The Detroit Lions 2025 schedule includes 5 teams still alive in the playoffs

On By Littum

The Detroit Lions will play a No. 1 seed in the 2025 NFL season for the second year in a row, after win the NFC North one more time.

And their road to their first ever Super Bowl appearance will be bumpy.

And because the NFL allocates three cross-division games to each team based on where they finish in the division, the Lions will face a more difficult schedule on paper. They will face the first place teams from the NFC West, NFC South and AFC West.

Of the six teams left in the playoffs, enter Sunday’s divisional playoff gamesthe Lions will face five on the road in 2025: the Kansas City Chiefs, Baltimore Ravens, Washington Commanders, Philadelphia Eagles and Los Angeles Rams.

The only remaining team the Lions will not face in the 2025 regular season is the Buffalo Bills.

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“It feels like one of those games would be a pretty good primetime opener,” beat Detroit Free Press Lions writer Dave Birkett wrote X on Sunday.

It could be a Sunday night or even Monday night in Week 1, but if one of the teams wins the Super Bowl, there is a possibility that it could be the season opener on Thursday night. The Lions opened the 2023 season at the defending Super Bowl champion Chiefs, winning 21–20.

The Lions will play 11 of their 17 games against teams coming from the playoff spot, with seven on the road.

The Lions, like all NFC teams, have nine road games and eight home games in 2025.

Here’s the Lions’ 2025 opponent schedule, with those teams’ 2024 regular-season records in parentheses.

Lions 2025 home games

*Means playoffs for teams.

  • Bears (5-12)
  • *Packers (11-6)
  • *Vikings (14-3)
  • Cowboys (7-10)
  • Giants (3-14)
  • Brown (3-14)
  • *Steel machines (10-7)
  • *Buccaneers (10-7)

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Lions 2025 away games

  • Bears (5-12)
  • *Packers (11-6)
  • *Vikings (14-3)
  • *Commanders (12-5)
  • *Eagles (14-3)
  • Bengals (9-8)
  • *Ravens (12-5)
  • *Chiefs (15-2)
  • *Rams (10-7)

NFL 2025 Release Date Announcement

The NFL typically reveals the entire upcoming season’s schedule in May. Last year, the NFL announced the 2024 schedule on May 15.

Keep an eye out for the best Detroit Lions year-round coverage at freep.com/sports/lions.

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