© Joe Camporeale | 2021 Jan 3
The 49ers’ 2021 schedule has been released, and it’s time to make predictions on how every game will go. These predictions aren’t likely to be close to correct, but the joy is in the process not the results.
49ers’ beat writer Matt Barrows didn’t do the customary game-by-game predictions, but did point to one contest the especially intrigues him when he joined Murph & Mac on Thursday. Interestingly, it’s the season-opener at the Detroit Lions.
“The one that intrigues me the most might be the opener at Detroit,” Barrows said on KNBR. “People are thinking ‘Oh the Lions stink and this that and the other,’ but new coaches, you can win opening games based on adrenaline. You see it all the time. Dan Campbell is the ‘bite the kneecaps off our opponents guy.’ That’s the one new coach I wouldn’t want to play in Week 1, because he’s going to have his guys jacked up.”
If you don’t get the above reference, here you go.
The Lions won just three games last year, but have a new coach in Campbell and a new quarterback in Jared Goff. Combine that with the general weirdness of Week 1, and the game might actually be more difficult that initially expected.
“It’s on the road, it’s on turf, that’s my big worry about the 49ers. Are they over their injury bug? If they’re not, we might know right away, because the last two seasons they’ve had a lot of Week 1 injuries. It started right off the bat with this team.
“So they’re going to a super aggressive coach. Week 1s are weird. Jim Tomsula won his Week 1. It’s sort of that new coach buzz, excitement. And that’s the game that makes me think oh boy, that’s almost a trap game from the get go.”
Listen to the full interview below.