Muzzling the Lions: Keys for a 49ers Victory at Levi's
In speaking with multiple Lions content creators this week, it became very clear that there are many parallels between them and the 49ers. Both have strong run games, quarterbacks whom they don't trust in the elements, elite tight ends, versatile wide receivers, kickers that they don't trust, elite punters, shaky secondary players and elite edge players. Both teams are front runners who play well with leads, but not so well in close games, or when trailing.
There are some big differences though:
The Lions offensive line is one the best in football, even with Pro Bowl left guard Jonah Jackson being ruled out and all world center Frank Ragnow playing hurt with a sprained knee suffered vs. the Bucs in addition to a sprained ankle with which he was already playing. He has played through many injuries throughout his career, but he also is likely to struggle to play his best. Right tackle Penei Sewell is gaining fast upon Trent Williams for the title of the best lineman in the NFL. Right Guard Graham Glasgow is an All Pro. Left tackle Taylor Decker is outstanding as well.
The 49ers have by far the best linebacker duo in football with Fred Warner and Dre Greenlaw.
They also have the best group weapons. Christian McCaffrey is a finalist for both Most Valuable Player and Offensive Player Of the Year. The Lions have a great running back duo with Jahmyr Gibbs and David Montgomery, but McCaffrey is in a league of his own. George Kittle is the best tight end in football. Sam LaPorta had one of the best rookie seasons ever for a tight end and he's arguably already top five, but this is still an advantage for the 49ers. Deebo Samuel is one of one. He created the wide back role. Many have attempted to replicate what he does, but none have come close to his skill and physical domination of would be tacklers. Brandon Aiyuk is super underrated and efficient with the 7th most receiving yards in 2023, despite being 30th in targets:
Amon-Ra St. Brown is outstanding and he put up bigger numbers than Aiyuk in 2023 but, throw for throw, Aiyuk was actually more impressive. Jauan Jennings is the best blocking wide receiver in football. He's also a great leaping catch specialist as we saw on Saturday vs the Packers:
Josh Reynolds is a security blanket for Jared Goff. They played together on the Rams and the Lions offense sputtered from when Goff arrived until Reynolds joined the team. He is fast and has been huge in the playoffs, but still not better than Aiyuk or Samuel. Kyle Juszczyk is the best full back in football. Kyle Shanahan is one of the best play designers and play callers in the NFL, but so is Ben Johnson.
The Lions like to start by receiving the kickoff. Kyle likes to differ to the second half. Chances seem high that we will see the Lions offense first on Sunday.
The Lions are great at running the ball and so are the 49ers. The Lions are great at defending the run, which can be trouble for Shanahan's run-first system. If the 49ers can slow the Lions run game and get pressure on Goff, then they should win the game easily. Doing those two things is far from easy. Especially considering the prowess of the Lions offensive line.
A wild card on their defensive line might be edge James Houston, who was cleared to play vs the Bucs. He had eight sacks in just seven games in 2022 and could be the perfect bookend to Aidan Hutchinson, who has played better than Nick Bosa recently.
If all else ends up being equal, then I like Samuel, Aiyuk and Jennings vs the Lions boundary cornerbacks Cam Sutton and Kindle Vildor, who have given up huge yards to No. 1 wide receivers lately:
I also trust former Mr. Irrelevant and current MVP Finalist Brock Purdy more than former Mr. No. 1 Pick Jared Goff who was cast off by the Rams and is 4-7 vs. the 49ers and has zero wins in his past five meetings. Dan Campbell is known for being aggressive. The Lions went for it on fourth down more than any other NFL team in 2023. He would be well advised to tone that back a little bit, since most NFL teams don't have as good of defenses as the 49ers have. 49ers 31 - Lions 24.
