On Tuesday afternoon, the NFL announced that the 2018 schedule will be released on Thursday at 8 p.m. ET. NFL Network will be airing a two-hour special breaking down all of the best games for the upcoming season, but, thankfully, we’ll get the Detroit Lions’ schedule almost immediately.
While there are a lot of important things to discover about the schedule—what time of year the outdoor games are, how many home/away games you’ll play in a row, etc.—the first thing that many fans look for is how many nationally televised games their team has.
For the Lions, we always know that Detroit will have at least one in the Thanksgiving Day classic. However, it’s hard to figure out how the league views Detroit’s popularity as of late. They have been a competitive team for quite some time now, but have mostly wallowed in mediocrity. So today’s Question of the Day is:
How many nationally televised games—including Thanksgiving—will the Detroit Lions have in the 2018 season?
My answer: Three. Here’s the breakdown of nationally televised games for the Lions over the past five years:
2017: 5
2016: 3* (2 originally, 1 flexed)
2015: 6
2014: 3
2013: 2
As you can see, the Lions have been all over the map in the amount of nationally televised games received. However, the only times they were given more than three in a year were after playoff appearances in 2014 and 2016.
Though the Lions did not make the playoffs last year, they did go 9-7. They also went 3-2 in nationally televised games in 2017, including two road victories on Monday Night Football against the Giants and Packers.
However, it just seems like there are more popular storylines outside of the Lions this offseason. Detroit does have the allure of a new head coach, but with such a crazy offseason elsewhere, the Lions may not move the needle as much as other teams right now.
Still, the Lions have been competitive enough to earn some national attention again this year, which is why I think three nationally televised games is fair for this franchise right now.
Your turn.
Poll
How many nationally televised games will the Lions get in 2018?
This poll is closed
-
1%
1
-
11%
2
-
29%
3
-
45%
4
-
7%
5
-
2%
6
-
2%
More than 6