http://www.onlinesportfreaks.com/top-5-linebackers-nfl/
Jim Harbaugh and Jim Schwartz….Handshake Part II could be really interesting!
Meanwhile, Matthew Stafford and the Detroit Lions were one of the biggest locks to win in the season opener and they very nearly blew their opportunity at home against the St. Louis Rams.
The Rams do not possess a ton of talent offensively, and the Lions got to Sam Bradford at will with a few injuries they suffered up front. However, it was Stafford and that high octane offense that struggled to put up any points in the red zone.
Throwing three interceptions and with two of them being at the goal-line absolutely tortured this Detroit team from opening up a can that everybody thought they would. On a positive note, Kevin Smith went insane in the backfield for the Lions.
He went off for 91 yards and 2 TD in the performance, but it may not be jack squat against the best defense in the NFL. San Francisco only allowed one stinking rushing TD for the whole season.
That is remarkable as it set an NFL record for fewest allowed throughout a whole season, and Jim Harbaugh alongside a few superstars could take the credit for it.
Justin Smith, Patrick Willis, Navarro Bowman and Carlos Rogers deserve some more dues (they all were named to First and Or Second Team AP All-Pro last year).
Not only did they bottle up Aaron Rodgers in the opener at Lambeau, but they dominated the Packers in all facets of the game. That same physical nature we saw from Harbaugh and Stanford was brought to the field against weaker competition.
It wasn’t long ago where the Niners were a weak team as they were 6-10 in 2010 under Mike Singletary and yet Harbaugh turned them into 14-4 squad a season ago with just a few plays making the difference from preventing them to appear in the Super Bowl against the New England Patriots.
This season some thought they would struggle and while there are 15 more games to be played, the Niners defense looks as if they are only going to dominate just as much.
Their special teams is the best in football with Andy Lee (punter) and David Akers (kicker) absolute owning the field position. Akers is coming off a record-setting season in which he tallied the most points for non-touchdowns scored in an NFL season (166).
Throw in the much improved play out of quarterback Alex Smith, and this offense makes this team extremely tough to beat. Frank Gore ran behind a physical group of hog mollies that dominated its will on Green Bay last weekend, and the additions of Randy Moss and Mario Manningham truly makes this the team to beat in the NFC.
While I am looking for the Lions to attempt to make a bold statement by coming on the road and upsetting the Niners, I do not see it since they are still one-dimensional and rely on Stafford and the best receiver on the planet (Calvin Johnson, knee is good to go) to accomplish far too much.
Power Rankings: SF (3) DET (11)
Network: NBC
Time: 8:30 p.m. Eastern
Experts Pick: Niners by 6.5
Danny V’s Pick: Niners 20, Lions 14
