Detroit Lions Schedule Release: The Lions now have a pretty good chance to do something they haven’t done in 35 years

Now that the Lions will officially play the Patriots in Germany, we know what their true home slate looks like

Mike Payton — Detroit Lions Beat Writer
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Detroit Lions wide receiver Jameson Williams (1) celebrates a touchdown against Chicago Bears during the second half at Ford Field in Detroit on Sunday, Sept. 14, 2025. Junfu Han / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images

The Detroit Lions’ 2026 schedule will be released in full on Thursday night, but now that we know the Lions are playing the New England Patriots in Germany, we also know who they’re actually playing at home at Ford Field this year.

Lions’ True Home Opponents in 2026

  • Packers
  • Bears
  • Vikings
  • Saints
  • Giants
  • Jets
  • Buccaneers
  • Titans

The Lions may have their best chance to go undefeated at home for the first time since 1991

Just take a look at this schedule. There are some tough spots to it, but the toughest spot by far has been removed with the AFC champions being the overseas game. Now you look at the schedule, and I think the toughest matchups are the Packers, Bears, and Buccaneers.

The latter two are teams the Lions have beaten a lot recently. The Lions have won three of the last four against the Bucs, and the Lions haven’t lost to the Bears since the 2023 season. Of course, the Lions got swept by the Packers last year. So they’re a team that can throw a wrench in this whole thing.

After that, you have a fun Giants team that has one of the deepest defensive lines in football, but I’m not sure what they have after that. You’ve got the Saints, who put a lot into their defense this offseason, but their offense is still very much a work in progress. The Jets, who I think will be sneaky good, but are still very young in their process. The Titans are still a very young rebuilding team as well, and the Vikings might be kind of an old rebuilding team.

The Lions already have the easiest total strength of schedule in the NFL, but this home schedule is truly where they have the chance to do the most damage. Not just because of the opponents, but because of the environment. The Lions are just a better indoor team than they are an outdoor team, and we’ve seen that a lot over the last few years. Here are eight games where they can really show that.

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