Notes: 49ers won Super Bowls both times they opened at Detroit

The Detroit Lions face the San Francisco 49ers in the 2021 season opener and Motor City fans should start hoping now that history doesn’t repeat itself.

The NFL announced Wednesday morning the Lions and 49ers will face off on Sunday, Sept. 12, at Ford Field. NBC Sports’ Matt Maiocco discovered an — uhhh, interesting fact — surrounding the game.

It appears Detroit has a Good-Luck-Chuck effect on San Francisco — both times the 49ers opened their season in Detroit, they have gone on to win the Super Bowl that year.

The first instance was in 1981, when the 49ers actually lost to the Lions 24-17. They would only lose three games that season and would return to — get this — the Pontiac Silverdome to defeat the Cincinnati Bengals in Super Bowl XVI. It was their first Super Bowl title. Oh, the Lions went 8-8 that season.

The second instance was in 1984. The 49ers beat the Lions this time 30-27 in the season opener at Detroit. They would go on to finish 15-1 in the regular season and beat the Miami Dolphins to win Super Bowl XIX. The Lions went 4-11-1.

ZOINKS.

And onto the rest of your notes.

• Speaking of schedules, the Lions are hosting their own reveal show at 7:30 p.m. EST:

• I remember seeing this tweet from The Athletic’s Chris Burke back in January:

Now it appears Brad Holmes is doing the same thing here in Detroit. Justin Rogers for The Detroit News has more. (Subscription required.)

• It’s only several months away with lots of work to do in between, but NFL Network’s Michael Silver offers a what-to-expect in Week 1, Detroit vs. San Francisco.

• Awesome!

• NFL.com ranked each team by strength of schedule with the newly expanded 17-game season. Skip to just over a minute in to see where the Lions fall.