This is not exactly your Week 1 glamour matchup, as two squads with losing records in 2007 take on each other. On the positive side, both the Lions and the Falcons have to believe this is a winnable game.

For Detroit, Matt Millen has somehow survived as team president despite going 31-81 since he took over that job in 2001. The Lions had a magical year by Millen standards last season – they went 7-9.

Detroit last season was known for throwing the ball constantly in offensive coordinator Mike Martz’s high-velocity scheme. No longer. Head coach Rod Marinelli replaced Martz with offensive coordinator Jim Colletto, who promises a more balanced scheme but will still rely on QB Jon Kitna and dangerous WRs Calvin Johnson and Roy Williams. New RB Rudi Johnson, signed after being waived by Cincinnati, should be a factor early, sharing time as the featured RB with Kevin Smith.

But the Lions’ defense will have to get a lot better for the offense to matter that much, though. Detroit was dead last in the NFL last season in both points and yardage allowed. Yet Detroit traded its best defensive player (DT Shaun Rogers) in the offseason and will need to rely on some serious contributions from a lot of role players to get better.

For the Falcons, the new era can’t begin quickly enough. The 2007 season was an embarrassment. Michael Vick went to jail. Head coach Bobby Petrino bolted in midseason, going back to a college job at the University of Arkansas. And the team itself finished 4-12.

Now owner Arthur Blank is on his sixth head coach since buying the team in 2002. He has hired Mike Smith as coach No.6, and it can safely be said there is not a more anonymous head coach in the league. Smith was the former defensive coordinator for the Jacksonville Jaguars (The first five under Blank, if you were wondering: Dan Reeves, Wade Phillips, Jim Mora Jr., Bobby Petrino and Emmitt Thomas).

With few good options at quarterback, Smith has decided to hand over the reins to squeaky-clean QB Matt Ryan from the very beginning of 2008. Ryan, the No.3 overall pick of the 2008 draft, gets a trial by fire. This will undoubtedly mean some tough times lie ahead for the franchise, but they probably weren’t going to make the playoff this year, anyway. As long as Ryan survives behind a flawed offensive line, his learning curve will be quicker this way.

One thing Ryan will be doing a lot of is handing off to RB Michael Turner, the team’s highest-profile acquisition of the offseason. Turner, the backup to LaDainian Tomlinson in San Diego, showed enough flashes of brilliance there that the Falcons signed him to a six-year, $34.5-million deal.

The Falcons’ defensive line is as questionable as its O-line, however, so this is a team that is still rebuilding.

Detroit by 7