DETROIT – Schedules for all 32 NFL teams were officially released on Thursday night.
The Detroit Lions learned the 14 different opponents they will have to get through before hopefully returning to the playoffs for a third year in a row.
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All of them together make up the second-most difficult slate any team in the NFL will have to endure.
Don’t tell that to Dan Campbell and his players, though. You know they will give each squad their best shot week in and week out.
--> Detroit Lions unveil 2025 schedule: Toughest opponents, primetime showdowns ahead
Here is a breakdown of each of those opponents and what to keep in mind when the Lions face them.
Green Bay Packers
Apparently, the NFL really values the Lions-Green Bay Packers rivalry based on the time slots it has given them in recent years.
Opening the season in Green Bay and then hosting the Packers on Thanksgiving is a fortunate draw for a Lions team that always plays better when in a dome or in favorable weather conditions.
While Detroit swept the season series in 2024, the Packers’ defense held them in check better than most opponents.
The Lions were limited to under four yards per carry and 5.5 yards per play in those games.
Chicago Bears
No doubt some of the Lions offensive players will have these divisional bouts circled with their former coordinator Ben Johnson, now the head coach of the Bears, being on the opposite sideline.
They won’t have to wait very long as their first meeting will open the season’s home slate.
Mother Nature will most likely appear when the Lions travel to Chicago for their week 18 closer, something they also had to deal with in 2024.
Bears quarterback Caleb Williams had some of his better rookie performances against Detroit, but he was sacked seven times across eight quarters of play.
The 2024 NFL Draft’s No. 1 overall pick was sacked more than any other quarterback last year, which has led Johnson to prioritize bolstering his offensive line over the offseason.
To combat that, the Lions will certainly hope Aidan Hutchinson is near full health in early September.
Minnesota Vikings
Unfortunately, Lions players and coaches will have to be away from their families on Thanksgiving and Christmas.
Once they start prepping to face a division opponent, that thought will quickly leave their minds, as they can snatch both games from the Vikings for the third year in a row.
Last season, the two meetings were vastly different: a narrow two-point victory in Minnesota and a one-sided affair in week 18 in Detroit.
Believe it or not, the Lions had more sacks against Sam Darnold (6) than offensive touchdowns allowed (2) in those games. It would be very impressive if they pull off that feat again this year in weeks 9 and 17.
Dallas Cowboys
Who can forget the 2024 edition of Lions vs. Dallas Cowboys? Five forced turnovers, the unfortunate season-ending injury to Aidan Hutchinson, and running up the score to win by 38 points all took place in the week six matchup.
Even then, it was only the Lions’ third-best offensive performance of last season.
The Cowboys have appeared on the schedule each of the last three years, but they have all taken place at AT&T Stadium in Arlington, Texas.
This time around, Ford Field will be the setting for an early December Thursday night game.
Once again, Dallas has elected to have a somewhat quiet offseason, not making any real splash moves.
They targeted offensive players in the draft and even gave quarterback Dak Prescott some new weapons like running back Miles Sanders and wide receiver George Pickens.
It’s hard to say what kind of game this will be with it being months away, but given how the recent games have gone, it wouldn’t be a surprise if this year’s meeting also had some sort of drama.
New York Giants
The only team that has a more difficult strength of schedule in 2025 than the Lions is the New York Giants.
Paying a visit to Ford Field in week 12 is probably what contributes to that, a place New York hasn’t clinched a victory at since 2013.
This game is sandwiched between a week 11 Sunday night matchup with the Philadelphia Eagles and a Thanksgiving Day date with the Packers, part of the Lions’ annual stretch of having three games in 11 days.
If their bout with the defending Super Bowl champions goes poorly the week before, the coaching staff may find themselves holding out slightly injured players against the G-men to assure they have a better chance of playing the following Thursday.
Washington Commanders
Some bad memories are in order for Lions fans when the team makes a trip to the nation’s capital in week 10 to face the Washington Commanders.
Jayden Daniels and company were the Cinderella story of January’s playoffs, and now they are poised to make some real noise in the NFC after some solid moves this offseason.
The Commanders made trades for Pro Bowl left tackle Laremy Tunsil and the always electric wide receiver Deebo Samuel.
Samuel was held to just 21 scrimmage yards when the Lions faced the 49ers last December.
However, they did not do as good of a job in limiting Jayden Daniels in the NFC Divisional loss earlier this year.
Philadelphia Eagles
Many were hoping the Lions would get the honor of kicking off the 2025 season by playing the Eagles on their Super Bowl LIX banner night, but nonetheless, the NFL still found a way to put this game in a primetime slot.
Lincoln Financial Field has only hosted Detroit four times since opening in 2003.
The Lions have gone 2-2 in those games, the last being in 2019 with old friend Matt Patricia at the helm.
This is about as good as it gets for a Sunday Night Football game.
