Getty Von Miller rushes Matthew Stafford in 2015.
The Detroit Lions vs. Denver Broncos game had been up in the air since the schedule was revealed, but now that the networks have gotten a look at the teams, they have made a determination.
Detroit and Denver will mix it up on Sunday, December 22nd from the Mile High City. That game will be broadcast on CBS and will be a 4:05 p.m. EST start, as ESPN’s Michael Rothstein revealed.
Initially, it was possible that the contest could have been a night game or played on Saturday. It was one of multiple candidates for a flex in December. Instead of that, though, the Lions will stick to playing the game on Sunday rather than Saturday.
In the past, the Lions have played in a few Saturday games before in December, the most recent being their tangle with the Chicago Bears in 2017. That game, in Detroit, was a victory for the Lions which kept them in the playoff hunt.
This season, a lot will have to go Detroit’s way for that history to repeat itself.
Will Lions be in Playoff Contention?
Perhaps the biggest question in the minds of the fans at this point is will there be anything for the Lions to play for during that game in Denver. While it looks as if the answer is trending toward no, there’s a long way to go in another month and the team could always catch fire to get back in the race.
The Lions, in order to put their best foot forward for a playoff run, have to do a couple of things according to Fox analyst Charles Davis. First, they have to continue to get good play from the quarterback spot and the offense as well as see a defense which has been beat up in the trenches start to come around.
“Matthew Stafford’s in a heck of a groove right now throwing the football. He’s never had a big running game, what he calls the today’s offense status quo, ‘I’m going to throw the football.’ He’s had some nice help, Kenny Golladay really jumped up,” he said. “But overall, this Lions defense, they need Damon Harrison to play full out inside and discourage some teams from running the football, because that’s been part of their Achilles heel.”
The trouble? Stafford is now hurt, so the Lions will have to find a way to survive without him and that probably will be tough duty. If they can and Stafford can rebound, anything is possible.
If those two elements offensively and defensively stay in form, the Lions will be a tough team to deal with. At this point, their offense looks in solid form even with the potential for Jeff Driskel to play major snaps, but the defense has left some major things to be desired, even in spite of a big win against New York three weeks ago.
Lions Playoff Path
Detroit can likely forget about the postseason if they drop their next game against the Dallas Cowboys, so the biggest path is to win that one, then have some things benefit them in the standings. After that, they will likely need to win against the Washington Redskins on the road. After that, another can’t lose game against the Bears at home on Thanksgiving. Three straight wins would likely keep the Lions in the conversation into November, which could set Detroit up to make a run late in the season.
In other words, the best path is to keep winning consecutively to erase some of the recent losses. It’s a tall order, but looking at the relative record of the teams that play, it’s not impossible whatsoever.
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