The 2021 NFL schedule is set to drop at 8 tonight (NFL Network).
That being said, there are already details being leaked, including the full slate of Week 1 games, plus the Thanksgiving matchups. This is also the first year the NFL is moving to a 17-game regular season schedule.
ANALYSIS: 5 Lions games to watch on NFL schedule release day: Matthew Stafford reunion looms large
Here are our live updates and observations heading into tonight’s full schedule reveal:
Week 1: vs. San Francisco 49ers
Week 2: at Green Bay Packers (Monday Night Football)*
Week 12: vs. Chicago Bears (Thanksgiving)*
Week 14: at Denver Broncos
* – According to reports
The Detroit Lions won’t be shut out of prime time after their disappointing 2020 season.
The Lions will visit the Green Bay Packers in Week 2 for a Monday night game, according to WDUZ radio in Green Bay.
This marks the second time in three years the Lions and Packers will play an early-season Monday night game. In 2019, the Packers beat the Lions on Monday Night Football, 23-22.
Aaron Rodgers threw for 283 yards and two touchdowns in that game. As of now, Rodgers remains Green Bay’s starting quarterback. The other Packers star in that game? Running back Jamaal Williams, who had 149 yards from scrimmage and one touchdown.
More: How Detroit Lions RB Jamaal Williams has an epic way to honor the women in his life
Williams was one of the Lions’ top free agent signings this spring.
—Dave Birkett
The Lions will have at least one cold-weather game this year: They travel to Denver to face the Broncos for a Week 14 game Dec. 12.
The Broncos are the Lions’ “17th” opponent, a team they would not otherwise have played if not for the expanded regular season schedule. And the big question is, who will be the Broncos quarterback?
Current Packers quarterback Aaron Rodgers has hinted that he wants out of Green Bay, and his rumored preferred destination is Denver. Rodgers, of course, has given the Lions plenty of winter heartache over the years, and if the Broncos are able to swing a trade he might just do it again. If not, the Lions likely will be facing Drew Lock or Teddy Bridgewater.
Either way, Dan Campbell’s team will have to contend with the elements and altitude while playing what could be a snow game at Empower Field.
—Dave Birkett
The Detroit Lions will host the Chicago Bears on Thanksgiving, according to Bleacher Report, making it the third time in four seasons the country will have to stomach that matchup before eating its Thanksgiving meal.
The Lions have lost four straight Thanksgiving games, including 2018-19 games against the Bears (23-16 and 24-20).
In 2018, with Chase Daniel starting in place of an injured Mitchell Trubisky, the Bears scored the game-winning touchdown on a fourth-quarter interception return. A year later, with David Blough starting in place of an injured Matthew Stafford for the Lions, Trubisky led the Bears on a game-winning 90-yard touchdown drive.
Daniel, Trubisky and Stafford are all on different teams, so this year’s matchup could feature Jared Goff (or possibly Blough) against Justin Fields, the quarterback the Lions passed on with the No. 7 pick in this year’s draft.
—Dave Birkett
A few thoughts on the NFL’s Week 1 schedule of games:
-The Detroit Lions got a tough but not impossible draw in their opener, hosting a San Francisco 49ers team that I think will be one of the bounce-back teams in the NFL this season. The 49ers are better than their 6-10 record from a season ago and likely will have a motivated Jimmy Garoppolo starting at quarterback. Coach Kyle Shanahan is the game’s best offensive play-caller, and the Lions aren’t exactly brimming with talent on the defensive side of the ball. I’m pretty sure I’ll have the 49ers winning this one when I do my game-by-game predictions later today, but at least the Lions are home to start the Dan Campbell era so good vibes should be flowing that day.
-The NFL went with the obvious Thursday night opener, the defending Super Bowl champion Tampa Bay Buccaneers against the Dallas Cowboys. Iit’s a good matchup, and one that should draw plenty of eyeballs as Tom Brady kicks off his drive for an eighth ring against the nation’s most popular (and most hated) team. A healthy Dak Prescott makes the Cowboys a division contender, but the Bucs, with every starter back, are the better team.
-Outside of Bucs-Cowboys, the Cleveland Browns-Kansas City Chiefs game is the highlight of Week 1. The Chiefs, I believe, are the best team in football, but the Browns have one of the NFL’s most well-rounded rosters and gave Kansas City a scare in the playoffs last season.
-Matthew Stafford gets a familiar Week 1 foe in his former NFC North rival, the Chicago Bears. Stafford has more wins (11) but also more interceptions (23) against the Bears than any other team. He opened the season against Chicago last year, too, when he led what would have been a game-winning drive in the final minute if not for a dropped D’Andre Swift touchdown. If nothing else, Lions fans can cap their day by watching their old quarterback in the Sunday night game.
More: 5 Lions games to watch on NFL schedule release day: Matthew Stafford reunion looms large
-Doubt it’ll be of much interest locally, but I did get a kick out of the NFL sending the New York Jets to Carolina for their opener. Dearborn native Robert Saleh’s first game as Jets coach will come against the quarterback he traded away this offseason, Sam Darnold. Gives me hope the Lions-Rams game (where Jared Goff and Stafford will face their former teams) will get a plum spot on the schedule.
—Dave Birkett
As the MLB season gets into full swing, the NHL playoffs ramp up and the NBA regular season concludes, all eyes, of course, are back on the NFL for one spring day.
The NFL schedule release Wednesday is generating buzz 12 hours before the full slate of the games is announced.
JUST THE OPPONENTS: Detroit Lions 2021 schedule
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We know the Detroit Lions will host the San Francisco 49ers in Week 1, their first game under new coach Dan Campbell and new general manager Brad Holmes. San Francisco is a foe familiar to new Detroit quarterback Jared Goff, who saw the 49ers eight times while a member of the Los Angeles Rams. The 49ers could start Jimmy Garoppolo, who led them to a Super Bowl after the 2019 season — or rookie Trey Lance, a quarterback the team traded up to draft.
We also know Baltimore Ravens vs. Las Vegas Raiders will be the season’s first Monday Night Football game. We know the country will have to suffer through the Chicago Bears’ offense playing a nationally televised game against the Rams, now led by former Lions star Matthew Stafford.
The first week of games has already been confirmed by multiple reporters.
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Check back here as we get more details and matchups. The full release is expected around 8 p.m. on ESPN.
—Tyler Davis
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