The NFL Better Not Screw the Lions on This Bye Week
Look, I love this time of year when we get to play detective with the Lions schedule before it drops. The clues are scattered around like breadcrumbs, and if you know where to look, you can piece together what the hell the NFL is planning for us.
We already cracked the code on the Germany game. It’s November 15th, which we figured out by following the soccer schedule at the stadium. Smart detective work, if I do say so myself.
But here’s where it gets interesting. And by interesting, I mean potentially infuriating.
Do the Math on This Bye Week Situation
The Lions play in Germany on November 15th. Thanksgiving is November 26th. If the NFL has any sense at all, they’ll give Detroit their bye week right after that Germany game.
Because the alternative is absolutely ridiculous. Picture this: the Lions fly back from Germany the night of the 15th, land in Detroit the morning of the 16th, get exactly one day off, and then have to be back at practice Wednesday for a game on November 22nd. Then turn around four days later and play on Thanksgiving.
That’s not just brutal. That’s borderline cruel.
Sure, the Cowboys have played on Thanksgiving after an international game before. But that was Mexico City. One hour time difference, two hour flight. We’re talking about a six hour time difference and a nine hour flight from Germany. These situations aren’t even in the same universe.
Week 12 Bye Makes All the Sense in the World
Give the Lions their bye in Week 12. Let them fly home from Germany, actually recover for six days, get back to practice on November 22nd, and have a normal week of preparation for Thanksgiving. It’s logical. It’s fair. It’s what any reasonable person would do.
Now, I have to say this is just educated guesswork based on what we know. This isn’t reporting. But if the NFL doesn’t do this, everyone should be pissed off. The Lions should be mad because they’re getting screwed on recovery time. The media should be mad because they’re dealing with the same jet lag hell. And fans should be furious because the injury risk just skyrocketed for no good reason.
We’ve been through enough as Lions fans. We don’t need the NFL making things harder just because they can.
Think the NFL will actually do right by Detroit here, or are we setting ourselves up for disappointment again? Let me know in the comments.
This is exactly the kind of thing Campbell and Holmes would fight for. They actually care about taking care of the players and the team’s health, not just checking boxes on a schedule. I’m feeling good about where we’re at.
I really hope you’re right about this, but the NFL has a way of doing the thing that benefits them most and not us. I trust Campbell to go to bat for the team if it doesn’t happen, but let’s see if the schedule actually lines up how we think it will.
You know, it’s refreshing to even be having this conversation because the front office actually respects the team enough to think about this stuff. That wasn’t always the case around here and we knew it.