Detroit Lions vs. Atlanta Falcons: What Are Experts Saying About Detroit?

On this week's installment of Experts Say The Darndest Things, we dive into a few opinions about the Detroit Lions' and Atlanta Falcons' tilt across the pond.

The Lions share the NFC North throne with the Green Bay Packers and have a great opportunity to end the first half of the season with a 75 percent winning percentage.

In fact, Odds Shark has the Lions as 3.5-point favorites. That seems a bit low, but it's too early to start picking apart the experts.

That's what the next five slides are for.

Stick Your Same Old Lions Somewhere Else

Paul Sancya/Associated Press

Don't tell Stephen Tulloch that the Lions are going to fade down the stretch due to franchise history. He isn't having it.

Brian Manzullo of The Detroit Free Press transcribed Matt Dery's interview with Tulloch here:

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It starts with the head man; it starts with coach Caldwell," Tulloch told Matt Dery on Detroit Sports 105.1 FM today. "The person that he is, the coach that he is, I've never been around a man like that before in my life. He's like a father figure. We don't want to let him down. He treats us like men, all of us, from day one. He's just an accountable person. He's going to make sure every guy's accountable, that we're going to do what we have to do. We're not going to cause any problems in the locker room. There's no drama.

"Everybody believes in what's going on and I think it's translating to wins. And people can kind of move away from the 'same ol' Lions.' The new Lions now because this is definitely a guy that believes in change and he's done a good job doing that.

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This isn't just about the comeback. We've seen that before.

Heck, Matthew Stafford threw his sixth game-winning touchdown with less than two minutes to go on Sunday. That's a record for a quarterback's first six seasons.

This team is different because it's about the defense. It's—oddly enough—about the punter. It's about a conservative offense treading water and not giving the game away while its stars heal.

This isn't the emotional team of Jim Schwartz. The current captain keeps the ship steady and straight, regardless of the seas.

You Have to Waddle Before You Run

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Right tackle LaAdrian Waddle suffered a concussion last week, and there's reason to doubt he'll be ready to go against the Falcons. Michael Rothstein of ESPN.com broke down the implications:

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If Waddle can't play, this could be an issue for Detroit. When he was out in September, the Lions used a rotation of rookie Cornelius Lucas and journeyman Garrett Reynolds at right tackle. Combined they allowed three hurries and five sacks of Stafford, according to Pro Football Focus.

Waddle's absence also hurt the cohesiveness of the offensive line, which has been struggling in both run blocking and pass protecting with and without Waddle this season

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Although Rothstein's designation of Waddle as Detroit's "top lineman" might be a bit ambitious—Riley Reiff grades out five times better than any other Lions lineman, per Pro Football Focus (subscription required)—Waddle's absence would be a huge concern heading into a very winnable game.

Lucas and Reynolds will require the tight end to spend plenty of time helping out on the right side. Considering Detroit's top three tight ends—including Brandon Pettigrew—missed practice on Wednesday, the Lions might be better off starting both Lucas and Reynolds as dual right tackles.

Speaking of the Run

Rick Osentoski/Associated Press

The Atlanta Falcons are terrible against the pass. They give up 274 passing yards per game, which ranks 29th.

But they're just as bad against the run, giving up just more than 127 yards per contest. Analysts from CBSSports.com think the lack of resistance might be enough for the Lions to get the ground game moving.

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Bell and Bush could break out against the Falcons (2-5), who have allowed an average of 137.7 yards and a league-worst 13 TDs on the ground. Atlanta, which has lost six straight and 11 of 12 away from the Georgia Dome, also has plenty to clean up offensively after averaging 17.0 points during a four-game losing streak

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LaAdrian Waddle and Larry Warford were the heart of the rushing attack last season. Neither has been the player he was his rookie year, and we already know that Waddle could miss the game.

However, Riley Reiff is putting together his best year. Joique Bell is averaging 4.2 yards per carry behind the left tackle, per PFF, and Detroit will surely lean on Reiff against a porous Falcons defense.

Strength vs. Weakness

Rick Osentoski/Associated Press

The Lions defense will look to stifle the Falcons passing game, but their defense will be based on the guys with their hands in the dirt.

As Vaughn McClure of ESPN.com explains, the goal is ascertainable.

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It will be quite a task against the Lions' top-ranked defense, which surrenders just 290.3 total yards per game. DT Ndamukong Suh and the defensive front is sure to put extreme pressure on Ryan, who will be working with an undrafted rookie center, James Stone; an ailing rookie left tackle, Jake Matthews (ankle); a veteran left guard coming off a back injury, Justin Blalock; and a slumping right tackle, Gabe Carimi. 

Ryan said Suh, DT Nick Fairley & Co. are among the premier defensive linemen in the league. 

"We're going to have to be solid up front," Ryan said. "We really are. We're going to have to play well up front and have a good plan to account for where those guys are at."

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The mentioned undrafted free agent will be tasked with calling protections. Once he snaps the ball, he'll have to deal with either Ndamukong Suh, Nick Fairley or whatever blitzer defensive coordinator Teryl Austin decides to send.

Detroit could be missing at least five or six offensive players, but the defense is pretty healthy. And it'll be looking to tee off on an offensive line short on starters.

Bleacher Beasts

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Every week, Gary Davenport queries all of Bleacher Report's finest to gather their opinions on the upcoming NFL matchups. This week, 15 of the 16 picked the Lions to prevail, and Mr. Davenport had this to say about the Lions:

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At least the previous London games were still played at 1 p.m. Eastern Time. This time, in order to better give British people who couldn't care less a more genuine NFL experience, the game between the Atlanta Falcons and Detroit Lions will kick off at 1:30 p.m. London time.

That's 9:30 a.m. ET, and 6:30 in the freaking morning on the West Coast.

NFL players are creatures of habit, and for a Detroit team that's looking at a dogfight with the Green Bay Packers in the NFC North, this sort of disruption of that routine isn't welcomed even a little.

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Mr. Davenport hit the mark. The benefit for Detroit is that timing and familiarity are more important to an offense than a defense. And we all know who has the better defense.

Of particular importance here is kicker Matt Prater. He's spent the last two weeks trying to find his rhythm as an NFL player after dealing with personal issues. This doesn't bode well for Detroit's continuing kicking woes.

But that's all you're getting for a game preview. Check back Friday morning for a complete rundown of this week's European adventure.

Brandon Alisoglu is a Detroit Lions Featured Columnist who has written about the Lions on multiple sites. He also co-hosts a Lions-centric podcast, Lions Central Radio. Yell at him on Twitter about how wrong he is @BrandonAlisoglu. 

All advanced stats, grades and positional rankings are courtesy of Pro Football Focus and require a subscription.