Get to know a Detroit Lions opponent: San Francisco 49ers 2018 outlook http://www.authenticsdetroitlions.com/cheap-ricky-wagner-jersey , key additions, subtractions The Detroit Lions will kick off their road schedule this week as they had to San Francisco to take on the 0-1 49ers. Letr17;s get to know Detroitr17;s Week 2 opponent a little better.San Francisco 49ersLast season:6-10 record (4th in NFC West)20th in points scored, 25th in points allowedOverall DVOA: 20th (19th on offense, 26th on defense)The 49ers were one of the worst teams in the NFL last year with new head coach Kyle Shanahan in his first year as an NFL head coach. However, once the offensive guru got Jimmy Garoppolo via a trade with the Patriots, the 49ers saw an immediate turnaround. After averaging just 17.0 points per game through the first 11 games, San Francisco suddenly averaged 28.8 points per game with Garoppolo starting. A new era of 49ers football had begun. 2018 offseason:Key free agent additions: C Weston Richburg, RB Jerick McKinnon (injured), CB Richard Sherman, Edge rusher Jeremiah Attaochu (cut)Key losses: RB Carlos Hyde, G Brandon Fusco, RT Trent Brown, C Daniel Kilgore, S Eric Reid 2018 NFL draft picks:Round 1, 9 overall - OT Mike McGlincheyRound 2, Pick 44 - WR Dante PettisRound 3, Pick 70 - LB Fred WarnerRound 3, Pick 95 - S Tarvarius MooreRound 4, Pick 128 - DE Kentavius StreetRound 5, Pick 142 - CB D.J. ReedRound 6, Pick 184 - S Marcell HarrisRound 7, Pick 233 - DT Julian TaylorRound 7 Color Rush Michael Roberts Jersey , Pick 240 - WR Richie JamesItr17;s clear one of the biggest goals for the 49ers this offseason was to completely transform their offensive line. San Francisco is just returning two starters: left tackle Joe Staley and former Lions guard Laken Tomlinson. In their place, the Niners have a new right tackle in their first-round pick Mike McGlinchey, while adding new center Weston Richburg (72.7 PFF grade in 2017)r12;a three-year starter with the Giants coming off a season-ending concussion, which was arguably just a demotion. It makes sense as an area of focus for the Niners, as they allowed the 10th-most sacks last year and averaged just 4.1 yards per carry (17th). Their defensive additions are headlined by adding veteran corner Richard Sherman, who should nicely pair with youngster Ahkello Witherspoon. Outlook for 2018Vegas win total: 8.5 winsNiners Nationr17;s take: OVER 8.5 wins2018 season thus farWeek 1: Loss to Vikings, 16-24The Vikings handled the 49ers pretty well, but San Francisco wouldr17;ve had a shot in this game had it not been for some pretty bad mistakes. Alfred Morris fumbled at the goal line late in the first half, and as the Niners were about to get the ball back with well over two minutes remaining, they jumped offsides on a fourth-and-1, giving the Vikings an extra set of downs to burn an additional minute off the clock. The Niners not only lost the game, but some key players that could affect Sundayr17;s game against the Lions. Starting with that revamped offensive line, starting right guard Mike Person left the game with an injury, and his backup, Joshua Garnett, was also carted off. As of Thursday morning, neither had practiced this week. Additionally, the 49ers are in trouble at linebacker. Reuben Foster remains suspended, while Dekoda Watson, Brock Coyle and Malcolm Smith are all ailing. As a result, the 49ers signed veteran journeyman Terence Garvin, who has started just four games since 2013. The 49ers revamped offense didnr17;t look all that great last week Youth Kenny Golladay Jersey , but itr17;s always hard to tell if that has more to do with San Francisco or the Vikingsr17; superb defense. That being said, the 49ers had two standout players from Week 1, one on offense, one on defense. Offensively, tight end George Kittle made a statement with 90 yards on five catches. He very well could turn out to be one of the best tight ends in the league this year, but also donr17;t sleep on rookie Dante Pettis, who had two catches for 61 yards and a touchdown on Sunday.Defensively, itr17;s all about edge rusher DeForest Buckner. The former first-round pick had 2.5 sacks in his season debut and added an additional tackle for loss. Lions head coach Matt Patricia gushed about Buckner this week.r0;Buckner is really coming into his own right now, obviously kind of had a little bit of a breakout game the other day,r1; Patricia said. r0;I think theyr17;re trying to feature him a little bit more in the defensive line, allow him to do a little bit more, I would call it vertical charge. A little bit of the, her17;s got kind of a chop-slap arm-over move thatr17;s pretty effective with his length. So, her17;s definitely a problem in the front.r1;Vegas line for Week 2: 49ers by 7 On the surface, the Detroit Lionsr17; win over the Green Bay Packers on Sunday looked like one of their better performances of the season. You donr17;t jump out to a 24-0 lead without some really solid playr12;I donr17;t care how many field goals the other team missed. But with so much happening on a single play, sometimes itr17;s hard to tell whatr17;s actually happening and whor17;s playing well. So every week, we turn to Pro Football Focus, who grades every individual on every single play, to see which Lions players performed well. Thankfully, each week they provide us with the top performers on both offense and defense. Letr17;s take a look for Week 5.OffenseThere arenr17;t too many surprises among the top five, and itr17;s no shock at all that Kenny Golladay tops the list with an outstanding 89.6 rating. In fact, that rating was good enough for Golladay to land on this weekr17;s PFF Team of the Week Youth Kerryon Johnson Jersey , falling just short of Adam Thielen (90.1) and Odell Beckham Jr. (90.7). But Golladayr17;s play wasnr17;t just limited to Sundayr17;s game, her17;s been a big-play threat all year. Per PFF, Golladay has 14r1; explosive playsr1; and six contested catches on the season, both of which rank in the top five among receivers this year.It was a relatively modest day for the rest of the offense, however. Only one offensive lineman made the top five, and Taylor Deckerr17;s 66.3 grade is nothing to write home about. Itr17;s also pretty surprising to see Kerryon Johnson graded so low considering he eclipsed 5.0 yards per carry for the fourth straight week. DefenseIf I werenr17;t so excited by Dar17;Shawn Handr17;s future, I may be sick of talking about how good he is. Hand has now landed in the top five in three of the past four games, and he continues to be one of the highest rated rookie interior defensive linemen. This past Sunday, he was credited with three run stops, three pressures, one sack, one forced fumble and one fumble recovery. And check out this set of numbers from our own MathBomb:It may come as a bit of a surprise to see linebacker Christian Jones on the list, especially since he only had two tackles on the dayr12;although one was for a loss. However, Jones did only play in 24 snaps against the Packers, as Detroit relied more heavily on coverage linebackers like Jalen Reeves-Maybin. In the secondary, Glover Quin cracked the top five after a pretty slow and quiet start to the season, and Nevin Lawson had an obviously solid game with his tight coverage. However, you donr17;t want to know how the rest of the defensive backs graded out, and lucky for you, I donr17;t have publishing rights to share them with you.
