Tuesday open thread: How many primetime games will the Detroit Lions have in 2019?

On Tuesday, the NFL announced that the 2019 regular season schedule will be released on Wednesday at 8 p.m. ET. While some of the excitement of the event has already been spoiled since we already know the Detroit Lions 2019 home and away opponents, the real excitement is seeing how many nationally televised games they’ll have this season.

We already know the Lions will have the Thanksgiving Day Classic—in spite of efforts from the Eagles to take them on the road—but will the Lions break into the primetime audience after a disappointing 6-10 season?

Today’s Question of the Day is:

How many primetime games do you think the Lions will have on their initial schedule?

My answer: It would be hard to justify more than one. The Lions weren’t only disappointing in 2019, but they were actually quite boring, too. Their offense was no longer the highlight machine it used to be, and the thrilling fourth-quarter comebacks were gone. The defense was even tougher to watch, especially in the first half of the season.

That being said, there are reasons to believe Detroit could be more thrilling this year. A new offensive coordinator is in town, the Lions grabbed arguably the best defensive player in free agency, and with a top-10 pick coming in (pending a trade), the Lions could be one of the better bounce-back stories in 2019.

However, if I were the NFL, I’d hedge my bets. If the Lions turn out to be a surprise team in 2019, then you can flex them into primetime for “Sunday Night Football.” Otherwise, they’re a hard sell nationally right now.

Your turn.