Detroit Lions vs. San Diego Chargers
Sunday, September 13th at Qualcomm Stadium in San Diego, California at 4:05 P.M. (Eastern)

The Detroit  Lions open the season on the road for the first time since 2011. That same year the Lions beat the San Diego Chargers 38-10 in a Christmas Eve matchup at Ford Field. The Lions finished 11-5 in 2014. If they are to have the same type of season, this game at San Diego is a must win. The first four games of the season are brutal. A win against San Diego gets the ball rolling in a positive direction.

Darius Slay Against Phillip Rivers

Lions cornerback Darius Slay made rumblings this week when asked about Chargers veteran quarterback Phillip Rivers. "As long as (Rivers) don’t talk sideways to me, we’ll be OK. Try to come at me with that humbug stuff, and I got something for him," Slay said. Slay was speaking of the on-field trash talk in which Rivers is notorious for. This off-season, Slay has been particularly vocal. He has emerged as one of the leaders on defense due to both his play on the field and voice in practice, during training camp, and in locker room.

Run Lombardi Run!

The San Diego Chargers ranked 26th last season in run defense last season. The Lions did not run the ball with much success last season (88.9 ypg) and finished 28th in the league. That area of the offense was one of the biggest priorities of the off-season. The Lions revamped their offensive line and added running back Ameer Abdullah in the draft. The Lions maintain that Joique Bell is still the number one back despite an undisclosed injury that kept him out of training camp as well as the preseason. Most believe that the Lions will go running back by committee. Expect Ameer Abdullah to see plenty of carries. Theo Riddick will assume his role in passing situations. The wildcard is Zach Zenner and how many carries he will see. The longer that Bell stays out, the more likely Zenner sees a handful of carries per game.

Megatron

Calvin Johnson is healthy. Although he didn't play in the preseason, expect him to be in top form for the opener. Johnson made some of his usual acrobatic aerial catches during training camp, much to the chagrin of Head Coach Jim Caldwell. At certain points last season, particularly the first half of the season, the San Diego secondary played bad. By the end of the season cornerbacks Jason Verrett and Brandon Flowers became a formidable duo. However, San Diego did not face a threat comparable to the duo of Calvin Johnson and Golden Tate. Expect the Lions to test the Chargers secondary both early and often.

Team is Ngata Worried One Bit

The biggest change to the team was at the defensive tackle position. Only one of those players, Caraun Reid, was on the roster last season. Haloti Ngata makes his debut for the Lions on Sunday. The accomplished Ngata was hampered by a nagging hamstring throughout the off-season. He did not play in any preseason games and just began practicing over a week ago.

There is no reason to be concerned. Ngata will be ready to go on Sunday. A teammate with Ngata as a Raven, James Ihedigbo offered high praises of the "Beast" as teammates call him, "The guy's been dominating in this league for years," Ihedigbo said. "He's been a part of No. 1 defenses, championship defenses. You'll see what you get from him come Sunday."

Starting alongside Ngata is new Detroit Lion Tyrunn Walker feels that he too will benefit from playing next to Ngata, "You know he's going to get attention, so I've just got to capitalize on anything I'm getting."

Honoring Sanders

The Lions will honor Hall of Famer Charlie Sanders this season. The Lions will wear a No. 88 decal on their helmets. Sanders, who was a long-time staple in the Lions Community, passed away in July from cancer.

Injuries

Out: (Guard) Larry Warford, (Defensive Tackle) Caraun Reid. Both Reid and Warford are confirmed to be out of Sunday's game. Both Warford and Reid suffered high-ankle sprains against the Washington Redskins in Week 2 of the preseason. Both players have been doing light work with trainers during the open practice portion of practice.

Questionable: (Linebacker) DeAndre Levy. We suspect that Levy will not play on Sunday as he has not practiced in a few weeks. The Lions have been pretty mum on announcing details of the injury. We do know that it is a hip injury that is not supposed to require surgery. It is hard to imagine that he plays on Sunday.

Probable: (Tight End) Eric Ebron, (Linebacker) Tahir Whitehead. Ebron has a minor ankle injury, that from all indications wasn't much more than a tweak and looks to be ready to go on Sunday barring a setback. Whitehead was limited in practice for most of the week but is expected to be ready for Sunday and will be needed.

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