The Detroit Lions (3-5) are at Ford Field once again, this time facing off against the Washington Football Team (2-6) in Week 10 of the 2020 NFL season.
These two teams went head to head just a year ago, in a battle that produced a total of seven field goals between the two teams, resulting in an ugly 19-17 loss for the Lions.
Last week, the Lions dug a hole for themselves against division rival, Minnesota Vikings and they had no answers on how to get out. The defense couldn’t stop Dalvin Cook, and the Lions offense repeatedly shot themselves in the foot. With a sense of lackluster leadership driving this team, the 2020 season is currently in a tailspin.
The Lions roster is banged up once again this week, especially on offense. Kenny Golladay is out, whereas T.J. Hockenson, Hal Vaitai, and Joe Dahl are all questionable. The Lions called up Dan Skipper to assist, but it’s hard to ignore the holes these injuries are potentially causing.
The Football Team’s bread and butter is their high-powered defensive line that sports four 1st-round picks. They also have the top pass defense in the league according to Football Outsiders DVOA metrics. Their two main weapons on offense are Terry McLaurin and Antonio Gibson, and they will be led by Alex Smith, who gets his first start in over two years — after a near career-ending injury.
Despite a challenging defense in front of them, most experts still believe the Lions are a better overall team, and according to NFL Pickwatch, 75-percent of experts are going with the Lions at the time of this writing.
Hopefully, they come out of the gates swinging and don’t let up, or this could another disappointing week.