The Detroit Lions have seemingly been knocking on the door for a handful of years now as it pertains to being the team to beat in the NFC. Unfortunately for them, as solid as they’ve been in recent seasons, they’ve also had to deal with a conference superpower in their own division, that of course being the Green Bay Packers. With the Pack banged up at the moment, while missing their No. 1 wide receiver for all of 2015, is this the year the Lions can overtake them in the NFC North?
Fans will get a pretty good idea of where the team stands as soon as Week 1, when the Lions travel to San Diego to take on a quality Chargers ballclub. Tickets to see the opener for both teams are actually clocking in at a very affordable price, as the average ticket price for this affair is just $163.32 on the secondary market, while the get-in price currently sits at $62. Entering another season packed with high expectations, Lions fans might want to check out their team in action as soon as the team commences the new year at Qualcomm Stadium, and while that might be a far distance away, Hipmunk.com makes it easy to craft any football getaway. For instance, they have cheap San Diego flights available from most major airline carriers throughout the season. In addition, they also sport affordable hotel deals in San Diego, with rooms starting as low as $62 for those wanting to stay awhile in the beautiful west coast city.
Detroit is aiming to make the playoffs for the second consecutive year, and if they make it happen, it’d be the first time since the mid-90’s, when they accomplished the feat in the 1994 and 1995 seasons. It seems like a daunting task in the face of an increasingly more competitive NFC, but quarterback Matthew Stafford has plenty firepower to unload over the duration of the campaign. Within his receiver corps, he has one of the best 1-2 punches in the league, consisting of Megatron and Golden Tate, who was fabulous last year when Johnson missed some time due to injury. Furthermore, they have an improved running game, as Joique Bell remains on the roster alongside the arrival of rookie Ameer Abdullah, who some believe is a real threat to win Offensive Rookie of the Year this season.
Since Detroit’s offense is usually such a constant, the real question that exists concerns Detroit’s defense, which may have lost some serious bite with both Ndamukong Suh and Nick Fairley bolting in free agency. There could be a lot of pressure on new defensive tackle Haloti Ngata to keep Detroit’s run defense among the league’s best, but at least the club will get an idea early on when the defensive unit matches up against an efficient ground game like the one possessed in San Diego.
With both teams expected to contend for a playoff spot in their respective conferences, this actually might be considered one of the standout games on the entire Week 1 slate. And with a relatively low average ticket price to get into Qualcomm, it also ranks as one of the best bargains as well. No matter the result, with a potential shootout on tap, this will surely be a game to watch.
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