NFL Week 1: Detriot Lions @ Tampa Bay Buccaneers

Detroit Lions @ Tampa Bay Buccaneers Sun. Sept. 11, 2011 1 p.m. EST

One of the most anticipated matchups of Week 1 of the NFL regular season will be two of the most promising young teams in the league going head-to-head with the Detroit Lions taking on the Tampa Bay Buccaneers.

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This will be a classic battle of potent offenses with star quarterbacks leading the way. Last season the Bucs burst onto the scene with quarterback Josh Freeman blowing up and becoming one of the best young gunslingers in the game. The result of Freeman’s breakout year was 10-win season and bright future for the struggling NFL franchise.

This year the Detroit Lions have been labeled as the next team to a have a breakout season with a quarterback Matthew Stafford under center, wide receiver Calvin Johnson downfield and running back Jahvid Best coming out of the backfield. Not only do the Lions have an offense that could become one of the best in the league this season, but they also got an upgrade on defense with rookie defensive tackle Nick Fairly. Unfortunately, Fairly is out with a foot injury and won’t be on the field against the Bucs.

There no question that these two teams are some of the most promising in the NFL and could have bright futures ahead, but only one team can come out on top on Sunday and since the Buccaneers are on their home field they will have the slight advantage.

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As of right now, the Tampa Bay Buccaneers are favored to come out on top in Week 1 with a -1 point spread. This means that the oddsmakers are anticipating hard fought battle between both teams with any outcome being possible.

In my opinion, the Detroit Lions are the better all-around football team and showed that during the NFL preseason against elite teams like the New England Patriots. Obviously, it was the preseason and none of those games count, but their defense was top notch and should be good enough to contain Josh Freeman and company.

As long as the Detroit Lions defense puts the clamps on quarterback Josh Freeman and running LaGarrette Blount, this should be a game won by a wide margin, but the Tampa Bay Buccaneers could have the same impact on Matthew Stafford and company.

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This game is definitely a coin flip in terms of which team will be the winner, but I would say that the Detroit Lions have the better shot of coming out on top just due to the fact that they are the better team on defense and can score a lot of points on offense.

Take the Lions at +1.