5 takeaways from the Detroit Lions’ 2026 schedule release

The Lions are still a national pull

While the Lions currently are only scheduled to have four primetime games—down from five last year—the majority of their schedule is still nationally televised. In total, eight of their 16 games are currently scheduled to be nationally televised, with their Week 18 finale still a potential “Sunday Night Football” candidate. Here’s a look at all eight nationally televised games:

• Week 2 — Thursday, Sept. 17 — at Bills — 8:15 p.m. ET (Prime Video)
• Week 4 — Sunday, Oct. 4 — at Panthers — 8:20 p.m ET (NBC)
• Week 7 — Sunday, Oct. 25 — vs. Packers — 4:25 p.m. ET (FOX)
• Week 10 — Sunday, Nov. 15 — vs. Patriots — 9:30 a.m. ET (FOX) — Germany
• Week 12 — Thursday, Nov. 26 — vs. Bears — 1 p.m. ET (CBS) — Thanksgiving
• Week 15 — Sunday, Dec. 20 — at Vikings — 8:20 p.m. ET (NBC)
• Week 16 — Monday, Dec. 28 — vs. Giants — 8:15 p.m. ET (ESPN)
• Week 17 — Sunday, Jan 3 — at Bears — 4:25 p.m. ET (FOX)

Set up for a strong start

While the Lions’ ending to the season could be very tough, the start of the season could allow for the Lions to get out to a nice start to the season. Four of the Lions’ first five games are against teams that finished with a losing record last year: the Saints (6-11), Jets (3-14), Panthers (8-9), and Cardinals (3-14). While those teams could look very different in 2026, it would be disappointing if Detroit finished anything worse than 4-1 to start the year.

Another crappy, early bye week

While we knew the Lions weren’t likely to get a bye week after their Germany game because of its proximity to Thanksgiving, it’s still a massive disappointment to see the bye week come so early in the Lions’ 2026 schedule. A Week 6 bye is the second-earliest available in the NFL, and it comes well before the toughest parts in Detroit’s schedule. It would’ve been much nicer to see the Lions get a break right before their Germany game to get some rest headed into that three-games-in-12-days streak or a Week 14 bye that would’ve helped prepare Detroit for that road division gauntlet at the end of the year.

Get ready to be home by 5 p.m. ET

We knew as soon as the Lions vs. Patriots game was destined for Germany that Detroit’s home schedule wasn’t going to be too exciting. With a pretty milquetoast set of home opponents, it’s not all that surprising to see that of the Lions’ eight games being played at Ford Field, six of them are scheduled for 1 p.m. ET:

• Week 1 vs. Saints
• Week 3 vs. Jets
• Week 8 vs. Vikings
• Week 11 v. Buccaneers
• Week 12 vs. Bears (Thanksgiving)
• Week 14 vs. Titans The other two games are a 4:25 p.m. ET start against the Packers and “Monday Night Football” contest against the New York Giants. As someone who has to work late after these games, I can get behind this.