Packer - Lions preview

It's a few hours to kickoff and what can we say? Looking at Week #1: the Lions, on the road, got ripped a new one, as they say, by Atlanta's -- yes, Atlanta's! -- running game and a rookie quarterback; the Packers, at home, played a strong game and won against a bitter divisional rival which many pundits were saying perhaps had Super Bowl possibilities. The Packers negated the ViQueens vaunted defensive line. QB Aaron Rodgers, making his first NFL start, looked like an old pro. Not only did he pass with alacrity (look it up), but he used his legs to continue drives and add another dimension to the Packers offense when needed.

OK, I said more about the Packers in Week #1 than the Lions. Well, this is a Packers blog, after all. And the Lions are -- sorry, Lions fans -- the Lions. Meaning not so good. Still a home opener might provide the Lions with enough of a spark to pull an upset. The players and coaches might feel that their backs are against the wall. It might be just enough for them to...naaaaaaaaaaaaaaaah.

One of the best lines in print about the prospects for the Lions in this game came from sports columnist Michael Hunt in the Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel: "The Lions could win if (Lions GM) Matt Millen shows up on the sideline and angry fans storm the field and trample Aaron Rodgers in the process." (Yes, it is one of those mysteries of life that Millen is still employed after compiling a pathetic 31-82 record during his tenure as GM. You have to wonder exactly what it is that he's got on the Ford family? But we digress...) Hunt goes on to predict that the Packers will beat the Lions 27-20.

The Packers are favored by 3. Barring injury to Rodgers via trampling, we pick the Packers 27-17 over the Lions.

This should leave the Packers alone atop the NFC North. The ViQueens are host to the Colts in their home opener. One of those teams is going to start the season 0-2 and my guess is that it's not going to be the Colts. Da Bearz play at Carolina; they may have caught Indy off guard last week but don't expect the Panthers to lay an egg in similar fashion.

With all that said, and without looking ahead to next week (wait, doesn't even the mentioning of that mean that we are looking ahead...?), let's just say, Go Pack Go!!