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Seems like the Detroit Lions always get shafted when the schedules come out, don’t they?
Of course the Lions couldn’t have drawn the NFC West this year. They get the rough-and-tumble NFC South and the unpredictable AFC West.
And to make matters worse, they open with three of their first four on the road for the second straight year. The home game is against the AFC West champion Kansas City Chiefs, i.e. not any easier than the road tests.
But really, is a tough schedule something to whine about, or is it an opportunity?
If the Lions had the league’s easiest schedule and went 10-6, they would be dogged all year by “who have they played” criticisms (think last year’s Tampa Bay Bucs).
Playing the league’s fourth-toughest schedule leaves no room for doubt if the Lions have a breakout year.
Of course, talk of difficult schedules is usually a self-fulfilling prophecy. Strength of schedule is figured by opponents’ win-loss record. When a team has lost a lot of games, its schedule gets tougher just as a result of not playing one of the league’s worst teams (itself).
To drive that point home, the only teams with tougher schedules than Detroit are Carolina, Buffalo, and Denver. Yes, that’s right, the top three teams in the 2011 NFL Draft.
That said, much of Detroit’s difficult schedule comes from within the division, as well.
The Lions will draw the defending Super Bowl champion Green Bay Packers on Thanksgiving, and then again for the season finale at Lambeau Field.
They get the NFC North champion Chicago Bears at home on Monday Night, and then at Soldier Field in Week 10, the week after the bye.
The Lions also get the NFC South. Yes, they will draw Carolina with that division, statistically the worst team in football.
But the NFC South is also home to last year’s No. 1 NFC playoff seed (Atlanta), the top NFC Wild Card team (New Orleans), and the Tampa Bay Buccaneers who just missed the playoffs at 10-6.
The AFC West on the other hand is full of question marks, and the timing couldn’t be worse on most of the games.
The Chargers game is on Christmas Eve, smack in the middle of San Diego’s traditional late-season playoff push. They have that game at home the week after a trip to Oakland to play the up-and-coming Raiders.
The Lions draw the Chiefs in Week 2 for the Ford Field opener. The Chiefs should be fresh and looking to show the world that their 2010 playoff appearance wasn’t a fluke.
The Lions travel to Denver on Oct. 30, and knowing Denver, there will be four feet of snow freshly fallen for the game.
Factor in tilts against the schizophrenic 49ers and the Jason Garrett-led Cowboys at Jerry World, and the Lions aren’t exactly looking at a stroll through a field lined with cupcakes.
But an easy schedule wasn’t going to help the Lions test their limits, or build any respect for the organization. This is exactly the schedule the Lions need for 2011.
Seven games against playoff teams (Falcons, Saints, Chiefs, Bears x2, Packers x2) means the Lions won’t be able to sneak out a good season just by beating weaker opponents.
If the Lions have the kind of season many think they can, it will be because they took the fight to some of the NFL’s elite and won.
This might be the first season in a long, long time that they will be able to do just that.
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