What makes a die-hard Detroit Lions fan? Devoted fans share their stories
We asked Detroit Lions fans to share their stories. Hear what they think of the team’s current run and how their devotion grew through the years.
We now know the full Detroit Lions schedule for the 2025 regular season.
Though there weren’t many early leaks or official statements about the Lions schedule the full mystery revealed itself at 8 p.m., when the NFL kicked off its 2025 schedule release.
It’s a difficult schedule as our Lions insider Dave Birkett notes, as he gives his game-by-game picks and preseason predictions here.
According to betting expert Warren Sharp, the Lions will have the third-toughest schedule of any NFL team in 2025, with matchups against the defending conference champions in the Philadelphia Eagles and Kansas City Chiefs.
Here are all the rumors, updates and highlights from the Lions schedule release day right here.
After a long day of leaks, reports and false starts, we now have the full 2025 regular season Lions schedule:
Sept. 7: at Green Bay Packers, 4:25 p.m. ET
Sept. 14: vs Chicago Bears, 1 p.m. ET
Sept. 22: at Baltimore Ravens, 8:15 p.m. ET (Monday Night Football)
Sept. 28: vs Cleveland Browns, 1 p.m. ET
Oct. 5: at Cincinnati Bengals, 4:25 p.m. ET
Oct. 12: at Kansas City Chiefs, 8:20 p.m. ET
Oct. 20: vs Tampa Bay Buccaneers, 7 p.m. ET (Monday Night Football)
Nov. 2: vs Minnesota Vikings, 1 p.m. ET
Nov. 9: at Washington Commanders, 4:25 p.m. ET
Nov. 16: at Philadelphia Eagles, 8:20 p.m. ET
Nov. 23: vs New York Giants, 1 p.m. ET
Nov. 27: vs Green Bay Packers, 1 p.m. ET (Thanksgiving Day)
Dec. 4: vs Dallas Cowboys, 8:15 p.m. ET (Thursday Night Football)
Dec. 14: at Los Angeles Rams, 4:25 p.m. ET
Dec. 21: vs Pittsburgh Steelers, 4:25 p.m. ET
Dec. 25: at Minnesota Vikings, 4:30 p.m. ET (Christmas Day)
Jan 3-4: at Chicago Bears, time TBD
We have our first Lions Monday Night Football game confirmed.
Per NFL Nerd on X, the Lions will host the Tampa Bay Buccaneers in primetime on Monday, Oct. 20.
The Buccaneers handed the Lions one of their two regular-season losses in 2024, squeaking out a 20-16 victory on Sept. 15. The Lions won 11 straight games following the loss to Tampa.
The Lions were featured in two Monday Night Football games in 2024: a 42-29 win over the Seattle Seahawks on Sept. 30 and a 40-34 win over the San Francisco 49ers on Dec. 30.
According to Art Stapleton of NorthJersey.com, the New York Giants will visit the Lions for a Week 12 matchup on Nov. 23.
The Lions last played the Giants on Nov. 11, 2022, in a 31-18 away win. They are 25-21-1 all-time against the Giants and have won their last three matchups.
Report: Lions will visit Commanders Week 10
Per OzzyNFL on X, the Lions long-awaited rematch against the Washington Commanders will happen on the road in Week 10.
The Lions haven’t played the Commanders in the regular season since 2022, but played a memorable divisional round matchup against Washington in the playoffs on Jan. 18. The Lions entered as the No. 1 seed in the NFC, but the Commanders took advantage of Detroit’s injured defense on the way to a 45-31 win at Ford Field, ending the Lions’ Super Bowl hopes.
According to NFL Nerd on X, the Lions will be visiting the Cincinnati Bengals for a Week 5 matchup.
The Lions last played the Bengals on Oct. 17, 2021, in a 34-11 home loss. The Lions are 3-10 all time against Cincinnati.
We learned earlier in the day that the Lions would be visiting the Minnesota Vikings on Christmas Day, and know we know when they will play their other game.
Per OzzyNFL on X, the Lions will host the Vikings on Week 9, though it has yet to be reported on which day the game will occur.
Per NFL Nerd on X, the Dallas Cowboys will visit the Detroit Lions on Thursday, Dec. 4.
The Lions beat the Cowboys 47-9 in Dallas on Oct. 13, 2024 in their most recent matchup. Though the Lions won big, that game was also marked by Aidan Hutchinson’s injury, one that would have him miss the rest of the 2024 season.
According to Dan Wiederer of the Chicago Tribune, the Lions will host the Chicago Bears in their home opener on Sunday, Sept. 14 in a Week 2 matchup. It will be Detroit’s first matchup against former offensive coordinator Ben Johnson, who is now the Bears coach.
