Raiders and Lions Both Seeking Rare Hot Start

Sep 7, 2007, 16:44 GMT

- Never underestimate the power of 1-0.

Either the Oakland Raiders or Detroit Lions will emerge from their Bay Area duel with that record on Sunday, offering at least a week's worth of hope to one of two frustrated fan bases.

The Raiders, the self-professed 'Team of the Decades,' have been mostly dormant since reaching the Super Bowl in 2002. Oakland is a league-worst 15-49 (.234) since 2003, and has impressed the NFL world only with its ability to hire and fire coaches. When the Silver and Black hired former USC offensive coordinator Lane Kiffin on Jan. 23rd, he became the fifth different Raiders head man in the past seven seasons, while also becoming the youngest head coach in the modern era of the NFL. The 32-year-old Kiffin will be trying to resuscitate a franchise that went a league-worst 2-14 under Art Shell in 2006.

Detroit has been in a similar hapless state of late, though the Lions' misery has been of a more extended variety.

The Lions are 24-72 (.250) since the 2001 season, with a 6-10 season in 2004 ranking as the high-water mark over that span. Motor City supporters that have witnessed just one postseason victory since the club won the NFL title in 1957 would settle for some measurable sign of progress after last season's 3-13 disaster, though more than one member of the team has predicted much greater things in 2007.

Starting quarterback Jon Kitna made headlines during the summer when he predicted that the Lions would go 10-6 or better this year (the franchise last won 10 games in 1995), and wideout Mike Furrey backed that bold pick.

SERIES HISTORY

The Raiders own a 6-3 advantage in their all-time series with the Lions, but were 23-13 road losers when the teams last met, during the 2003 season. Oakland took the previous meeting, a 37-21 home triumph in 1996. Detroit is 0-4 on the road in the all-time series, including 0-3 in Oakland, and is 0-11 in games played in the Bay Area since beating the 49ers there in 1975.

Oakland's Kiffin and Detroit's Rod Marinelli will be meeting one another, as well as their counterpart's respective team, for the first time as head coaches.

Marinelli worked as defensive line coach under Kiffin's father, Tampa Bay Buccaneers defensive coordinator Monte Kiffin, from 1996 through 2005.

WHEN THE LIONS HAVE THE BALL

Though many pundits are conflicted on just how many games the Lions will win in 2007, most seem to be in agreement that the team's passing game will operate at a high level. Returning is Kitna (4208 passing yards, 21 TD, 22 INT), who led the NFL in completions (372) last season and was one of four quarterbacks to eclipse the 4,000-yard plateau (Drew Brees, Peyton Manning, and Carson Palmer were the others). Kitna's top two receivers, Roy Williams (82 receptions, 7 TD) and Mike Furrey (98 receptions, 6 TD), return, and will be supplemented by new faces Calvin Johnson (Georgia Tech) and Shaun McDonald (13 receptions, 1 TD with the Rams). Johnson was the No. 2 overall pick in the April Draft, and is expected to make an immediate impact, while the free agent pickup McDonald has familiarity with Detroit coordinator Mike Martz's offense from the days when both were in St. Louis. Running back Tatum Bell (1025 yards, 2 TD with the Broncos), an offseason acquisition from Denver, will start in the backfield at least until Kevin Jones (foot) is healthy enough to play. New starters up front include right tackle George Foster (from Broncos) and left guard Edwin Mulitalo (from Ravens), who will need to improve a group that allowed Kitna to be sacked 63 times a year ago.

The Lions will be facing a Raider defense that was No. 3 overall and No. 1 against the pass last season, though those yardage-based ranks are a tad misleading given the fact that Oakland's opponents regularly operated with short fields in 2006. Still, this is a solid group, with tackle Warren Sapp (47 tackles, 10 sacks) and end Derrick Burgess (50 tackles, 11 sacks) setting the tone up front. Sapp and Burgess combined for 21 sacks a year ago. At linebacker, middle man Kirk Morrison (127 tackles, 2 INT, 1 sack) and strong side backer Thomas Howard (110 tackles) are both blossoming talents. The secondary is led by cornerback Nnamdi Asomugha (50 tackles, 8 INT), one of the underrated defensive backs in the league, and second-year strong safety Michael Huff (78 tackles). All but one member of Oakland's projected starting 11 on defense (recently-promoted tackle Terdell Sands) started at least 12 games with the Raiders last season.

WHEN THE RAIDERS HAVE THE BALL

The million-dollar question for the Raiders in Week 1 was to be who would get the start at quarterback, but that query was all but answered when multiple media outlets began reporting on Wednesday night that former Lion and Cardinal Josh McCown would get the call over three-time Pro Bowler Daunte Culpepper. McCown spent the 2006 season as a backup quarterback and wide receiver in Detroit, and went 10-12 as a starter with Arizona between 2003 and 2005. McCown's primary targets will be holdovers Ronald Curry (62 receptions, 1 TD) and Jerry Porter (1 reception), though another ex-Lion, former first-round draft pick Mike Williams (8 receptions, 1 TD with Detroit), will be part of the mix as well. At running back, the team picked up former Colt Dominic Rhodes in the offseason, but a four-game suspension for violating the NFL's substance abuse policy means that holdover LaMont Jordan (434 rushing yards, 2 TD) should see full-time carries in the backfield. The Raider line, which allowed a league-worst 72 sacks a year ago, has new right-side starters in tackle Cornell Green (ex-Buccaneers) and guard Cooper Carlisle (ex-Broncos).

Oakland will be going up against a Detroit defense that ranked 28th in the league in 2006 and lost notable ex-starters at cornerback (Dre' Bly), safety (Terrence Holt), and defensive end (James Hall) in the offseason. The only high-profile new face on that side of the football is end Dewayne White (52 tackles, 5 sacks with Tampa Bay), who had 14 sacks in a part-time role with the Buccaneers between 2003 and 2006. The strength of the defense is starting tackles Shaun Rogers (20 tackles, 3 sacks) and Cory Redding (47 tackles, 8 sacks), though Rogers is attempting to battle back from a knee injury that sidelined him during the preseason. Top 2006 tackler Ernie Sims (124 tackles) leads the linebacking corps, and a thin secondary is highlighted by veteran Fernando Bryant (46 tackles) at one cornerback and hard-hitting Kenoy Kennedy (66 tackles, 2 INT) at strong safety.

FANTASY FOCUS

Fantasy managers will be looking for big things out of the Lions offense this week, with Kitna, Bell, Roy Williams, and Furrey all looking like good players to start. Calvin Johnson also figures to get the nod on several fantasy teams, but it's tough to gauge how much impact the rookie will have in his first meaningful NFL contest. With Detroit's defense figuring to be shaky as well, it might be a good week to take a flier on Raiders like Jordan, Curry, Porter, or tight end Zach Miller. McCown could be worth starting too, though make sure Kiffin doesn't pull a bait-and-switch and start Culpepper before you do. Probably a good week to bench the Raiders defense, though it might get you some turnovers.

OVERALL ANALYSIS

Though you're not likely to see either of these clubs in the 2007 playoff bracket, their matchup on Sunday could be wildly entertaining. Both teams should be able to move the ball with relative ease, given the strength of the Lions offense and the weakness of the team's defense. But give Detroit a slight edge here since they're in year two of the Marinelli era and have more continuity in personnel and schemes, while Oakland figures to experience a couple more growing pains under a first-year (and first-game) head coach. The Lions need to start backing up that 10-win talk immediately, and a win over the Raiders is a good place to begin.

Sports Network Predicted Outcome: Lions 27, Raiders 25

© 2007 The Sports Network