The four-game Week 1 battle royal between the NFC North and the AFC South concludes late Sunday afternoon at Lucas Oil Stadium as the Indianapolis Colts play host to the Detroit Lions.
Colts head coach Chuck Pagano will square off against the man he replaced with the franchise in Detroit’s Jim Caldwell, who led the Colts to Super Bowl XLIV back in 2009.
Both of these teams were playoff participants in ’14 and each fell upon hard time last year. Despite winning six of their last eight games, the Lions couldn’t overcome a horrible 1-7 start. The Colts played the majority of the season without quarterback Andrew Luck, who was already having a disappointing year before he went down.
One very familiar face who no longer toils for the Lions is wide receiver Calvin Johnson, who opted for retirement after nine seasons. The newcomers at the position include Marvin Jones, Anquan Boldin and Andre Roberts. While quarterback Matthew Stafford has these aforementioned new faces to throw to, Luck still has T.Y. Hilton, Donte Moncrief and Phillip Dorsett at his disposal.
TV: Fox
Time: 4:25 p.m. ET
Broadcasters: Kenny Albert and Daryl Johnston
Online: NFL Sunday Ticket MAX (subscription required)
Mobile: Verizon NFL Mobile (subscription required)
While this may not be one of the glamour matchups of opening weekend, it does feature a pair of teams that have just as much talent as questions marks. It will be interesting to see if the Lions can pick up where they left off last season when they closed 2015 with three straight wins.
Indianapolis has high hopes with Luck back in the fold, but the matchup to watch is whether its defense can guard the Lions’ weapons.