After the Philadelphia Eagles beat the Kansas City Chiefs in Super Bowl LIX, a topic of conversation became who they might face in the Thursday night game to open the 2025 season. There are some very good options, but the Detroit Lions look like the best for some prominent reasons.
The Eagles' defensive performance against the Chiefs created a level of "what if" for the Lions and their fans.
Detroit's defense was ravaged by injuries throughout the season, creating a scenario where over 42 percent of the defensive snaps in Week 14 against the Green Bay Packers were filled by players who were not on the roster in Week 1. Players not on the roster roughly two months prior played more than 25 percent of the snaps in that game, and one-eighth (12.5 percent) of the defensive snaps were played by guys who were elsewhere just the previous week.
Now-departed defensive coordinator Aaron Glenn fortified his head coaching resume with the work he did.
Amon-Ra St. Brown wants the Eagles in the 2025 season opener
On this week's episode of the "St. Brown Podcast", Lions wide receiver Amon-Ra St. Brown and his brother Equanimeous were joined by their brother Osiris. After talking about the Super Bowl, Amon-Ra St. Brown brought up the Eagles hosting the 2025 season opener.
"Eagles have the home opener next year", St. Brown noted, followed by Equanimeous saying "you don't want that smoke." But Amon-Ra continued, reciting the list of potential opponents the Eagles could have in next season's opener ("Commanders, Cowboys, Giants, Bears, Lions, Raiders, Rams, Broncos?).
"Out of all those teams, if you're the NFL, who you putting in there?", Amon-Ra St. Brown said. Equanimeous said "Lions" and Osiris said "Lions or Commanders", reinforcing the youngest brother's point.
St. Brown mentioned how the Lions having a healthy (or healthier) defense would naturally make a huge difference, before rattling off the list of injured Lions' defensive players spanning from Week 3 (Marcus Davenport, Derrick Barnes) to the Divisional Round loss to the Commanders (Amik Robertson). He briefly forgot about defensive tackle Alim McNeill before he was reminded, which stands as a sign of how many injuries happened.
The thing that might stop the NFL schedule makers from putting the Lions in the Thursday night season opener is the fact they were in it against the Chiefs to open the 2023 season. But otherwise it makes a ton of sense, and it's no surprise St. Brown wants it.
