Detroit Lions Week 1 preview podcast: Will the 49ers be a top-10 defense again?

The Detroit Lions season opener is just a few weeks away, and we’re kicking off our preview content a little early this year.

Every week, we’re going to be bringing you a preview podcast which features a conversation with a beat writer, fan or any other kind of expert of the Lions’ opponent for that week. They will give us a unique, informed breakdown of Detroit’s opponent and give us their perception of the matchup ahead.

This week, we tapped San Francisco 49ers beat writer Matt Maiocco (@MaioccoNBCS) of NBC Sports Bay Area. You may remember Maiocco from our great conversation about Robert Saleh back in December. This week, he’s bringing just as much knowledge—and more—to the 2021 49ers.

Maiocco breaks down all of the 49ers’ offseason moves, their coaching staff changes, expectations for the upcoming season, and how the Lions match up against San Francisco. Specific topics include:

• Who will line up opposite Penei Sewell?
• Why Nick Bosa may be even better this year
• Expectations for Trey Lance in Week 1 and beyond
• Why Maiocco believes the Lions could keep this a lot closer than many are saying
• Can the Lions’ defensive front disrupt the 49ers’ run game?

You can catch the entire interview below:

Or, if you’re more of a visual learner, you can catch replay of our conversation over on Twitch (and soon to be YouTube). There’s some bonus content in the video, as myself and Ryan take a couple of extra minutes to talk about our conversation, and why it made us less optimistic for Sunday’s game:

As always, make sure you’re subscribed to our podcast feed on any platform of your choosing. We’re even going to have some special exclusive content on there this week. Check us out on Apple Podcasts, Google Podcasts, Spotify, Stitcher, or iHeartRadio.