Detroit Lions schedule rumors: No international trips for Lions in 2018
By Zac Snyder
NFL teams will play three games in London and one game in Mexico City during the 2018 season but the Detroit Lions will play all their games stateside.
The Detroit Lions have been against giving up a home game to take part in the NFL’s International Series but haven’t been opposed to going at the expense of another team’s home game. The team made trips to London for “road” games in both the 2014 and 2015 season but haven’t been back since.
For the third year in a row, the Lions will play all their games domestically.
The NFL announced a trio of London games and one Mexico City game for the 2018 season and the Lions are not among the eight teams who will need a passport to play a regular season game.
The 2018 @NFL schedule of international games pic.twitter.com/HA6WM10hOx
— Michael Signora (@NFLfootballinfo) April 19, 2018
This doesn’t come as a big surprise considering all four teams who are giving up a home game either have a long-term deal with the league to play in London (Jacksonville Jaguars) or are in the process of moving cities (Oakland Raiders) or have a temporary home stadium situation (Los Angeles Rams, Los Angeles Chargers). None of those four teams were scheduled to host the Lions this season.
The Lions’ road opponents for 2018 are the Chicago Bears, Green Bay Packers, Minnesota Vikings, San Francisco 49ers, Arizona Cardinals, Dallas Cowboys, Miami Dolphins and Buffalo Bills.
The Lions will play the Rams, but that game will be held at Ford Field. In addition to the normal NFC North opponents, the Lions will also host the Seattle Seahawks, Carolina Panthers, New York Jets and New England Patriots.
The NFL will release the full week-by-week regular season schedule tonight at 8 p.m. ET.