San Francisco 49ers: 4 Keys for Niners to Beat Lions

The Week 6 marquee matchup is the 4-1 San Francisco 49ers vs. the 5-0 Detroit Lions, something no one could have predicted mere weeks ago.

Even after a 48-3 romp against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, the 49ers figure to be underdogs against Calvin Johnson and company at Ford Field. However, they have more than a few things in their favor.

Here's what they'll need to do to hand the Lions their first loss.

1. Protect Alex Smith

Detroit's pass-rush was dominant during Monday night's win over the Chicago Bears. QB Jay Cutler was constantly on the ground or scrambling. The 49ers offensive line needs to prevent Alex Smith from suffering a similar fate if they want to leave Detroit with a W.

It's no secret that the offensive line struggled early on in the season. Through the first four games, Smith had been sacked 14 times, third most in the NFL. Remarkably, he was not sacked once against Tampa Bay last week.

If Smith is not pressured by foes like Ndamukong Suh, Cliff Avril and Kyle Vanden Bosch, he should continue his solid play.

2. Wide Receivers Need to Step Up

The only somber note from Sunday's Buccaneer slaughter was Josh Morgan's injury late in the contest. With word coming out that Morgan suffered a broken leg, he joins fellow wide receiver Braylon Edwards on the sideline for an extended period.

As a result, the 49ers only have three healthy WR's, Michael Crabtree, Ted Ginn Jr. and Kyle Williams, on their roster. The solution is not to do something crazy like sign Terrell Owens. The solution is for all three to be competent in their expanded role.

Fortunately, the 49ers have two good pass catching tight ends (Vernon Davis and Delanie Walker), along with two capable receivers from the backfield (Frank Gore and Kendall Hunter). They'll provide help as long as the WR's are good enough.

3. Use Frank Gore to Protect a Lead

The Detroit Lions have been the cardiac kids of the 2011 NFL season. They've won three straight when trailing at halftime, including improbable comebacks of 20 and 24 points against the Minnesota Vikings and Dallas Cowboys respectively.

While the magnitudes of these come from behind wins were impressive, it does show that the Lions are susceptible to falling behind. Should the 49ers have the lead, they'll need to succeed where the Vikings and Cowboys failed: running out the clock.

Luckily, Frank Gore has begun to return to form. The last two games have seen him run for a combined 252 yards. He could be invaluable in chewing up clock late in the game.

4. Stop Calvin Johnson

It's almost a given that the 49ers superb run defense will stifle the Lions ground game. The question is if the 49ers can stop (or just contain) the Lions aerial attack.

The secondary is undoubtedly the soft spot of the D, but they did turn in a monster performance against Josh Freeman and the Bucs.

The Bucs, however, do not have the towering Megatron, scorer of nine touchdowns in just five games. This is the ultimate bend but don't break scenario. Calvin Johnson will almost certainly have a great game, but as long as he and Matthew Stafford don't play pitch and catch in the red zone (where Megatron shines), you'd have to consider it a win for San Francisco.