<\/p>\n
The\u00a0Detroit Lions\u00a0(8-8) are\u00a0eliminated from playoff contention, but they still have a Week 18 date remaining at the\u00a0Chicago Bears\u00a0from Soldier Field.<\/p>\n
The Lions’ Week 18 trip to Chicago will have 2026 NFL draft ramifications. It could potentially have an impact on the Lions’ 2026 schedule, too.<\/p>\n
If the Lions win at the Bears and the\u00a0Minnesota Vikings\u00a0lose versus the\u00a0Green Bay Packers\u00a0in Week 18, Detroit will finish in third-place in the NFC North and will face third-place finishers from the NFC East, NFC West and AFC South. A Lions win over the Bears combined with a Vikings tie against the Packers would also vault Detroit to third in the NFC North standings. Detroit could also tie Chicago and if Minnesota loses versus Green Bay, that would mean the Lions finish third in the NFC North.<\/p>\n
If the Vikings beat the Packers in Week 18, Detroit is assured of a fourth-place schedule in 2026. Or, if the Lions lose at the Bears, Detroit is assured of a fourth-place schedule. If both the Lions and Vikings tie in their Week 18 games, Detroit would finish in fourth place as well.<\/p>\n
So, even with the Lions eliminated from the playoffs in 2025, there’s still a fair amount to sort out for Detroit when looking ahead to the 2026 season.<\/p>\n
Here’s what we know for sure about the Lions’ 17-game 2026 schedule:<\/p>\n
Per the\u00a0NFL schedule-creation process: Teams play six games against their own division (each team twice, home and away); four games against teams from a division within its conference (two at home, two away); four games against teams from a division in the other conference (two at home, two away); two games against teams from the two remaining divisions in its own conference (one at home, one away); and the 17th game is an additional game against a non-conference opponent from a division that the team is not scheduled to play.<\/p>\n
This rotating schedule model ensures that every team plays each of the other 31 at least once in a four-year period.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
The\u00a0Detroit Lions\u00a0(8-8) are\u00a0eliminated from playoff contention, but they still have a Week 18 date remaining at the\u00a0Chicago Bears\u00a0from Soldier Field. The Lions’ Week 18 trip to Chicago… <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":40686,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-40685","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-detroit-lions"],"yoast_head":"\n