Detroit Schedule Release: Mike Vrabel is on the Lions’ schedule, but his Dianna Russini scandal could impact an NFL decision for a major game that makes too much sense
The Lions playing against an AFC team on Thanksgiving makes the most sense, but a scandal could prevent it
The Detroit Lions’ 2026 schedule drops on Thursday night, and before that, we’re putting out some predictions that make the most sense to us. So far, we’ve talked about Germany, the Lions’ first and last games of the year, and their primetime matchups. Now we’re going to predict one of the biggest games of the season for the league and the Lions. The Thanksgiving game.
The Lions vs Patriots make the most sense on Thanksgiving
Let’s start here. The Lions have primarily played an NFC North rival on Thanksgiving. In the last 10 years, seven of those games have been divisional matchups. The other ones have been against AFC teams.
The Lions play two AFC teams at home this year. The Titans and the Patriots. Which one of those two teams do you think the NFL would want to play on Thanksgiving? I’m going with the AFC champions
A Lions vs. Patriots game just sells itself to start the day’s slate of games. The Patriots reached the Super Bowl last year, and the Lions are expected to be Super Bowl contenders this season. Dan Campbell vs. Mike Vrabel is a matchup everyone would want to see, with two coaches who share very similar personas. Plus, Jared Goff vs what could arguably be the younger version of himself in Drake Maye. At least in the sense that they entered the league the same way and have had similar starts.
The thing that might prevent it is the thing everyone is talking about right now. The scandal involving Vrabel and reporter Dianna Russini. There has been so much talk about this story, and it’s not going away. Because of that, you have to wonder if the NFL would like to cool things down by keeping the Patriots out of the spotlight as much as possible.
It’s going to be impossible to do, but just thinking aloud here. It’s much more likely to get talked about in situations where the Patriots are one of the only teams on TV at the moment than when they’re mixed in with the 1:00 and 4:00 crowd. How far does the NFL want to go to protect itself and the Patriots from this? Would they tell networks they’re not allowed to bring it up?
You also have to wonder whether Vrabel is even the head coach of this team in 2026, as some believe he may step down due to the massive distraction this is causing for the franchise at the moment. That is probably the very last straw available to be pulled, though.
We’re galaxy-braining a bit here, but it’s worth thinking about. If none of that stuff matters and the NFL goes into business-as-usual mode, this game makes the most sense to really sell to fans of teams that aren’t playing on Thanksgiving or don’t play till later that day.
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