Sunday open thread: Which opponent on the Detroit Lions’ schedule do you want them to beat the most?

They say in the NFL regular season, each game counts the same. It doesn’t matter if it’s a Week 12 matchup against one of the worst teams in the league, or a “Thursday Night Football” opener against the reigning world champs, they’re all worth one win, loss, or tie.

And while that may be true for the standings (with the only exception being divisional games, which are—in a way—worth two), each win/loss/tie is not experienced the same for fans. Last year provides the most perfect of example for Detroit Lions fans.

Detroit’s Week 18 win over the Green Bay Packers was epic in so many ways. While the playoffs were sadly not on the line for the Lions, it was for the Packers, and there aren’t many better consolation prizes in the NFL than knocking your biggest division rival out of the playoffs. Throw on top of it that it was a nationally-televised game and the end of the Aaron Rodgers era in Green Bay, and it certainly seemed like more than just a single notch in the win column.

So today’s Question of the Day is:

Which game on the Lions’ 2023 NFL schedule do you want the team to win the most?

My answer: I know it’s the obvious answer, but I have to go opening night against the Kansas City Chiefs.

This isn’t a “the most important game is the next one” answer, it has more to do with the team’s slow starts over the past two seasons. Starting 0-10-1 and 1-6 really wears on you as a fan, and while I don’t expect that again this year, it’s not exactly a favorable start to the season with the Chiefs, Seahawks, Falcons and Packers (in GB).

But a win over the Chiefs would send this fanbase into an early frenzy and give the team some wiggle room for the rest of that quartet of games. A win over an AFC team wouldn’t be as beneficial to the playoff race as an NFC win, but, boy, would it send a message to the league that all this offseason hype was legitimate.

And let’s be honest, the Lions very rarely win these types of games. Usually, they come close and we give them a proverbial pat on the back and say, “Wow, you guys hung with the league’s best!”

What better way to show that this franchise has truly turned the corner than beating the Super Bowl champs in their own home to kick off the NFL’s 2023 season in front of one of the biggest national audiences?

What do you all think? Is this too obvious of an answer? Is there a better game or opponent out there? Scroll down to the comment section and sound off.