The Lions' schedule was released on Wednesday night, revealing a brutal road for a team looking to win its first Super Bowl.
The Lions got seven standalone matchups in 2025, which came as no surprise given the Lions were the highest-rated team in the NFL last year. Due to their 15-2 finish and winning the best division in football, the Lions are lined up to face a gauntlet in 2025.
Just because the Lions have a difficult schedule doesn't mean that there aren't positives they can take from how it shook out. It tends to go both ways in terms of NFL schedules for every team, and there are multiple takeaways from both sides.
There are more positive takeaways than you think
1) Only 1 or 2 outdoor cold weather games
Last year, the Lions' big advantage was that they only played a handful of cold-weather games, leading to their 15-2 record. The "Goff can't play outdoors" narrative is played out and not entirely true, but he does play better in warm weather, and the Lions will get that in 2025.
Detroit has to go into Green Bay, Baltimore, Cincinnati, and Kansas City this season, all cold-weather environments, but all four of these games take place in the first six weeks of the season, essentially eliminating the cold-weather factor.
The Lions' only other potential cold-weather games are mid-November contests in Washington D.C., and Philadelphia, in addition to a Week 18 game in Chicago.
2) Favorable bye week
Last season, the biggest schedule gripe among Lions fans was their Week 5 bye week. Getting a bye week that early in the season hurts a team because it forces them to play at least 13 straight weeks following the bye.
A Week 8 bye week is arguably the perfect week for a couple of reasons. First, it is about the mid-way point of the season, so you have the best odds of perfectly timing injuries and getting guys rest when they need it.
Secondly, the Lions play one of their two Monday Night Football games in Week 7, and they avoid the short turnaround to Week 8 by taking their bye week. Finally, the Week 8 bye is perfectly timed with the trade deadline. If the Lions make a trade, it gives that player a full week to get used to the team.
Unfortunately there are plenty of negative takeaways
1) Three Thursday games in 5 weeks
Upon looking at how the Lions' schedule shook out last night, this stood out to me the most. The Lions are used to playing on Thanksgiving as they do every year, but this year they play on Thursday for Weeks 13, 14, and 17.
Luckily, 13 and 14 come back to back, so the Lions will get a regular week of practice in between, but this means that the Lions will have two short weeks of practice in a five-week span, against two division rivals.
Forcing the Lions to play on two Thursday holidays is one thing, but throwing another Thursday Night Football game in between is just careless from the NFL.
2) An absolute gauntlet to start the season
We knew going into the season that the Lions were going to have an extremely tough schedule, but this opening stretch is unbelievable. Detroit opens the season going into Green Bay, Baltimore, Kansas City, and Cincinnati, in addition to playing tough Bears and Buccaneers teams at home.
The Lions were a team last year that crumbled due to a multitude of season-ending injuries, and many of those guys will be back to start the season. Aidan Hutchinson should be back in Week 1, but may not get his feet under him for a few weeks, making this starting schedule brutal.
Regardless, I still have faith that the Lions are one of the league's best rosters and should accumulate 11 or 12 wins, but this schedule isn't doing them any favors.
