7 quick thoughts on the Detroit Lions’ 2024 schedule

ALLEN PARK -- They just won their first division title since 1993, their first playoff game since 1991, their first back-to-back playoff games since 1957, and came within 30 minutes of you-know-what.

The Detroit Lions slayed a lot of dragons last season. Now no one is mincing what comes next.

“It’s Super Bowl or bust,” linebacker Alex Anzalone said.

The NFL seems to agree, picking the Lions for a slew of marquee games in the schedule drop on Wednesday night. Here’s a look at the road that awaits, followed by some initial thoughts.

REGULAR SEASON

Week 1: Los Angeles Rams | 8:20 p.m. Sept. 8 (NBC)

Week 2: Tampa Bay Buccaneers | 1 p.m. Sept. 15 (Fox)

Week 3: at Arizona Cardinals | 4:25 p.m. Sept. 22 (Fox)

Week 4: Seattle Seahawks | 8:15 p.m. Sept. 30 (ABC)

Week 5: BYE

Week 6: at Dallas Cowboys | 4:25 p.m. Oct. 13 (Fox)

Week 7: at Minnesota Vikings | 1 p.m. Oct. 20 (Fox)

Week 8: Tennessee Titans | 1 p.m. Oct. 27 (Fox)

Week 9: at Green Bay Packers | 4:25 p.m. Nov. 3 (Fox)

Week 10: at Houston Texans | 8:20 p.m. Nov. 10 (NBC)

Week 11: Jacksonville Jaguars | 1 p.m. Nov. 17 (CBS)

Week 12: at Indianapolis Colts | 1 p.m. Nov. 24 (Fox)

Week 13: Chicago Bears | 12:30 p.m. Nov. 28 (CBS)

Week 14: Green Bay Packers | 8:15 p.m. Dec. 5 (Amazon Prime)

Week 15: Buffalo Bills | 4:25 p.m. Dec. 15 (CBS)

Week 16: at Chicago Bears | 1 p.m. Dec. 22 (Fox)

Week 17: at San Francisco 49ers | 8:15 p.m. Dec. 30 (ESPN/ABC)

Week 18: Minnesota Vikings | TBD

PRESEASON

Week 1: at New York Giants | TBD

Week 2: at Kansas City Chiefs |TBD

Week 3: Pittsburgh Steelers | TBD

Deja vu: The league schedulemakers sure have a sense of humor, don’t they? After watching Matthew Stafford get booed in his return to Ford Field in January, hearing his wife complain about their children getting booed and the Los Angeles Rams ultimately getting broomed from the playoffs, they were like, yep, let’s make him do it again.

The 2024 season will kick off with Stafford and the Los Angeles Rams returning to Ford Field in a rematch of the 24-23 wild-card thriller from January. Ford Field reached 133.6 decibels that night, making it the fourth-loudest crowd in NFL history, and provided an unforgettable night for Detroit to get its first playoff win since 1991. Jared Goff also got a bit of vengeance against Sean McVay for giving up on him, while the crowd sang his name from the rafters, starting a movement that has spread across this state, including at last month’s draft.

Goff took out the quarterback that he was traded for -- along with three draft picks, including two first-rounders -- and now is making more money than him too, signing a four-year, $212 million extension this month. Now Goff will get another shot at his former team in a Sunday night game that figures to be one of the most anticipated matchups of the 2024 season. The reunion tour doesn’t stop there either, as the Tampa Bay Buccaneers come to town the following week in a rematch of a divisional-round game at Ford Field.

Prime-time babies: The NFL clearly remains a big believer in the Detroit Lions, scheduling them for five prime-time games next season, which matches a franchise record that was set -- you guessed it! -- just last year. In addition to opening the season by hosting the Rams on Sunday Night Football, the Lions also host the Seahawks on Monday Night Football in Week 4 and the Packers on Thursday Night Football in Week 14, plus travel to Houston for SNF in Week 10 and San Francisco for MNF in Week 17.

That’s 10 prime-time games in two years overall, showing huge respect for a team that had drawn just two night games over the previous three seasons combined, and hadn’t drawn multiple such games in the same season since Matt Patricia laid a couple prime-time eggs to open his reign in 2018. Detroit plays nine games -- more than half the season! -- on national TV overall this season.

Of course, the scheduling is no surprise either. The Lions are not only 22-8 in their last 30 games, but they’ve become one of America’s new teams, drawing huge TV ratings during their rise over the last two years. They’ve also balled out when given the biggest stages, including winning six of their last seven games in prime time. And the only loss came in controversial fashion in Dallas, when a potential go-ahead catch by Taylor Decker was waved off due to, well, you already know how that story ends.

