Detroit Lions play San Francisco 49ers for a place in the Super Bowl.
11:40 Sunday
The San Francisco 49ers have arguably been the best team in football this season and have strengthened as Super Bowl favourites over the second half of the regular season.
Traditionally sound defensively, the 49ers offence has been an unstoppable force this year, as indicated by Brock Purdy setting a new franchise record for passing yards and star running back Christian McCaffrey accumulating 2000 yards from scrimmage.
While tight end George Kittle and wide receivers Brandon Aiyuk and Deebo Samuel all reached 1000 yards of offence too.
They will face an up-and-coming Detroit Lions team who ended a 32-year playoff win drought when defeating the Los Angeles Rams on Wild Card Weekend.
They will now compete in their first conference championship game since 1991 after ending the hopes of the Tampa Bay Buccaneers in last weekend’s Divisional Round.
Similarly to the 49ers, the Lions have reaped the rewards of a high-octane offence that includes star wide receiver Amon-Ra St Brown and rookies Jahmyr Gibbs and Sam LaPorta, who each found the end zone on ten occasions during the regular season.
The 49ers and the Lions rank second and third in total points scored this season averaging 28.9 and 27.1 points per game respectively, which suggests it should be an exciting, offence filled game at Levi’s Stadium on Sunday night.
Detroit Lions vs San Francisco 49ers Prediction
This game could easily develop into a shootout if both offences perform at the peak of their powers and it may ultimately be decided by who turns the ball over first or indeed most.
The 49ers forced two turnovers against the Green Bay Packers last weekend and averaged 1.6 takeaways per game during the regular season.
While the Lions also forced two turnovers in their Divisional Round matchup and averaged 1.3 takeaways per game during their regular season campaign.
The aforementioned Deebo Samuel picked up a shoulder injury against the Packers and hasn’t been a full participant in practice this week.
Lions tight end Sam LaPorta finds himself in the same boat as he is still feeling the effects of a hyperextended knee suffered in week 17 and didn’t practice on Wednesday before being upgraded to ‘limited’ on Thursday.
On that subject, it’s worth noting that Detroit signed Super Bowl winning free agent Zach Ertz earlier this week, presumably as a contingency plan.
In what is likely to be a tight game, I would favour the 49ers to win the match and progress to Super Bowl LVIII, but the Lions to cover the spread.
Detroit Lions vs San Francisco 49ers Odds
| NFC Championship | Best Odds | Worst Odds |
|---|---|---|
| San Francisco 49ers | 3/10 | 29/100 |
| Detroit Lions | 29/10 | 5/2 |
Detroit Lions vs San Francisco 49ers Picks
Jahmyr Gibbs - Anytime Touchdown Scorer
Jahmyr Gibbs is quickly developing into one of the league’s premiere tailbacks and he is currently in good scoring form, having found the end zone seven times in his last seven games.
The rookie is a threat both on the ground and in the air as highlighted by his 74 yards on just 9 carries (average of 8.2 yards per attempt) and 40 yards on four catches last weekend.
He could easily find his way into the paint once again.
Brandon Aiyuk - Over 82.5 Receiving Yards
Deebo Samuel really found his stride as the regular season came to an end and he is easily one of the league’s most dangerous do-it-all wide receivers given his ability out of the backfield.
However, Brandon Aiyuk was the 49ers leading wide receiver this season with 1,342 yards, averaging a healthy 17.9 yards per reception.
Aiyuk could see more volume than normal as a result of Sameul’s shoulder injury and I would therefore suggest backing him to record more than 82.5 receiving yards.
It’s worth noting that the former first round pick logged more than 100 receiving yards on seven occasions during the regular season, while the Lions rank 27th in pass defence this year.
Sources: ESPN, NFL, Statmuse
