2018 NFL schedule leak: Detroit Lions to open season vs. Jets on Monday Night Football

We’re all eagerly awaiting the release of the Detroit Lions’ 2018 schedule, which will officially be announced at 8 p.m. ET on Thursday night. But before that happens, we’ll likely get a handful of rumors before then.

The first is already out and it’s an important one. The New York Post is reporting that the Lions will open the season against the New York Jets on “Monday Night Football.”

The NFL likes to open up the season with two “Monday Night Football” games, so it’s unclear whether this will be the first or the second game played that day. However, the second game typically features at least one west coast team. Also of note, the report says the game will be in Detroit. There was belief the Lions would start on the road this year, because of a scheduling conflict on Sunday. Obviously, a Monday night game would circumvent that conflict.

The Lions have faced the Jets only 13 times in team history, winning seven of those games going all the way back to the year 1972. The last time the two teams met, the Lions defeated the Jets 24-17 in 2014.

This could be a very interesting game for the Lions to start the year with. The Jets are expected to draft a quarterback in this year’s draft, and even though the team has Teddy Bridgewater now, they could potentially be starting a rookie quarterback in Week 1. The Lions could have the benefit of facing a quarterback in their first career start.

This wouldn’t be the first time the Lions opened up the season against a rookie quarterback. Back in 2008, the Lions faced rookie quarterback Matt Ryan in Week 1. Ryan’s very first pass was a 62-yard touchdown on the way to a 34-21 win for Atlanta.

Hopefully things will go a little better this time around.

Note: There is also a conflicting report out there that the Jets ‘could’ play the Lions on Thanksgiving.