Following information is from Tankathon: <\/a><\/p>\n11. Dolphins: 6-9 (.488 strength of schedule)
12. Falcons: 6-9 (.502)*
13. Buccaneers: 7-8 (.529)
14. Cowboys: 7-8-1 (.435)
15. Lions: 8-8 (.492)
16. Ravens: 8-8 (.502)
17. Vikings: 8-8 (.511)
18. Colts: 8-7 (.533)**<\/p>\n
*pick belongs to Rams
** pick belongs to Jets<\/p>\n
Remember that the tiebreaker for draft position is strength of schedule, not head-to-head. So the Lions could still theoretically jump to as high as 11, given that their strength of schedule is actually lower than most teams on this list. With this in mind, here are the teams you should be rooting for in Week 17 to maximize the Lions\u2019 draft position.<\/p>\n
Advertisement<\/p>\n
Buccaneers at Dolphins \u2014 1 p.m. ET \u2014 FOX<\/p>\n
Who to root for: Buccaneers<\/p>\n
Either result is beneficial for the Lions, because they can technically pass both teams in draft order. However, the Lions are far less likely to jump Miami because the Dolphins would have to win both of their remaining games and lose the strength of schedule tiebreaker, which they currently own over the Lions.<\/p>\n
But if the Bucs win\u2014and they have a lot of motivation to do so with their NFC South hopes still alive\u2014the Lions will immediately jump one more spot in draft position.<\/p>\n
Jaguars at Colts \u2014 1 p.m. ET \u2014 FOX<\/p>\n
Who to root for: Colts<\/p>\n
The Colts have been eliminated from the playoffs and the Jaguars are still trying to hold off the Texans for the AFC South lead, so this is admittedly a very unlikely scenario.<\/p>\n
Advertisement<\/p>\n
However, the good news is that even if the Colts lose and drop to 8-8, they will likely stay behind the Lions in draft order because of their tough strength of schedule.<\/p>\n
Steelers at Browns \u2014 1 p.m. ET \u2014 CBS<\/p>\n
Who to root for: Browns<\/p>\n
The Lions can\u2019t catch the 3-12 Browns, but this result is looking ahead to Week 18. If the Steelers win this game, they will clinch the AFC North, eliminating the Ravens\u2014a team the Lions would like to see continue to win\u2014from playoff contention. With the Steelers and Ravens playing next week, it\u2019s either going to be a completely meaningless game for both teams (Steelers could maybe be playing for the third vs. fourth seed if they have the division wrapped up) or a game for the AFC North title. I think a Ravens win is slightly more likely in a scenario that game is for the division. Also, screw Aaron Rodgers.<\/p>\n
Advertisement<\/p>\n
Seahawks at Panthers \u2014 1 p.m ET \u2014 CBSBears at 49ers \u2014 8:20 p.m. ET \u2014 NBC<\/p>\n
Who to root for: Panthers and Bears<\/p>\n
Okay, bear with me, because this going to get a little dark. If you\u2019re rooting for draft position, you are probably one of the people who want the Lions to lose in Week 18 vs. the Bears. What\u2019s the best way to make that happen? Have some serious stakes in that game for Chicago.<\/p>\n
If the Bears beat the 49ers this week and the Seahawks lose to the Panthers, Chicago would jump to the NFC\u2019s top seed. That would mean if the Bears could clinch a first-round bye with a win over the Lions in Week 18. Those are huge stakes for Chicago with the Lions only playing for pride.<\/p>\n
Advertisement<\/p>\n
I can\u2019t bring myself to root for this scenario, but if you look at things from a strictly practical scenario, this is the best outcome.<\/p>\n
Rams at Falcons \u2014 8:15 p.m. ET Monday \u2014 ESPN<\/p>\n
Who to root for: Falcons<\/p>\n
This is another long-shot outcome with the Rams trying to claw their way back into the NFC West lead and the Falcons dead. Atlanta would also need to win out for the Lions to jump them, so don\u2019t expect that to happen.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The Detroit Lions\u2019 playoff hopes are dead. It\u2019s a terrible development, and I\u2019m sure many Lions fans are…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":635323,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[220,1586,223,374,86,211,692,2005,230,113,7052,224,7,213,226,147,216,6,424,169,238,426,10736,222,4378],"class_list":{"0":"post-635322","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-nfl","8":"tag-49ers","9":"tag-aaron-rodgers","10":"tag-atlanta","11":"tag-bears","12":"tag-browns","13":"tag-buccaneers","14":"tag-chicago","15":"tag-colts","16":"tag-cowboys","17":"tag-detroit-lions","18":"tag-draft-position","19":"tag-falcons","20":"tag-football","21":"tag-jaguars","22":"tag-jets","23":"tag-lions","24":"tag-miami","25":"tag-nfl","26":"tag-rams","27":"tag-ravens","28":"tag-seahawks","29":"tag-steelers","30":"tag-strength-of-schedule","31":"tag-texans","32":"tag-the-lions"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/channels.im\/@nfl\/115797716090851533","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/635322","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=635322"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/635322\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/635323"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=635322"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=635322"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=635322"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}