Getty 2023 NFL Schedule leaks have revealed who head coach Dan Campbell and the Detroit Lions will be facing in Week 1.
The Detroit Lions will reportedly receive a difficult test immediately on the 2023 NFL schedule.
The Score’s Jordan Schultz reported about 12 hours before the NFL schedule release that the Lions will open the 2023 season on the road against the defending champion Kansas City Chiefs. The game will kick off at 8:20 pm ET on September 7 on NBC/Peacock.
“Patrick Mahomes and company will raise their second banner in four years against Dan Campbell’s revamped Detroit squad,” tweeted Schultz.
It will be Detroit’s first matchup with the Chiefs since September 2019.
NFL Schedule Leaks: Lions to Visit Chiefs in Week 1
Although it’s not a rivalry matchup, it’s not hard to see why the NFL would pick the Lions to face the Chiefs as the kickoff game to the 2023 season.
The Lions and Chiefs each finished in the top five in scoring last season, averaging more than 26.5 points per game. In the warm weather in front of a raucous crowd on GEHA Field at Arrowhead Stadium, there should be plenty of offense.
Lions reporter Kyle Meinke of MLive.com argued the primetime visit to Arrowhead is a major test but also a sign of respect for the Lions.
“That’s a huge nod of respect for a team that wasn’t scheduled for any prime-time games last season, before being flexed into Sunday night in Week 18,” Meinke wrote. “It’s also a tall test for a team that is already favored to win a division it has never won, and hasn’t won a division title of any kind since taking the old NFC Central back in 1993.”
The Lions lost to the Chiefs, 34-30, in their last matchup during the 2019 season. In Detroit’s last trip to Kansas City, the Lions fell, 45-10, in 2015 (before Mahomes was on the team).
The Chiefs own a 9-5 edge in the all-time series against the Lions. Detroit last defeated Kansas City, 48-3, in 2011.
NFL Schedule Leaks: Lions to Play 3 Thursday Night Games
NFL reporter Ari Meirov further revealed the Detroit schedule. The Lions will not only play on Thursday to begin the season but again in Week 4 and Week 12.
In fact, both of Detroit’s matchups against the Green Bay Packers will be on Thursday. The second matchup will be at Ford Field on Thanksgiving.
NFL schedule leak: The #Packers will get the Jordan Love era underway with a Week 1 game vs. the #Bears in Chicago, per @mattschneidman. That’s a 4:25pm ET game on FOX.
Green Bay will have five primetime games on their schedule:
– Week 5: Lions (TNF)
– Week 6 at Raiders (MNF)
-…
The Lions will enter the 2023 season with a three-game winning streak against Green Bay. The Lions last played the Packers on Thanksgiving in 2013, which was a 40-10 Detroit victory.
Three games on Thursday during the 2023 season could be very difficult for the Lions. Players generally dislike having to suit up on short weeks.
At least in Week 1, there won’t be a game four days prior.
Meinke called that part of the Lions schedule, “fun but tough.”
The MLive.com Lions reporter also wrote that the Packers and Chicago Bears are set to play in Week 18. By default, that means the Lions will face the Minnesota Vikings during the season finale because every team has to play a division opponent in the final week of the season.
The Lions and Vikings met in the 2020 season finale. But the Lions have played the Packers during the final week of the season in six of the past seven years.
The NFL will officially release the entire 2023 schedule at 8 pm ET on May 11.