Detroit Lions got off to solid starts in their openers Oshane Ximines Jersey , building double-digit leads in the second half before blowing them and going to overtime.Los Angeles led Indianapolis by 15 points midway through the third quarter and salvaged a victory on Austin Ekeler’s third touchdown with 5:01 left in the extra period.“You won, but there’s a still a feeling that we weren’t at our best and that’s a heavy feeling,” Chargers defensive coordinator Gus Bradley said. “In some ways it could be a good thing. I think our guys will be very focused this week.”Article continues below ...Detroit, meanwhile, failed to keep an 18-point lead in the fourth quarter at Arizona and wound up in a tie.To make the setback sting even more for the Lions, they made an ill-timed decision with 2:47 left. With the play clock winding down, Matthew Stafford snapped the ball just after a timeout was called and completed a third-and-5 pass that would have picked up a first down and put Detroit in a favorable position to win.Stafford appeared to scream, “trust me,” on the sideline because the 11-year veteran wanted the coaches to let him manage the game.“I’m not too worried about that,” Stafford insisted days later, surrounded by reporters. “We’ve moved past it, probably better than you guys.”Here are some other things to watch when the Lions (0-0-1) host Los Angeles (1-0) on Sunday at Ford Field:ON THE RUNDespite the absence of holdout Melvin Gordon, the Chargers averaged 6 yards per carry in Week 1. Justin Jackson gained 9-plus yards each time he was handed the ball, and Ekeler had 58 yards rushing. Ekeler finished with career highs in yards receiving (96), yards from scrimmage (154) and touchdowns (three) against the Colts, giving him a relative measure of fame.Chargers running backs coach Alfredo Roberts had a little talk with Ekeler, trying to keep him grounded.“He said you have that cologne on,” Ekeler recalled Roberts saying. “It smells good right away Julian Love Jersey , but it fades. Don’t drink it because it’s poison.”DOMINATED DTDetroit’s Damon “Snacks” Harrison, a run-stuffing defensive tackle, took the season-opening tie personally. Harrison tweeted that he was dominated at Arizona after he made only one tackle.“Anytime we don’t come out with a win and we have the type of defensive performance we had, I feel like it’s on me,” he said. “I got broad shoulders. I can take the blame.”POSSIBLY PIVOTALLions offensive tackle Taylor Decker is coming off a lackluster game, giving up two sacks and getting called for four penalties, and he’s on the injury report this week with a back injury. The timing isn’t good for the player who protects Stafford’s blind side because defensive ends Melvin Ingram and Joey Bosa have combined for more than 70 career sacks.ROAD WARRIORSLos Angeles won its last six road games in 2018 in the regular season, including second-half comebacks at Pittsburgh and Kansas City, and eight of nine away from home dating to the 2017 season. The Chargers also won at Baltimore in the playoffs before losing on the road to New England.“That’s why you try to keep your group together because you hope to carry that over, but you just don’t know until you do it,” coach Anthony Lynn said. “When we went on the road, at least last year, it was an, ‘Us against the world,’ mentality. That’s kind of what you want.”BALANCING ACTDetroit is determined to run the ball more often, and successfully, with new offensive coordinator Darrell Bevell. He’s counting on running backs Kerryon Johnson and C.J. Anderson to control the game, taking pressure off Stafford and the passing game. Johnson and Anderson combined to run for 84 yards on 27 carries against the Cardinals Darius Slayton Jersey , but may find more room to run in Week 2. The Chargers gave up 203 yards rushing, the second-highest total in Week 1, and allowed Marlon Mack to run for a career-high 174 yards for the Colts. Several Raiders players spoke to reporters on Saturday, in the aftermath of the stunning-but-not-surprising release of receiver Antonio Brown. Raiders quarterback Derek Carr, per Paul Gutierrez of ESPN.com, declined to speak.Added Gutierrez regarding Carr: “His slumped shoulders and hound-dog countenance as he sat at his stall and scrolled through his phone said enough.” (Tread lighly, Paul; Carr has blocked people on Twitter for less than that.)In a weird sort of way, Brown’s depature actually helps Carr. The quarterback is now under far less pressure to get the ball to Brown, whether he’s covered or not. And Carr is far less likely to be blamed if/when the Raiders fail to make it to the playoffs, again.Regardless, Carr won’t be able to avoid reporters on Monday night after the game against the Broncos, unless Carr is willing to run afoul of the NFL’s media rules and potentially get himself fined.Without Carr taking leadership in the moment, someone else had to. That someone was linebacker and defensive captain Tahir Whitehead.“I’ve got to worry about the guys that are here, the guys that are invested in the team and the guys that want to go on this journey with us,” Whitehead said, via Gutierrez. “We tried to be there for him and support [Brown], but at the end of the day, the most we can do is focus on the guys that want to be here and just roll with that.“He didn’t want to be here and we tried to support him T.J. Hockenson Jersey , but at the end of the day, the rest of the guys in here were thinking team first and if, obviously, you didn’t possess that type of mentality, then it’s not going to work out.”Linebacker Vontaze Burfict, named a defensive captain in his first year with the Raiders, was more direct.“AB’s not tackling for us; we’re playing defense, so our job is to go out there and stop them from scoring, and that’s all we’ve got on our plate,” Burfict said. “AB was our teammate — hate to see him gone, praying for him. Hopefully he gets everything cleaned up. He’s a great football player, but like I said, we’re worried about Monday.”Finally, the Raiders can fully focus on Monday night’s game, and every game after that.