With training camp in full swing and the regular season approaching, Last Word on Pro Football is breaking down the schedules of all 32 NFL teams. This series will consist of the most difficult (1-8) and easiest (9-16) games among each team’s 16-game slate. The focus for this article is the Detroit Lions easiest games over the course of the 2019 season.
Detroit Lions Most Difficult Games
Detroit Lions Easiest Games in 2019
9. Week 11: vs Dallas Cowboys
Luckily for the Detroit Lions, the Dallas Cowboys are a team that often struggles away from home. They play the New England Patriots the following week, so they may make the mistake of looking ahead to that game and not taking Matt Patricia’s squad seriously. This game has “steal” written all over it for the Detroit Lions.
10. Week Seven: vs Minnesota Vikings
The Minnesota Vikings are another team that will be much easier to deal with at home. The only issue here is that the Lions will be playing the Vikings on a short week after having played the Green Bay Packers the Monday night prior. It’ll be important for the Lions to do everything they can to put this game away early as they may start to run low on energy the longer this game goes.
11. Week Nine: at Oakland Raiders
This will be the last time the Detroit Lions ever travel to the Alameda Coliseum and play the Raiders in Oakland. The Oakland Raiders are poised for a bounce-back season given all their acquisitions in the offseason. The left side of the Oakland Raiders offensive line can be a little suspect, so it’ll be important for the Lions to bring heavy pressure and prevent Derek Carr from getting the ball out quick.
12. Week 16: at Denver Broncos
Even though Mile High Stadium is an extremely difficult place to play year-round (and this game is in December), the Broncos probably won’t be playing for much by this time of the year. Joe Flacco SHOULD be benched by the time this game rolls around and the Lions should be dealing with rookie quarterback Drew Lock. Matt Patricia should have no problem dealing with a rookie quarterback, but it’s that defense of theirs that’ll be the main concern. The duo of Von Miller and Bradley Chubb is definitely one worth losing sleep over if you’re Matthew Stafford. Best bet here is to put points on the board early and force the rookie quarterback to throw the ball.
13. Week 12: at Washington Redskins
The Washington Redskins are another team that won’t be playing for much but a draft pick this season. They also should be starting rookie quarterback Dwayne Haskins by this point in the season as well. The lack of receiving options for the Redskins should allow Matt Patricia to send heavy pressure all game and really fluster the young signal caller.
14. Week 15: vs Tampa Bay Buccaneers
Even though Bruce Arians is the new coach of the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, his quarterback is still Jameis Winston. While the Buccaneers have much better wide receivers than the Redskins, they also have a significantly worse rushing attack. Their defense is also filled with holes in the secondary, so this may be a game that Matthew Stafford tricks you into believing that he can actually win something significant. Don’t buy it people.
15. Week Eight: vs New York Giants
The New York Giants figure to be one of the five worst teams in the NFL this year, so this game shouldn’t be too difficult for the Detroit Lions. The Giants are yet another team that may have ditched their veteran signal caller by now in favor of a rookie waiting in the wings. If Daniel Jones starts and looks anything like he did in the preseason, then this might be an entirely different story.
16. Week One: vs Arizona Cardinals
The Arizona Cardinals have the worst offensive line in the league and arguably one of the worst defenses. They have a rookie head coach in Kliff Kingsbury that has never won anything significant in his head coaching career and is way underqualified for hos job. Matt Patricia should have no problem shutting down the air raid defense and giving Kyler Murray a rude awakening to life in the NFL.
Detroit Lions Most Difficult Games
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