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Posted by ESPN.com’s Kevin Seifert

It’s time to start the Blackout Watch in Detroit. The Lions haven’t said how many tickets are available for Sunday’s home opener against Minnesota, but they acknowledge it isn’t a sellout. Officially, they have until Thursday at 1 p.m. to sell out Ford Field in order for the game to be televised locally.

If the Lions are within striking distance of a sellout, they’ll likely ask the NFL for an extension. But Tim Twentyman of the Detroit News reports a blackout is “likely.” Five Lions home games were blacked out last year.

According to the Detroit Free Press, the Lions are offering $78 tickets to Ford employees for $30. We’ll keep you updated.

Continuing around the NFC North:

• There is a new regime in Detroit, writes John Niyo of the Detroit News, but “[w]hether they'll admit it or not, they're still chained to this 18-game losing streak -- the third-longest in NFL history.”
• Michael Rosenberg of the Free Press mocks the Lions’ contention that their problems are “correctable.”
• David Haugh of the Chicago Tribune on the Bears’ loss of linebacker Brian Urlacher: “Teams don't recover from losing a Pro Bowl-caliber player, but they can survive. The aggressive, incisive manner with which [coach Lovie] Smith called defenses indicated the Bears' defense still can be a good -- maybe not great -- unit.”
• Brad Biggs of the Chicago Sun-Times explains why Urlacher can’t play with a dislocated wrist.
• Tom Silverstein of the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel sifts through the wreckage of Green Bay’s offensive line.
• Defensive linemen Cullen Jenkins and Johnny Jolly, along with linebacker Brandon Chillar, received game balls after the Packers’ 21-15 victory over the Bears, notes Rob Demovsky of the Green Bay Press-Gazette.
• Judd Zulgad of the Star Tribune describes the apparent license Minnesota has given quarterback Brett Favre to change plays at the line of scrimmage.
• The Vikings’ pass offense could get untracked Sunday at Detroit, writes Rick Alonzo of the St. Paul Pioneer Press.