Detroit Lions 2022

[Mega Hertz]

The Lions will win 8-9 games minimum.

Nailed it!

Also, the Aidan haters were complete .

Yeah, I scrolled by and caught that earlier and was gonna say something. Let's hope the 9 is the correct number, though 8 is nothing to sneeze at!

[Honeyman]

I'm going to fairly confidently predict that the Green Bay Detroit game gets flexed into primetime. But I missed the Titans v. Jags game whereby the winner of that game wins the division. But still, I doubt the Lions game gets moved to Saturday as the Seahawks could end up eliminated before Sunday even gets here. Same goes for the Seattle game - it could eliminate the Lions before Sunday. So my flex-schedule predictions are as follows:

Saturday: Titans vs. Jags
Saturday: Bills vs. Patriots
Sunday Night: Lions vs. Packers

Moreover - as far as having the Seahawks and Lions both play at the same time - ain't gonna happen. Per NFL flex scheduling procedures, there will be 3 games flexed in total, and all 3 games must have playoff implications. So out of the remaining games, the only game you could flex to primetime Sunday would be the Titans vs. Jaguars, and you could specifically put the Dolphins vs. Jets as the early Saturday game and the Bills vs. Patriots as the late Saturday game, but I suspect the league wants the Lions vs. Packers as a featured game. And they're just not going to do that on Saturday.

I hope I'm wrong though as I really don't want the Lions to play Sunday night.

Chiefs/Raiders and the Titans/Jags games are Saturday. Seems unfair to Jacksonville since Tennessee played Thursday

Others announced tomorrow.

[bmw]

The Chiefs? That's shocking to me because the only "playoff implication" in that game is whether they get the bye or not and even a win doesn't wrap up a bye. And the Raiders of course are done. Given what the NFL has to say about their procedures on flex scheduling, this choice is a big surprise to me.

https://www.nfl.com/schedules/flexible- ... procedures

Now, given that they went with the Titans game for Saturday, that virtually ensures that the Lions will get the Sunday night game. Other possible choices:

Dolphins vs. Jets? No, because Dolphins could be eliminated before they play.
Patriots vs. Bills? No, because the Patriots could already clinch before they play.
Seahawks vs. Rams? No, because Seattle could be eliminated before they play.

Then you get into the more obscure "playoff implications"
Dallas vs. Washington? No, because Philly may already clinch the NFC East before Dallas plays.
Bengals vs. Ravens? MAYBE, but only if they wait until the outcome of the MNF game tomorrow night to decide who plays. The AFC North may or may not be up for grabs next week.

[Honeyman]

But if Seattle wins, Detroit would be eliminated.

I think it'll be Pats-Bills as it might be for #1 AFCseed.

[bmw]

You are correct about Seattle, and that's why I personally don't want Detroit to play the night game, BUT, that is irrelevant to Green Bay's position of win-and-you're-in, lose-and-you're-out. Green Bay will literally be the only team GUARANTEED to be playing for something regardless of the outcomes of all the other games.

It won't be Pats vs Bills because if the Jets, Titans, and Browns all win their games, the Patriots will clinch a playoff berth regardless of whether they win or lose (unlikely but still possible), plus if the Bills lose to Cincinnati tomorrow night, they would need a ton of help to get the bye (ie, the bye would likely be settled prior to that game). Even if the Bills win tomorrow night, there are scenarios that could clinch them the bye before they play their final game.

[Honeyman]

Good point.....you're probably right.

[bmw]

Project 538's scenario generator site makes figuring out this stuff a piece of cake.

[MWmetalhead]

The SOL scenario would be a Rams upset win over Seattle, thus harming the Lions' first round selection standing, coupled with a painful loss at Green Bay. I hope like hell it doesn't turn out this way.

[bmw]

Interestingly, the Lions also get in with a TIE at Green Bay and a Seattle loss. So I guess if the game goes to OT, they could play for a tie.

[Honeyman]

Liedowns open +4.5; Seahawks -6.5.

[Matt]

Do home teams generally get a -3 in the line if the teams are relatively even?

[Honeyman]

Do home teams generally get a -3 in the line if the teams are relatively even?

Yep, the general rule of thumb is that home field means 3 points. That varies on the situation, i.e. dome teams traveling to outdoor stadiums.

[Honeyman]

Done deal. Lions-Packers Sunday night.

Really a fuck you to the Seahawks. No way the Lions are vested 100% if they know they can't make the playoffs.

[bmw]

So the big question I have now is, will we get Rams v. Seahawks, or will we be stuck with Washington vs. Dallas (on our local Fox affiliates) ?

[Honeyman]

More I think about it, they could've flexed Detroit/GB to Saturday. If GB wins, the Seattle game would be irrelevant anyways. If Detroit wins, Seattle's in a win or go home scenario. Either way is more fair than forcing Seattle to play first. The bottom line is that putting Detroit vs GB last favors one team a lot more than the other 2 and it just happens to be one of the NFL's perceived cash cows.

The whole point is supposed to be fairness for the entire league. Lions vs Packers on SNF is the least fair of any scenario since it gives one team a H*** advantage in that they know they get in within a win regardless and the team they're playing could be eliminated before kickoff. Pete Caroll should go off in his press conference about it. Dare the league to fine him.