The San Francisco 49ers and Detroit Lions will face off on Sunday with no playoff implications whatsoever, but both teams have a lot of questions that need answering.
49ers vs. Lions 2015 live stream: Time, TV schedule and how to watch online
The 49ers and Lions have a lot of questions and few answers.
For the 49ers, the questions are obvious: does Jim Tomsula deserve another season at the helm of the team, and are his coordinators putting the players in a position to succeed? There is also the question of quarterback Blaine Gabbert, who is playing better football and looks more comfortable than he ever did with the Jacksonville Jaguars.
Gabbert has been in the league for some time now, but where his ceiling actually is after coming in off the bench to replace Colin Kaepernick is anybody's guess. Gabbert has done nothing to convince the 49ers that he is franchise quarterback material, but Kaepernick was such a colossal failure this year that anything better seems like a bargain.
For the Lions, they present a puzzling question for an ownership that wants badly to make changes sooner rather than later. In their careers, Matthew Stafford and Calvin Johnson have long combined for massive yardage, highlight reel plays and numerous touchdowns, but the pair have underwhelmed for much of this season.
Many would say Detroit has underperformed severely through Johnson and Stafford’s best years, and that seems to be the case again with another squandered season. At 5-9, the Lions are playing for nothing more than draft position officially, but with wins in four of their last six games, they could hit the offseason with some momentum, for whatever that is worth.
Jim Caldwell may or may not be the right coach, but so long as the Lions finish the season strong, especially on the offensive side of the ball, his job could be safe. Stafford and Johnson still have a lot left in the tank, and the Lions are just a season removed from being serious playoff contenders.
It wouldn’t take much more to get them back there, and it starts with learning everything they can about the players on their roster in the final two games of the regular season.
Stafford and the Lions are coming off a dominant win over the New Orleans Saints in their last game. The quarterback completed 22 of 25 passes for 254 yards and three touchdowns with no interceptions. Nine different players caught passes for the Lions, and Stafford has posted a 116.6 passer rating over the past four weeks. He has thrown 12 touchdowns and just a single interception in those four games.
This is all despite the fact that he was benched in the third quarter in a humiliating loss to the Arizona Cardinals in early October. Stafford hit the lowest point of his career in that game, but the Lions made it clear that he was still their starter and he rewarded them with very strong play.
The Lions rank 19th in the league in total offense, and 18th in the league in yards allowed per game. Fortunately for them, the 49ers are 27th in total defense and dead last in the league in yards per game on offense.
How to watch
When: 1 p.m. ET
Where: Ford Field, Detroit
TV: FOX
Commentators: Thom Brennaman, Charles Davis, Tony Siragusa
Online: Verizon NFL Mobile
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