Prior to Week 1, I made my pick for the 49ers' matchup against the Packers. I went with San Francisco despite the fact that I placed the Packers at No. 1 in my power rankings prior to the start of Week 1. My reasoning that a top defense can always beat a top offense and, as it turns out, I was right.
So now the Detroit Lions are coming to Candlestick Park, fresh off of barely beating the St. Louis Rams (they required a touchdown in the final 20 seconds of play to steal the win). A season ago, Matthew Stafford and Calvin Johnson established themselves a duo worthy of the rest of the league's top offenses. They showed that if they're not yet on the level of Drew Brees and [insert any wide receiver here], then they're at least right below that point.
Naturally, I'm going to stick with my line of thinking. Detroit's offense might have better success than Green Bay's, or it might not. What it will come down to is how San Francisco does against the Detroit defense. Detroit boasts a strong pass rush much like Green Bay, but it relies more on mean, nasty guys up front and less on scheme. Green Bay's defense fails to get much done when it can't force a turnover.
Detroit's doesn't suffer from that. Still, they're not great against the run, and if San Francisco relies less on Alex Smith and more on Frank Gore come Sunday, they should be good to go. Look at that - I'm picking the home team again. How predictable!
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