The Detroit Lions season is here, which means it’s time for our staff to pit their knowledge against each other in a battle of prognostication wits.
Each week, our staff will provide you with their picks for the game and their predictions for the final score—except for Mike, who superstitiously does not like to predict final scores.
Week 1 always presents a challenge for predictions. There are way too many unknowns, and most of us are at least a little intoxicated on Lions Kool Aid. At this point in the season, just about everyone short of the Miami Dolphins feel pretty good about their potential this year, and that will quickly all change by this time next year.
For the Lions, this week is especially challenging given how unknown of a commodity the Arizona Cardinals are. But we don’t back down to a challenge.
Here are our picks for Week 1 of the Lions’ schedule.
Jerry Mallory: 23-13 Lions
Alex Reno: 20-17 Lions
Hamza Baccouche: 31-17 Lions
Ryan Mathews: 28-17 Lions
Kyle Yost: 24-21 Lions
Mansur Shaheen: 31-16 Lions
Levi Blue: 27-13 Lions
Justin Simon: 27-23 Lions
Kellie Rowe: 24-10 Lions
Mike Payton: Lions win
John Whiticar: 27-14 Lions
Andrew Kato: 27-9 Lions
Chris Perfett: 31-26 Cardinals
Jeremy Reisman: 27-13 Lions
13 of 14 staffers are picking the Detroit Lions to win, which should come as no surprise given Detroit is facing the worst team from 2018.
Now it’s time for you guys to make your picks. First, choose the winner in the poll below. Then leave your score prediction in the comment section. Closest to the final score will get some recognition in next week’s On Paper preview.