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In the eyes of many neutrals, the Detroit Lions were the most impressive team in the NFL across the regular season last year. Sure, the Playoffs were disappointing, ending the season on a downbeat note, but there was enough evidence across the campaign to get Lions’ fans believing in the methods of Dan Campbell and his team.

One of the interesting things about the Lions’ 15-2 record (joint best in the NFL and best overall in the NFC) was that it was achieved while having a tougher strength of schedule (.516) than the majority of other NFC teams that made the Playoffs. Of all the NFC Playoffs teams, only the Packers (11-6) had a tougher SoS going into the 2024 season.

That said, the Lions have an even tougher SoS going into this season, with opponents last season posting a .571-win rate. It’s the second toughest in the NFL, with only the Jets having a tougher schedule. Of course, the merits of SoS as a true metric of difficulty are often debated, as it assumes that teams don’t improve or get worse in the offseason, but we know it can be a fairly useful guide for fans.

A challenging September schedule

It is clear, however, that the Lions have a particularly difficult start. The team opens its season with a trip to Green Bay, which is always a challenging proposition, regardless of the Packers’ current fortunes, and then has a seven-game stretch that includes games against NFL Playoff betting favorites like the Chiefs and Ravens before the Bye Week. After that, there is a three-game run against divisional rivals, the Vikings, the team that eliminated the Lions in the Playoffs last term, the Commanders, and the reigning Super Bowl champions, the Eagles.

The Lions were 9-1 going into Week 11 of the 2024 season, and it will be interesting to see if the team can get anywhere near that record this time around. As we explained with the SoS ranking, the Lions played some tough opponents last year, and they were especially impressive in going 6-0 against NFC North teams. But on the eve of the new season, there are four teams quite close together at the top of the Super Bowl LX betting markets – Ravens, Bills, Chiefs, and Eagles – and the Lions will play three of them within the first ten games of the season.

Tough tests could pay dividends later

Nevertheless, sportsbooks have ranked the Lions 5^th overall in the Super Bowl odds, and these are the teams that the Lions will have to beat to prove that they can go a few steps further in the Playoffs. Indeed, when looking back at last season, you might argue that the Lions looked very impressive when coming up against average or quite good teams, but struggled against the very best. A good example of that was the loss to the Bills in a 42-48 slugfest in Week 15.

It looks tougher in 2025. Moreover, there is the added uncertainty due to the changes in the Lions’ coaching staff, with both offensive coordinator Ben Johnson and defensive coordinator Aaron Glenn taking head coaching jobs elsewhere in the league. John Morton (OC) and Kelvin Sheppard (DC) will play integral roles in ensuring that Dan Campbell’s overall plans are executed flawlessly.

None of this is meant to sound pessimistic about the season ahead. The Lions look like a Playoff team, and they are given a lot of respect in the Super Bowl markets. Indeed, you might argue that the tougher route across the regular season will better prepare the team for what comes in January. You can be almost certain that some of these tough matchups will be repeated again in the Playoffs, should the Lions make it.

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