The Detroit Lions and San Diego Chargers are set to face off in a matchup of teams that have long been considered second-best within their division, despite top-flight quarterback play and solid performances for the most part.
Lions vs. Chargers 2015: Time, TV schedule and live stream
Here’s all you need to know to watch Philip Rivers and the Chargers take on Matthew Stafford and the Lions in Week 1.
Matthew Stafford and the Lions are consistently a good team, but they've been unable to take the next step and be among the NFL's elite teams. Philip Rivers and the Chargers have been all over the map since Rivers took over as the starting quarterback, but lately they've consistently been behind the Denver Broncos in the AFC West. For the Lions, they've trailed the Green Bay Packers in the NFC North.
On Sunday, one of these teams will get its regular season started off on the right foot and the other ... not so much. Stafford and the Lions are hoping to put up big numbers right off the bat, with a healthy Calvin Johnson and Golden Tate at wide receiver. Johnson hasn't played a full 16-game season since 2012, and dealt with ankle injuries throughout last season. He had a down year overall, with 1,077 yards. Yes, that's a down year as far as Johnson is concerned.
Detroit's primary concern on Sunday should be keeping Stafford upright. He took a career-high 45 sacks last season, and the team brought in Manny Ramirez in free agency and Laken Tomlinson with its first-round pick to provide some assistance on the offensive line. That line will have a duty other than keeping Stafford upright though: get the running game going.
The Lions haven't had much of a running game in recent seasons. They thought they had one with Jahvid Best, but he eventually had to retire due to repeated concussions. The team did draft Ameer Abdullah this offseason and Abdullah -- as part of one of the strongest running back classes in years -- certainly looks like the real deal.
Rivers will be without a familiar target for San Diego: tight end Antonio Gates. Gates will miss the first four games of the season due to a suspension for performance-enhancing drugs. Rivers, who received a healthy four-year, $84 million extension this offseason, will have to rely on his other receivers to get things done.
Then again, Rivers himself has many of the same concerns as Stafford, namely that he was sacked so much last season. He was sacked a total of seven times in a game against the rival Kansas City Chiefs last season in a loss that ultimately eliminated the Chargers from the playoff picture. San Diego signed King Dunlap to a four-year extension, moved D.J. Fluker from tackle to guard and signed Joe Barksdale and Orlando Franklin on the open market. Those changes should definitely help.
It also helps that the Lions lost both Ndamukong Suh and Nick Fairley in free agency. Obviously, Suh is a massive playmaker and that's going to hurt their defense the most, but Fairley is a significant loss as well. They landed Haloti Ngata to try and help the defense, and will be getting Stephen Tulloch back, but the defensive front as a whole is a pretty big question mark going forward.
How to Watch
When: 4:05 p.m. ET
Where: Qualcomm Stadium, San Diego, Calif.
TV: FOX
Announcers: Thom Brennaman, Charles Davis, Tony Siragusa
Online: Verizon NFL Mobile
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