The Detroit Lions, Buffalo Bills, Carolina Panthers and San Francisco 49ers all sit on 0-4 after turbulent starts to the season but with a week 5 win their seasons could be kick-started.
Firstly the Detroit Lions. They were more than unlucky last week against the Green Bay Packers. They pushed them to the end, hitting up 431 yards to the Packers’ 261 and missing out by less than a field goal.
The Detroit Lions will look to win their first game of the season this week
Shaun Hill did an exceptional job standing in for Matt Stafford, who has the chance to return this week. If he does then the Lions have a massive chance to overturn the St. Louis Rams who are something of a revelation under the much improved rookie quarterback Sam Bradford.
With home field advantage, the Lions have the advantage and should be able to notch up their first win of the season.
The Bills on the other hand face the Colt-killing Jacksonville Jaguars. After beating the Super Bowl favourites, Indianapolis, as the clock ticked down last week, the Jaguars will be on a high and will be tough to beat. However if the Bills can stop or limit the powerful Maurice Jones-Drew then they have won half the battle.
Furthermore if they can utilise the sheer pace of their own running back, rookie C.J. Spiller, then they can notch up the yards and have the opportunity to grind out their first win of the year.
The Buffalo Bills need to improve to overcome the Jacksonville Jaguars this week
The San Francisco 49ers have struggled under the pressure of being named favourites to top the NFC West. The potential and promise at the start of the year looks like it has got to former overall number one draft pick Alex Smith, as the quarterback has looked nervous in the pocket. They have the ability on the team but have been widely disappointing this year but with a win comes the all-important confidence boost that could send them on a charge to challenge for the division. They have a tough game to win though, with the Philadelphia Eagles standing in their way of a win this week.
The Carolina Panthers are a tricky team to evaluate. They aren’t badly equipped per se but lack the firepower that they used to have back in the Super Bowl appearance days. However they have looked much better the last two weeks with rookie quarterback Jimmy Clausen leading the offence. They were unlucky last week against the defending Super Bowl champions, the New Orleans Saints, failing on their final drive to get in range for the potentially game winning field goal. With Clausen gaining the starter position after Matt Moore’s concussion comes a new wave of optimism. If him and wide receiver Steve Smith can make a partnership then look for more yards, more touchdowns and the all-important one, more wins. They should have enough to overcome a Jay Cutler-less Chicago Bears with home field advantage this week.
So all four have the potential to win their first games of the year. It’s doubtful that they will but if they don’t they only have themselves to blame.
Lions image by WarderJack – Flickr
Bills image by row4food – Flickr
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