The Lions Are Getting the Primetime Treatment They’ve Earned
Three more schedule leaks just dropped, and the Detroit Lions are officially a primetime draw. Hard to believe after sitting through decades of 1 p.m. Sunday obscurity, but here we are.
The Lions will host the New York Giants on Monday Night Football in Week 16, with kickoff set for Monday, December 28 at Ford Field. The Giants are starting fresh after firing Brian Daboll, bringing in former Ravens coach John Harbaugh to try and turn things around. There’s some optimism brewing in New York, which feels familiar. Last year these two teams went to overtime, with Detroit pulling out a 34-27 win. The Lions hold a 26-21-1 edge in the all-time series across 48 meetings.
The second leak has Detroit heading to Minnesota for Sunday Night Football in Week 15. The Vikings will be an interesting watch with Kyler Murray now competing with J.J. McCarthy in the quarterback room. Minnesota swept the Lions in 2025. Playing in Minneapolis under the lights in December? That’s going to be a test.
Road Trip to Carolina Gets the Spotlight
The third primetime game sends the Lions to Carolina for a Week 4 Sunday Night Football matchup on October 4. This will be the Panthers’ first primetime home game since 2023 and their first Sunday Night Football appearance since 2016. Carolina broke their seven-year playoff drought last season with a Wild Card berth, so they’re trending upward.
The good news here is timing. Early October beats the hell out of what happened last time Detroit played in Charlotte. Remember Christmas Eve 2022? Unusually cold weather and terrible turf conditions that were so bad the NFLPA filed a grievance against the league for forcing both teams to play in unsafe conditions. October should be a different story entirely.
Four Primetime Games and Counting
Add these three to the already-confirmed Thursday Night Football game against the Buffalo Bills in Week 2, and the Lions are looking at at least four primetime appearances. That’s the kind of national television treatment this franchise hasn’t seen since the early 1990s.
It’s a simple equation: win football games, get primetime slots. The Lions have done the first part consistently enough under Dan Campbell and Brad Holmes that the league is finally taking notice. Ford Field under the lights on a Monday night in December sounds pretty damn good.
Are you ready for primetime Lions football or does this feel like we’re setting ourselves up for national embarrassment? Drop your take below.
