NFL regular season. The 49ers finished last season in last place of the NFC West with a 6-10 record overall. The Lions also finished last season in last place of their division, the NFC North, with a 5-11 record overall. Both teams will be looking to improve this season with the new players that they each acquired in the offseason.

The 49ers had a pretty good preseason finishing with a winning 2-1 record. Trey Lance was seen a lot at the quarterback position for the 49ers in this preseason. Jimmy Garoppolo will be starting in the regular season but he did get some work in every preseason game. They have a solid running game this season, Raheem Mostert for some reliability, rookie Elijah Mitchell for some young burst of energy, and Kyle Juszczyk who is the most respected full back in the game. The wide receivers are a little weak especially with Brandon Aiyuk battling an injury, but they also have one of the best tight ends in the NFL in George Kittle. George Kittle has been a monster in past years and will be able to make the big plays that they will need in the passing game to make a good run this season. The 49ers defense is one of the best in the league as well so it will be tough for teams to run them over this season.

The Lions did not do much in this preseason finishing with a winless 0-3 record. Jared Goff made a short appearance in the first preseason game but it has been David Blough and Tim Boyle who got all of the snaps since then. Goff will be the starter for NFL week 1 but the Lions do seem to have some good depth at the quarterback position. Unfortunately, the quarterback of this team can only do so much with the limited weapons at wide receiver. The Lions’ offense will have to run a more run-heavy offense with their running back D'Andre Swift. He will be looking to build on an okay year where he rushed for 521 yards on 114 carries last season. Detroit’s defense could also use an upgrade at some positions and they will need to work on allowing fewer points in games. They will also be starting their first season with Dan Campbell, their new head coach, who has a lot of experience coaching offenses but has never been the head coach of an NFL team before. Overall, this team has some work to do on offense and defense so it will be interesting to see what direction their new coach takes them in. 

Draftkings sportsbook have the current betting odds for the 49ers listed as a large favorite by about a touchdown with the point total sitting at about 46.. The Lions made some moves in the offseason with their coach and at the quarterback position trading Matthew Stafford to the Los Angeles Rams for Jared Goff but their team is lacking at other various positions. The 49ers players are all-around level with some good pieces on offense and on defense. The Lions players are just not as reliable. They will likely get the win and the cover here.

 

49ers Lions Prediction:  Our NFL Pick for Sunday, September 12, 2021 (1:00 pm ET start time) is 49ers 31 Lions 20.

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San Francisco 49ers: 11-5 ATS in road games.

Detroit Lions: 2-1 ATS as a home underdog of 7.5 to 14 points.

 

 

San Francisco 49ers:  D. Harris (CB) Out indefinitely - Hamstring injury. M. Hurst (DL) Out indefinitely - Ankle injury. S. Coleman (T) Out indefinitely - Tricep injury. B. Aiyuk (WR) Ques Week 1 - Hamstring injury.

Detroit Lions:  D. Skipper (T) I-R - Leg injury. D. Hand (DL) Out indefinitely - Groin injury.

 

 

San Francisco 49ers: Deebo Samuel is one player to watch in this one. He will have to pick up the slack in this game with Brandon Aiyuk being questionable for this one. He has the potential to make big plays. He had a good first season in 2019 but ended up dropping off last season only playing in half the amount of games. He will want to bounce back big after a full season missed out on. He should be able to burn the Lions defense on some big plays in this game.

 

Detroit Lions: Jared Goff is one player to watch in this game and in all of Detroit’s games this season. He was just acquired from the Rams and had a decent season last year. He completed 370/552 passes for 3,952 yards, 20 touchdowns and 13 interceptions. He will have to cut down on those turnovers but he is not an awful player and could easily turn his career around here in a new offense with a new coach.

 

"I just wanted to get live action with it. We've done it in practice a couple of times and this was the last time before we're going to get in the regular season. So it's the last time you can have the opportunity to do it. I kind of wanted to do it with this game." - Kyle Shanahan on his strategy of rotating his 2 QBs in and out during the same drive.

 

 

"I'm encouraged — I am. Do we still have work to do? Yeah. A lot of work to do, but we have time. The hardest thing is to have urgency and patience at the same time. I don't know how you do that, but I'm working on it." - Dan Campbell on going 0-3 in the preseason as a first year head coach.

 

 

 

 

WR Aiyuk, Brandon 

WR Samuel, Deebo 

TE Kittle, George 

QB Garoppolo, Jimmy 

RB Mitchell, Elijah 

RB Mostert, Raheem 

FB JUSZCZYK, KYLE 

 

 

WR Raymond, Kalif 

WR Williams, Tyrell 

TE Hockenson, TJ 

QB Goff, Jared 

RB Swift, D'Andre 

FB Cabinda, Jason 

 

 

Coaches:

San Francisco 49ers: Kyle Shanahan (5th season)

Detroit Lions: Dan Campbell (1st season)

 

76 degrees F partly cloudy, 61% humidity, 10% chance of rain, up to 10 mph wind speeds SW.