The NFL schedule has been released and with that, it means that fans can start buying tickets for the 2020 season. Over the course of the next few weeks, we here at uSports will be dissecting the regular season schedules of each of the NFL teams, and tell you what games you are going to want to attend.
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The Detroit Lions have always seemed to have had nice pieces, but were never able to put it all together and last season was no exception where an injury riddled team went 3-12-1, third worst in the entire NFL. That has been the issue for the Lions during the last decade, injuries to its stars. Last season saw quarterback Matthew Stafford, running back Kerryon Johnson, defensive end Mike Daniels, defensive tackle Kevin Strong, and tight end TJ Hockenson, among others, all finishing the 2019 season on injured reserve. Stafford, Johnson and Hockenson are expected to be back for the start of next season, joining Kenny Golladay, Marvin Jones and Danny Amendola on offense. There also seems to be some interesting players on defense with Romeo Okwara, Danny Shelton, Jamie Collins, Desmond Trufant and the third overall pick in the 2020 Draft, Jeff Okudah. That doesn’t mean this team doesn’t have its question marks. The offensive line needs improvement, the defense lacks some depth, and despite having Johnson at running back, what will his role be with the drafting of D’Andre Swift in this year’s draft? Those among other questions will have head coach Matt Patrica staying up at night trying to figure them up and keep his job, as it is assumed he is on the hot seat.
Full Lions Schedule:
Week 1: vs. Chicago Bears
Week 2: at Green Bay Packers
Week 3: at Arizona Cardinals
Week 4: vs. New Orleans Saints
Week 5: BYE
Week 6: at Jacksonville Jaguars
Week 7: at Atlanta Falcons
Week 8: vs. Indianapolis Colts
Week 9: at Minnesota Vikings
Week 10: vs. Washington Redskins
Week 11: at Carolina Panthers
Week 12: vs. Houston Texans
Week 13: at Chicago Bears
Week 14: vs. Green Bay Packers
Week 15: at Tennessee Titans
Week 16: vs. Tampa Bay Buccaneers
Week 17: vs. Minnesota Vikings
Looking at the Lions’ schedule, I really don’t have much faith in this team. First of all, they have their bye week in Week 5, which puts them at a major disadvantage given how early in the season it is and they will have to play a stretch of 12 straight games to finish the season, where the majority of teams have their bye week in the middle third of the season. The games prior to the Lions’ bye week, are not even games that give the Lions a good shot of winning. Maybe they beat the Bears Week 1, but that is unlikely, and then I definitely don’t see them beating the Packers, Cardinals or Saints in the following three weeks. After their bye week, there are some winnable games, but there are not a lot of them. I can see them winning Week 6 against Jacksonville, Week 10 against Washington, and Week 11 against Carolina, but with the Washington, game the Redskins have their bye week in Week 8, so they will be moderately rested (the Jaguars game is when the Lions come off their bye and the Panthers don’t have their bye week until after they play the Lions). Looking at the NFC North, the Lions are the definite worst team in the division. Can they play competitive, yes, but it will take a lot for them to do.
Despite my negativity toward the Lions and my low expectations for them in 2020, there are some games on their schedule that I am intrigued by that I would want to go see:
- Week 1: Bears at Lions
- Week 3: Lions at Cardinals
- Week 8: Colts at Lions
- Week 12: Texans at Lions
- Week 14: Packers at Lions
I am not wanting to go to these games because I think the Lions can win, but more so because each of these games have something intriguing about that. Week 1 against the Bears, it is the first game of the season, so we will get to see what team the Lions will be in 2020, will they compete or will they be a punching bag in the NFC North. Week 3 against the Cardinals is a rematch from last season, where the Lions blew a 24-6 lead in the fourth quarter, allowing the Cardinals to comeback, and ultimately the two teams tied. Week 8 against the Colts will be a game where both teams don’t have uber high expectations, but could be one of those ‘trap’ games for the Colts where if they lose to Detroit, Indianapolis could miss the playoffs given that this is one of those games they should win. Week 12 against Houston, that game falls on Thanksgiving and it is simply tradition for the Lions to play on Thanksgiving, not to mention the test this Texans offense will pose for the Lions’ defense if their offense is all healthy. Finally, Week 14 against the Packers, two division foes, late in the year, where the Packers will have a lot riding on this game, who knows what could happen this late into the season.
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