Friday open thread: What would you change about the Lions schedule?

Though we have known the Lions’ 2020 opponents for a while, we finally got to see the full schedule for the upcoming season on Thursday night. As always, there were plenty of highlights as well as frustrations, as is tradition in the NFL. Once again, Detroit faces an uphill battle as it again seeks out a playoff berth.

There are some legitimate gripes with this slate of 17 weeks. First and foremost is the early bye week, coming at Week 5, the same as last season. Given the unprecedented offseason that we are currently experiencing, this is a big disappointment. Another negative, although expected, is the lack of true primetime games. The Lions were obviously horrible last season, but it is a small bummer to have no night games on the docket.

Today’s Question of the Day is:

What would you change about the Lions schedule?

My answer: Moving the bye week back is probably the obvious answer, but another thing I would change is the December (/January) schedule. Three divisional games, including a trip to Soldier Field in the cold, is going to make it tough if this team is still in playoff contention. A trip to last year’s postseason surprise Tennessee followed by a visit from Tom Brady and the Buccaneers makes for an absolutely brutal five-game stretch.

Another lesser change would be playing a new opponent on Thanksgiving. The Lions only face the Texans once every four years (and host Houston just once every eight seasons), so this will be back-to-back Thanksgiving Day visits to Detroit. There are plenty of other intriguing options on the schedule to use instead. I would have liked to see Tampa Bay or New Orleans.