Tuesday open thread: How many nationally televised games will the Lions have in 2022?

The NFL is set to release their schedule on Thursday, May 12 at 8 p.m. ET where you can tune in on NFL Network or the NFL app. After finishing 2021 with a 3-13-1 record, the list of Lions’ opponents doesn’t appear to be too daunting. What we know so far is that the Lions will be playing each opponent in the the AFC East and the NFC East, as well as the teams that placed last in each NFC division. They were also given the last place team from the AFC South (Jacksonville Jaguars) to fill the 17th game on the schedule.

That leads us to today’s Question of the Day...

How many nationally televised games will the Lions get in 2022?

My answer: Three.

Well, you can always count on there to be at least one because of Thanksgiving Day, so really, I’m guessing that there will be two additional nationally-televised games given to the Lions when the schedule is released.

Last year, the Lions were only given one additional primetime game—Monday Night Football against the Packers in Week 2. You may be thinking that it’s bold to expect the Lions to increase that number after finishing with only three wins, and you’re probably right. However, I wouldn’t discount the Hard Knocks effect. If you look back to when the 4-12 Raiders were invited onto Hard Knocks in 2019, they were given two nationally televised games (neither on Thanksgiving). The Lions have a lot of personality with their current regime. I could see the NFL using that opportunity to maybe throw an extra MNF or TNF game on the Lions’ schedule for some potential storylines.

Your turn.