Same Old Lions? Not according to the NFL’s schedule makers.
One year after they were snubbed of prime-time games on their regular-season schedule and thought so little of that one of the NFL’s television partners didn’t even bother to send a camera crew to training camp to take headshots of players, the Detroit Lions are one of the league’s preseason darlings.
Want proof? It’s plain as day on the schedule the NFL released Thursday night, in which the Lions have four prime-time games — including a spot in the kickoff game against the defending Super Bowl champion Kansas City Chiefs — and the potential to add one or two more.
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The Lions play the Green Bay Packers in their first ever Amazon Prime Video game on a Thursday night in Week 4. They get the Las Vegas Raiders a month later in Monday Night Football at Ford Field. And they visit the Dallas Cowboys for a night ESPN/ABC game on the second-to-last Saturday of the regular season.
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It’s not the maximum six prime-time games teams are allowed on schedule release day, but it’s the surest sign yet the Lions, who also host the Packers in their annual Thanksgiving game and have a flex-friendly game against the Denver Broncos scheduled without a day or time in Week 15, are expected to do big things this fall.
If things hold, the Lions, will play their most prime-time games since 2015, when they had two Monday Night Football games and games on Thursday and Sunday nights. The Lions went 1-3 in those games, finished a disappointing 7-9 that year and have mostly been an afterthought for the networks since.
In the past five seasons, the Lions have played a total of five prime-time games (three of them losses).
But after winning eight of their final 10 games last season and narrowly missing the playoffs, the Lions, with an easy-to-root-for coach and a clear path to winning their first division title in 30 years, have been the NFL’s buzziest team this offseason.
Things don’t always go according to plan.
The Broncos were a favorite of schedule-makers after adding quarterback Russell Wilson, landing five prime-time games last spring — then proved to be a disaster on the field.
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But the evidence mounting of what you believe to be true about the Lions — that they honest-to-goodness are one of the best teams in the NFC — is co-signed by important people across the league.
All three broadcast partners with prime-time games (NBC, ESPN and Amazon) wanted a piece of the Lions this season, and the NFL picked them for its marquee opening game against the Chiefs over several other attractive options.
With great expectations come great responsibility, and if the Lions disappoint early in the season — if they start 0-2 with losses to two of the seven playoff teams on their schedule, for instance — the shine will quickly wear off their crowns.
But there is optimism about the Lions for the first time in a long time, and even the NFL schedule makers believe it’s warranted.
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Five more thoughts on the Lions’ 2023 schedule:
Southern comfort
The NFC South might be the worst division in football. All four teams are coming off sub-.500 seasons and will start new quarterbacks this fall, and the Lions are fortunate to draw three NFC South opponents in their first six games.
There’s no guarantee they beat the Atlanta Falcons (Week 3), Carolina Panthers (Week 5) or Tampa Bay Buccaneers (Week 6), of course, but drawing those three before Halloween gives a Lions team that’s struggled out of the gate under Campbell the chance to get off to a good start.
Last year, no one thought the NFC East was going to be as top-to-bottom good as it was, and things tend to change quickly in the NFL. But the Falcons and Panthers visit Ford Field, which adds an extra dynamic for young quarterbacks Bryce Young (Carolina) and Desmond Ridder (Atlanta), and the Bucs are clearly in rebuild mode in their first season without Tom Brady.
Finishing with a flourish
The Lions open and close the season with consecutive games against 2022 playoff teams. After facing the defending Super Bowl champs in Week 1, they host the Seattle Seahawks in their home opener at Ford Field.
They play just three games against returning playoff teams over the next 13 weeks, then finish the season with what appears to be their most difficult three-game stretch: At the Minnesota Vikings on Dec. 24, at the Dallas Cowboys on Dec. 30 and home against the Vikings in Week 18.
The Vikings feel like the Lions’ closest competition in the division, and playing them twice in three weeks could be a bear, depending on how injuries shake out for both teams. Throw in a Saturday-night game on a short week (with one of the days in between being Christmas) against a Cowboys team expected to contend for the playoffs, and the Lions will earn whatever they get when it comes to the postseason.
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Back talk
The Vikings-Cowboys back-to-back is one of three sets of consecutive road games the Lions play this fall. That’s partially a function of the unbalanced schedule. With nine road and eight home games, the Lions were bound to catch some unfavorable bounces with travel.
Last year, the Lions went 1-1 in the second of true back-to-back road games (after going 0-3 in that category in 2021). They beat the New York Giants, 31-18, one week after beating the Chicago Bears on the road, then played their worst game of the year in a Christmas Eve road loss to the Carolina Panthers six days after they survived a squeaker against the New York Jets.
The Lions have just one set of back-to-back home games this fall, in Weeks 2 and 3 against the Seahawks and Falcons.
Three’s company
It might feel like the Lions were given the short shrift by the NFL playing three times on short rest this season, but that’s what happens when you’re a big enough draw to be rewarded with prime-time games.
The Lions play two Thursday games against the Packers this season on three days rest, and face the Cowboys late in the year on that Saturday night. It doesn’t help they have to travel to Green Bay and Dallas, of course, but the Lions do have a welcome midseason bye after their lone Monday-night game and they get extra time to prepare for the Seahawks after their Thursday opener.
Playing on a short week usually applies to both teams, and when it does, the better team stands to benefit. Last year, the Chiefs and Philadelphia Eagles, the two teams that reached the Super Bowl, went a combined 5-2 in short-week games.
Odds and ends
⋅ It won’t take long to see how good the Lions’ revamped secondary is. The Chiefs have the best quarterback in the NFL in Patrick Mahomes and led the league in passing last season, and the Seahawks tied for 11th in passing last year and added the best receiver in the draft in Jaxson Smith-Njigba. The Lions added three new starters via free agency in Cam Sutton, C.J. Gardner-Johnson and Emmanuel Moseley (assuming he’s healthy), and get Tracy Walker back from a torn Achilles after giving up the third most passing yards last season.
⋅ After playing five outdoor games in the final two months of last season, the Lions won’t have much weather to contend with this fall. They play just one outdoor game after Thanksgiving, against the Bears on Dec. 10.
⋅ The Lions’ Week 15 game against the Denver Broncos is listed with no time or date for now. The game is eligible to be flexed to Monday night under the NFL’s new scheduling policy.
⋅ In a weird scheduling twist that comes up every now and again, the Lions play the Panthers in their preseason finale and then again in the regular season. I can’t imagine the Lions will play any of their most important starters in that August game, though Amon-Ra St. Brown, Alex Anzalone, T.J. Hockenson and their entire starting offensive line did play in Week 3 of the preseason last year. By contrast, the Panthers, with a rookie quarterback, may feel compelled to play Young and others in the preseason finale.
Contact Dave Birkett at dbirkett@freepress.com. Follow him on Twitter @davebirkett.