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Detroit Lions schedule: List of 2018 opponents is set

By Zac Snyder

DETROIT, MI - SEPTEMBER 10: General view of Ford Field before the game between Detroit Lions and Arizona Cardinals on September 10, 2017 in Detroit, Michigan. (Photo by Leon Halip/Getty Images)
DETROIT, MI - SEPTEMBER 10: General view of Ford Field before the game between Detroit Lions and Arizona Cardinals on September 10, 2017 in Detroit, Michigan. (Photo by Leon Halip/Getty Images) /
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With the 2017 NFL regular season complete, we now know exactly who will appear on the Detroit Lions schedule for the 2018 NFL season.

Two things were known heading into the Detroit Lions‘ week 17 game against the Green Bay Packers: the Lions would not be in the playoffs and they would finish second in the NFC North.

As it pertains to the Lions’ 2018 schedule, most of the list of opponents the team will play next season has been set for some time. The annual division home and road games make up six of the 16 games and the NFL’s rotation between divisions makes up another eight. The NFC North will play each team in the NFC West and AFC East next season.

That left just two games to complete the Lions’ 2018 opponents. One was set before week 17 because the Lions and Dallas Cowboys were locked into second place in their respective divisions. All that left to be determined was who would finish second in the NFC South to round out the home portion of the 2018 slate.

With the New Orleans Saints and Carolina Panthers both losing, the two finish in a tie atop the division with the Saints winning via tiebreaker. That leaves the Panthers as the division runner-up to land on the Lions’ 2018 schedule.

The home and road slate is as follows.

Home games: Chicago Bears, Green Bay Packers, Minnesota Vikings, Los Angeles Rams, Seattle Seahawks, New England Patriots, New York Jets, Carolina Panthers

Away games: Chicago Bears, Green Bay Packers, Minnesota Vikings, Arizona Cardinals, San Francisco 49ers, Buffalo Bills, Miami Dolphins, Dallas Cowboys

The NFC North last matched up with the NFC West in 2015. The Lions played the Rams and Seahawks on the road that year, with the Cardinals and 49ers at home so the home/road flips for 2018. The same flip-flop applies for the AFC East opponents, who the NFC North last met in 2014.

Next: 7 Lions who could be gone in 2018

For now all we know is the who and the where. We won’t know the when until the NFL releases the full 2018 regular season weekly schedule next April.

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