In the one afternoon game—a 4:00 EST start—the Atlanta Falcons play at the Detroit Lions. Sports Betting Sportsbook has the spread at Detroit -3 with a total of 35. 

Detroit‘s Jim Schwartz will be making his coaching debut. Add to that the Lions are coming off an 0-16 season straight up, many would argue if any team desperately needs preseason wins to change the culture, it’s the Lions.

Detroit super rookie QB Matt Stafford will enter at some point in the second quarter. Dante Culpepper will start and Drew Stanton will finish, will all three QBs getting about the same amount of playing time.

Atlanta Pro Bowler Roddy White finally ended his holdout and starting practicing Monday. White says he wants to play in this game, and Atlanta could use him. Up-and-coming receiver Harry Douglas is out for the year. Atlanta‘s three best receivers behind White are Michael Jenkins, Eric Weems who has one career catch, and Brian Finneran, who hasn’t started a game since 2005.

Lions DE Jared DeVries, who started 29 games the last three years, is out for the year. Star wide receiver Calvin Johnson is questionable with a jammed thumb. He will participate in pregame warm-ups before deciding whether to play.

It looks like four Falcons quarterbacks will play about a quarter reach: Matt Ryan, Chris Redman, D.J. Shockley, and rookie John Parker Wilson. The battle for No. 2 QB behind Ryan is wide open.

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