It turns out the Lions should be taking the blame themselves for not having a bye week after Germany, but they did work to have a bit of a counterplan

The Lions really wanted to play in Germany, and they knew the risk they’d be taking on if they got the game

Mike Payton — Detroit Lions Beat Writer
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Detroit Lions wide receiver Amon-Ra St. Brown (14) next to assistant quarterbacks coach J.T Barrett and teammates take the field for warm up before the game between San Francisco 49ers and Detroit Lions at Levi’s Stadium in Santa Clara, Calif. on Monday, Dec. 30, 2024.

The Detroit Lions’ schedule dropped last week, and the big thing of note is that the Lions do not have a bye week after their game against the New England Patriots in Munich, Germany. Instead, the Lions have a very quick turnaround with two games right after that. Making it three games in just 11 days.

Obviously, the blame from fans has gone to the NFL. Why would they do such a thing to the Lions? A team that has dealt with a ton of injuries in recent years. The thing is, that’s not exactly what happened.

The Lions hold all the blame for not having a bye week after Germany

The thing about Germany is that it is a country ruled by soccer. Since Bayern Munich FC basically owns the stadium the Lions are playing in, the NFL has to wait until November to have the game. Because of that, it would put any team that plays on Thanksgiving in a sticky situation.

But according to the NFL vice president for broadcasting planning, Mike North, current team president Rod Wood, and the Lions essentially pushed as hard as they could to get a game in Germany.

“We knew that Germany game was going to be a mere two weeks before Thanksgiving, and it was important enough to Rod, to the organization, to our international folks, certainly to your wide receiver [Amon-Ra St. Brown] that it made a lot of sense for the Lions to play in that Germany game.”

The Lions pushed to make it happen, and they knew that they would probably not get a bye week after it. But they did successfully work with the league to get a mini bye week after Thanksgiving.

“They were really hoping to see that 10-day break post-Thanksgiving as opposed to yet another Thursday to Thursday,” North said. “Credit to the team, really, for volunteering. They knew what they were getting into, and I think it broke the way they hoped it would.”

This all makes sense, but at the same time, it kind of doesn’t. Maybe it’s just me, but I’m still missing how the Lions still couldn’t have a bye week after Germany. I get the idea that their Thaks giving opponent would potentially be coming off a short week, but all they had to do was push the Bears’ bye week back just one week. That’s not crazy at all. But here we are. We’ll see if the Lions are able to stay healthy during that time.

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