The Lions will also finish their regular season against the Bears in a Week 18 matchup on either Jan. 3 or 4, with a date and time still to be determined.
Detroit won both its matchups against Chicago in 2024, with a 23-20 home win on Nov. 28 and a 34-17 win at Soldier Field on Dec. 22.
Per Andrew Fillipponi of Pittsburgh’s 93.7 The Fan, the Steelers will visit the Lions in a Week 16 matchup.
The Lions haven’t played the Steelers since Nov. 14, 2021, with the two teams finishing with a rare tie as the game finished 16-16 after the overtime period in Pittsburgh.
It’s the last Lions game that has finished in a tie and just the second Lions tie since 1984.
BREAKING: The Steelers will NOT play the Lions on Thanksgiving. Instead. Week 16 in Detroit. A late season trip for the Steelers to the Motor City. pic.twitter.com/4IMdUiGEte
— Andrew Fillipponi (@ThePoniExpress) May 14, 2025
Per Jeff McLane of The Philadelphia Inquirer, the Lions will be visiting the defending Super Bowl-champion Philadelphia Eagles on Sunday, Nov. 16 in a primetime matchup.
This could end up one of the most anticipated games on the NFL’s regular-season schedule, with the defending champs matched up against the conference’s defending No. 1 overall seed.
#Eagles will host the Detroit Lions on Sunday, Nov. 16 in a Week 11 matchup between two of the expected powers in the NFC, a source said.
— Jeff McLane (@Jeff_McLane) May 14, 2025
The Detroit Lions’ road showdown against the Kansas City Chiefs will take place on Sunday Night Football in Week 6 (Oct. 12), according to a report from NFL insider Jordan Schultz.
This would be the Lions’ first trip to Kansas City since they beat the Chiefs 21-20 to open the NFL season in 2023.
—Brian Manzullo
The Detroit Lions are playing on Christmas Day, Dec. 25, against the Minnesota Vikings at U.S. Bank Stadium, according to reports from NFL insider Jordan Schultz and the Minnesota Star Tribune. That will be Week 17 of the NFL season.
That means the Lions will play on both Thanksgiving and Christmas this year.
—Brian Manzullo
The Detroit Lions will reportedly open their season Sunday, Sept. 7, at the Green Bay Packers in Lambeau Field.
The NFC North rivalry game will be a 4:25 p.m. start on Fox, according a report by Fox Sports. Per the Free Press’ David Birkett, the leak lines up with other announced Week 1 games, which have been mainly division-rival matchups.
The rest of the Lions’ schedule likely will not be announced until the 8 p.m. May 14.
—Bill Bradley
Even though the Lions are scheduled to play more away games (nine) than home games (eight) in 2025, Detroit will have the fourth-shortest travel schedule among all NFL teams in the upcoming regular season.
The Lions will travel an estimated 11,411 miles in the 2025 regular season according to Bill Speros, ahead of only the Cincinnati Bengals (8,753 miles), Buffalo Bills (10,546) and the Baltimore Ravens (10,647).
By comparison, the Los Angeles Chargers are estimated to set the record this year in miles travelled with 37,086, thanks to a slate of east coast games and a Week 1 game in Brazil.
Part of the Lions’ shorter travel schedule is due to the team’s proximity to its NFC North rivals. Both the Green Bay Packers and the Chicago Bears land in the bottom-third of NFL teams with fewer than 13,000 estimated miles of upcoming travel, while the Minnesota Vikings get close to 20,000 only because of back-to-back international games in Dublin and London in Weeks 4 and 5.
—Christian Romo
The Lions aren’t scheduled for an overseas regular-season game in 2025, but the Minnesota Vikings will play in two-straight international affairs.
The first will come on Sept. 28 in a matchup with the Pittsburgh Steelers at Croke Park in Dublin, Ireland. The second comes a week later on Oct. 5 against the Cleveland Browns at Tottenham Hostpur Stadium in London. The Vikings are designated as the road team for both games.
—Christian Romo
Despite rumors that they could be considered, the Lions will not play in the league-opening Thursday Night Football game vs. the Philadelphia Eagles.
Instead, it’ll be the other America’s Team, the Dallas Cowboys, taking on the defending Super Bowl champions in the annual game.
—Christian Romo
Date: Wednesday, May 14Time: 8 p.m. ETChannel: NFL NetworkStreaming: NFL.com, NFL+, Fubo
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You can reach Christian at cromo@freepress.com.