PONTIAC, Mich. -- Eric Hipple, the Detroit Lions' wonder-find of a quarterback, gets to show the Green Bay Packers that his first-game performance was no fluke.
Or perhaps the Packers will show Hipple he belongs in the one-game wonder category.
Realistically, the showing of the third-year quarterback from Utah State will be somewhere in between Sunday when Detroit, 3-4, hosts Green Bay, 2-5. Both are in the NFC's Central Division.
Hipple made his first pro regular season start Monday night against Chicago and had a storybook NFL inaugural. He threw four touchdown passes and ran for two other scores in leading the Lions to a 48-17 victory over the Bears.
There are caution signs for Hipple, who threw for 336 yards. He completed his last three throws for TDs -- but only threw four passes in the second half and several of his first-half throws could have been intercepted.
But Chicago defenders may have been 'cheating' on Detroit receivers early in the game. Few of Hipple's passes were in danger of getting intercepted once he'd burned the Bears' defense with a few long ones.
'Any team that can score almost 50 points on the Chicago Bears with an inexperienced quarterback -- that tells you something about their offense,' Green Bay Coach Bart Starr said.
'They're tough,' he said. 'They're trying to scramble back as we are.'
Detroit Coach Monte Clark will have Billy Sims back at relatively full strength. Sims, still third in the NFC in rushing with 662 yards in 144 carries, missed the Monday night game with a jammed left big toe.
That same type of ailment will sideline star pass-rushing defensive end Bubba Baker for at least the next two games. Cornerback James Hunter is out for a month or more with a broken arm and reserve tackle Chris Dieterich has a knee injury.
Starr hopes for the full return of his own injured quarterback, Lynn Dickey, who suffered a jammed neck against San Francisco. Dickey has been working out this week and is expected to start.
Green Bay's offense, expected to explode with the addition of stellar wide receiver JohnJefferson lining up opposite James Lofton, has produced just 13 points in its last two games.
Untimely penalties are what Starr pinpoints, along with an offensive line that has been just that -- offensive. Dickey and his replacement, David Whitehurst, have been sacked 29 times in seven games.
'We made some minor adjustments which I hope are going to be successful,' Starr said. Loosely translated from 'Starrese' that could mean one or two players who have been starting will get time to heal their injuries -- on the bench.
There is nothing wrong with Green Bay's defense, however. It has given up 34 points in those two losses, which isn't that bad when you think of how long it has been on the field.
William Gay and Steve Furness will replace Baker for the next couple of weeks but defensive line is one of Detroit's deepest and strongest positions. The Lions lead the entire league in rushing defense with an average of only 96.4 yards allowed per game.
'They may have one of the lines in all of football in regarding the coordination of their front four linemen as well as their linebackers,' Starr praised.
Both teams need victories to stay on the fringe of the race. In another couple weeks the losses will start to hurt more.
