Scanning the Savanna

The last time the Detroit Lions played at Raymond James Stadium, they didn’t get too excited about snapping the longest road losing streak in NFL history.

The Lions are taking the same reserved approach into Sunday’s season opener in Tampa, despite coming off an undefeated preseason that has raised expectations for a franchise that last appeared in a playoff game 11 years ago.

Although football is a team game, there are often intriguing individual matchups within a football game.

In Sunday’s NFL season opener between the Detroit Lions and the Tampa Bay Bucs, one of those individual matchups will be highlighted when Detroit receiver Calvin “Megatron” Johnson faces Tampa Bay corner Aqib Talib.

Come Sunday, team officials and coaches will have a quality season-opening look into just how those decisions are paying off after the Bucs tangle with second-year defensive tackle Ndamukong Suh and a reinvigorated Detroit Lions team at Raymond James Stadium.

Kid Rock will be celebrating the kickoff of the National Football League season with a concert at Lambeau Field, but his thoughts are with his hometown Detroit Lions.

“I think the Lions are going to win nine or 10 games,” Kid Rock said by phone this week. “They really have turned it around. … It’s been a long time coming here in Detroit.”