Lions primetime schedule reveals NFL sees Super Bowl vision for team

The Detroit Lions haven't often been given a lot of nationally televised games. They haven't exactly been amazing the past decade, though, so it's understandable that they've been on the outs with the league in terms of getting primetime slots.

That's all about to change. Detroit, after finishing their 2024 season with a 15-2 schedule, has landed a whopping five primetime matchups, and two contests coming on Christmas and Thanksgiving. Those primetime and holiday games are against some major competition, including the Baltimore Ravens, Kansas City Chiefs, and Philadelphia Eagles.

If it wasn't clear that the NFL was paying attention to the Lions' success over the last few years with head coach Dan Campbell and Jared Goff under center, it's more than clear now.

Lions' primetime schedule reveals NFL thinks they can be team to beat for Super Bowl spot

Detroit has the following primetime matchups in 2025:

Week 3 (9/21): at Baltimore Ravens (Monday Night Football)
Week 6 (10/12): at Kansas City Chiefs (Sunday Night Football)
Week 7 (10/19): vs. Tampa Bay Buccaneers (Monday Night Football)
Week 11 (11/16): at Philadelphia Eagles (Monday Night Football)
Week 14 (12/7): vs. Dallas Cowboys (Thursday Night Football)

Read more: Lions to get first crack at Matthew Golden-era in Green Bay in Week 1

The league handed Detroit multiple holiday games and multiple back to back primetime games. That speaks volumes to their belief in the teams' ability to put on a show against their opponents, and especially against the Packers and Vikings. Those are also going to be key divisional matchups, further adding a rivalry element to those primetime slots.

Most of these games are also on the road, which is important to note as the league has also given the Lions a pretty tough road schedule throughout the entire season. But, especially for divisional games, Lions fans travel very well. It's hard to imagine they won't do the same for their Christmas or Thanksgiving games.

Getting an opportunity to also ruin the party for Green Bay and Minnesota as they likely duel for postseason positioning makes these primetime matchups all the more fun. Having a national audience be able to see just who runs the NFC North will be very sweet, but only if Detroit can play as well as they did in 2024 against these squads.

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