These two teams were the cream of the crop in 2024, with the Lions boasting the best scoring offense and the Eagles housing the stingiest scoring defense.
When you think of Philadelphia, you probably think of their quarterback Jalen Hurts, who has an up-and-down history while playing against Detroit.
Hurts is 2-0 vs. the Honolulu blue while running the ball for 70 or more yards in each contest.
However, the Lions held him in check through the air, holding him to a passer rating below 85.0 each time out.
Cincinnati Bengals
The AFC North is on deck as the out-of-conference opponents for the Lions in 2025.
That means the Lions only see the Baltimore Ravens, Cleveland Browns, Pittsburgh Steelers, and Bengals every four years on most occasions.
The most glaring thing about Detroit’s history against the Bengals is that they haven’t defeated them since November of 1992!
The Bengals will host the battle of these jungle cats on Sunday, Oct. 5.
The Lions haven’t seen this club since week six of the 2021 season, one of the first few games of the Campbell era.
Both clubs have undergone their fair share of changes since then, but for Cincy, one thing remains the same: the lethal duo that is Joe Burrow and Ja’Marr Chase.
The quarterback-WR pairing has both earned massive contracts, asserting themselves as the face of the only franchise in the NFL with a better passing offense than the Lions in 2024.
Meanwhile, the Bengals are in the midst of some controversy on the defensive side of the ball.
They will most likely be without their premier pass rusher, Trey Hendrickson, who plans on staying away from football until given a raise.
Cleveland Browns
If there are any easy games for the Lions in 2025, playing the Browns at Ford Field would certainly be one of them.
The same was true the last time Cleveland made the short trip up north in week 10 of the 2017 season, the same year they joined Detroit as the only NFL franchises to have a winless season.
The Browns lost that game 38-24, and this year’s matchup could definitely end similarly.
In 2024, they were the league’s fourth-worst defense when it came to scoring, and their offense only scored more than 20 points three times.
Pittsburgh Steelers
On Dec. 21, the Pittsburgh Steelers visit Ford Field for the first time since 2017.
Ben Roethlisberger connecting with JuJu Smith-Schuster for a 97-yard touchdown was the highlight of an otherwise quiet offensive night for both teams on that October Sunday long ago, and the same theme might be in store when the two teams meet days before Christmas.
Quarterback is still a question mark for a Steelers team that finished last season 2-6 (including the playoffs) after starting the year 8-2.
Not to mention, they failed to score more than 17 points in each of their final five games.
If the Lions defense doesn’t take a step back in 2025, they might be in line for a nice day against Mike Tomlin’s boys.
Baltimore Ravens
The history between the Lions and Ravens is short and very lopsided. Baltimore has won six of the seven meetings, with the only blunder coming in Detroit in 2005.
The most recent edition was certainly one to forget for the Lions.
2023 got off to a hot start when they rattled off five wins in the first six weeks, but Lamar Jackson entered the picture.
He helped the Ravens put up 38 points and more than 500 total scrimmage yards to continue his trend of wreaking havoc on NFC opponents.
The former MVP has thrown the ball better against the Lions than any other team in his career, averaging 322 passing yards per game in his two victories.
Kansas City Chiefs
It’s unfortunate that the Lions must play the two teams that played in Super Bowl LIX in February.
The Chiefs will host another Sunday night football matchup against Detroit on Oct. 12. Of course, these two heavyweights last met in the 2023 season opener, one of Campbell’s most marquee victories as a head coach.
Kansas City has won four of its last five Sunday night football games on its home turf.
Patrick Mahomes and company are no strangers to the bright lights, and this game will definitely have them.
If there is any good news for the Lions, it’s that this is only their sixth contest to start the year, so their health might be in good standing, and the weather shouldn’t be too frigid.
Los Angeles Rams
As long as Matthew Stafford is in Los Angeles, this contest will be highlighted when the schedule is released each May.
The former Lions signal-caller has thrown for six touchdowns and one interception in three reunions with his old team, recording a passer rating of 105.9 and an average of 339 passing yards per game.
The Lions will be well-rested for their long flight to L.A. in mid-December.
They will have 10 days off after playing back-to-back Thursday games against the Packers and Cowboys.
Campbell and his staff have often referred to this time as a ‘mini-bye week,’ and it may just come in handy against a Rams team that will be one of the favorites to win the NFC this season.
Tampa Bay Buccaneers
Tampa Bay was in a league of its own when it came to the opponents the Lions faced in 2024.
The Bucs were the only team to hold them to below 20 points, allowing just 16 in their Week 2 victory at Ford Field.
Todd Bowles managed a game plan that forced Detroit to abandon the run and called on Jared Goff to attempt a whopping 56 passes.
The Bucs were fourth best in the NFL when it came to stopping the run last year, which may lead them to replicating that same formula when they face off on Monday, Oct. 20.