Odds Lions Beat San Francisco 49ers….

The countdown is on: Three days remain until the Detroit Lions’ biggest game in 32 years.

The Lions have earned their “stripes” in every way possible this season.

During the regular season, they won 12 games and a division championship for the first time in 30 years.

Plus, they’ve now won two games in the same postseason for the first time since the 1957 season, the same year that Detroit captured the NFL championship.

Ironically enough, the Lions had to beat the San Francisco 49ers, their opponent on Sunday, to advance to the league championship game that year. In case you were wondering, Detroit blew out Jim Brown and the Cleveland Browns, 59–14, to secure the title.

That was all long before this writer was born.

Fast-forward to today, and the Lions now have a chance to do something they’ve never done before: make the Super Bowl.

If Detroit wants its dream season to continue, it will need to knock off the 49ers, which will be easier said than done.

There’s no doubt that San Francisco will be the Lions’ toughest opponent of the postseason.

The Kyle Shanahan-led 49ers, which are headed to their fourth NFC Championship Game in five years, are equipped with a variety of playmakers on both sides of the ball.

This season alone, they have four first-team All-Pro selections: running back Christian McCaffrey, fullback Kyle Juszczyk, tight end George Kittle and linebacker Fred Warner. They each should strike fear in Dan Campbell’s squad, and be able to do some damage Sunday.

San Francisco’s laundry list of difference-making talent doesn’t end there, though. It also has a more-than-capable quarterback in Brock Purdy, a pair of standout receivers in Brandon Aiyuk and Deebo Samuel and multiple Pro Bowl defenders in EDGE Nick Bosa, defensive lineman Javon Hargrave and cornerback Charvarius Ward.

I’d be remiss to not also mention Warner’s linebacker counterpart Dre Greenlaw, who, just like Warner, is a tackling machine (120 total tackles in 2023).

I could go on and on about the 49ers’ impact players. But, I won’t for the purpose of this article.

Instead, I’ll focus on one player: the aforementioned Deebo Samuel.

Samuel, who injured his right shoulder in San Francisco’s divisional round victory over the Packers, did not practice Wednesday, and could be forced to sit out the team’s NFC title game tilt with Detroit.

If he doesn’t play, it will surely be a big loss for the 49ers. San Francisco went 12-3 with the do-it-all weapon and 0-2 without him this past regular season.

Subsequently, the fifth-year receiver’s health is one of the biggest variables headed into Sunday, and could weigh heavily on the Lions’ chances of pulling off the upset win.

As for Detroit on the injury front, it appears as if it will be without Jonah Jackson, its starting left guard, for its first NFC Championship Game appearance in 32 years. Jackson tore his meniscus in his left knee in the Lions’ divisional playoff win over the Buccaneers.

Detroit will need to produce an “A”-level game in order to prevail against San Francisco. While I don’t know if that’s completely possible, I think the Lions will give the 49ers all that they can handle on Sunday.

At this present juncture, I’ll give Detroit a 51.5 percent chance to punch its ticket to the Super Bowl for the first time in franchise history.