Two fiery head coaches and one heated handshake, but which team covers the spread in Sunday’s primetime showdown between the Detroit Lions and San Francisco 49ers?
The Lions have not won straight-up in San Francisco since 1975
Things for the Lions didn’t go exactly as planned during their Week 1 home opener but after falling behind 13-10 at the half, Detroit’s offense came to life and they snuck past the Rams on a last minute TD pass from Matt Stafford to RB Kevin Smith.
Detroit won five-straight games to start the 2011 season, including three road wins but the 49ers have earned recognition as one of the toughest defenses in the NFL and today they’ll look to improve on a 7-1 ATS record as home favorite.
San Francisco upset the Packers as a Week 1 road dog and sportsbooks installed Jim Harbaugh’s team as 7-point ‘chalk’ when online betting odds opened but a couple of books today offer 6.5 with a total of 46. Check NFL odds here!
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Niners QB Alex Smith was 20 for 26 against the Packers including four of four completions to WR Randy Moss. WR Crabtree is still the No. 1 for this Niners team but with Moss, TE Davis and newcomer Mario Manningham in the mix, the threat of RB Gore finding room underneath will keep the Lions busy.
Detroit is waiting on RB Leshoure suspension to end but for now they’ll rely on Kevin Smith, who is still a top 12 back when healthy. Calvin Johnson is the team’s deep threat and Megatron was beast, scoring six TDs in his first three road games of 2011 but Stafford will need to establish connections with Burleson, Young and his tight end committee to spread the Niners defense.
The Niners deserve home favorite status for this contest but getting a touchdown or more, the value is on the road dog. Neither of these teams has a spectacular Sunday night record but the Lions were able to score 26 points or more in seven of nine road games last year and they should be ready for this rematch . Take the Lions
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