Speaking of Dallas ... : The rematches against Los Angeles and Tampa Bay to open the season are going to draw a lot of attention, plus the Monday night showdown in San Francisco in Week 17. But here’s betting the Lions will have that return to Dallas circled on their calendar, too. The Lions scored a touchdown to pull within one point in the final minute of a Week 17 game last year, then drew up a brilliant pass to left tackle Taylor Decker for what seemed to be the go-ahead score. Only referee Brad Allen goofed on which offensive lineman reported as eligible, a flag was thrown for illegal touching, and Detroit not only lost a game, but a shot at the No. 1 seed in the playoffs -- which proved monumental once the Lions advanced to the NFC championship game, where they had to fly to San Francisco rather than welcome the 49ers into a bonkers Ford Field. Huge, huge gaffe. Dan Campbell was red-hot about the officiating, and team president Rod Wood contacted the league the following morning to file a complaint.

“(Troy Vincent) called me back (an hour later),” Wood said, “and I asked if he prayed for better officiating.”

So, yeah. Needless to say, the Cowboys game will be highly anticipated, and the league has given it the late-afternoon treatment, kicking off at 4:25 p.m. in Week 6. That wraps up a heckuva schedule to open the season, from hosting the Rams (in prime time) and Bucs in playoff rematches to open the campaign, then hitting the road for a late-afternoon game in Arizona before returning home for a Monday night game against Seattle, then heading back to Dallas for that showdown with the Cowboys. All in the first five games of the season!

Welcome back, football. You’ve been missed.

Early week off: In what surely will be the Lions’ biggest complaint about their schedule, the bye lands in Week 5. While that will provide some time to navigate a Monday night game against Seattle the previous week and an emotional return to Dallas the following week, no one in the league wants a Week 5 bye. The later, the better, they say. And Week 5 is the earliest they can come. This is the third time in six years that Detroit has drawn that short straw, and also was tagged with two Week 6 byes during that stretch. Brutal luck that is forcing the Lions to play 13 straight weeks of football with no time off to heal.

Bears back for Thanksgiving: No, this is not a rerun. The Lions will host Chicago on Thanksgiving for the fourth time in seven years. While that might seem like a bore, this iteration of the Bears should offer some excitement. Not only have they added quarterback Caleb Williams with the first overall pick, but wideout Rome Odunze with another top-10 pick too, plus signed Keenan Allen and return D.J. Moore. That should pose a significant test for the Lions’ new-look secondary, led by a top draft pick of their own in Terrion Arnold. Thanksgiving could offer a fun matchup of the next generation of stars in the NFC North.

The stretch run: Detroit will face a compelling stretch run in its NFC North title defense. The Thanksgiving matchup against Chicago kicks off a three-game homestand against the Bears, then a Thursday night showdown against the Packers and a late-afternoon matchup against the Buffalo Bills. While much has been made of the Lions being forced to play on the road when they did get prime-time games in recent years, they’ve also been sent on the road for their last five late-afternoon games in a row, dating back to a 2020 game against the Packers. Detroit then concludes the season by traveling to San Francisco for an NFC championship game rematch on Monday Night Football, before returning home to face Minnesota in the finale.

Joint practice update: Dan Campbell loves joint practices, and said in March he hoped to schedule two more rounds this year, although that would depend on what happened with the preseason schedule. Teams can request one opponent, and the Lions and Giants requested each other so they could participate in joint practices for a second straight year. With Detroit set to travel to New York in the first week of the preseason, that now seems like a go.

But Campbell’s hopes of scheduling another round of joint practices may have been dashed by drawing the Kansas City Chiefs in the second week of the preseason. Chiefs coach Andy Reid is on record as being adverse to joint practices, and Kansas City -- which hosts training camp at Missouri Western State University in St. Joseph -- was one of just five teams that did not participate in them last summer.

“Had a lot of opportunities to do it,” Reid said, per Fox Sports, “but probably from a selfish standpoint, in today’s world, with technology, there’s not a lot of secrets. You have your coaching points, teaching points -- you try to teach on the field -- and I really don’t want anyone hearing that. That’s my own personal feeling. As much as I can keep in-house in today’s world, I want to do.”

Anything can happen, and perhaps Reid’s respect for Dan Campbell will help make joint practices happen. Campbell has worked well with opposing coaches in the past when structuring those things. But the odds of it happening don’t look good.