The Lions made history when the NFL gave them the first schedule to ever feature eight games with a rest advantage.
No team in NFL history has played more than six games with a rest advantage in a season.
Think about it from this perspective: nearly HALF of the Lions' 2025 games have them playing at a rest advantage.
Meanwhile, three teams play just one game all season with a rest advantage.
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Let’s look at the Lions' rest edges:
Week 2: Lions play the Bears, who are off a Week 1 MNF game (+1 Lions)
Week 5: Lions play the Bengals, who are off a Week 4 MNF game (+1 Lions)
Week 6: Lions play the Chiefs, who are off a Week 5 MNF game (+1 Lions)
Week 9: Lions, off a bye week, play the Vikings, who are not off a bye week (+3 Lions)
Week 11: Lions play the Eagles, who are off a Week 10 MNF game (+1 Lions)
Week 15: Lions, off a mini-bye, play the LA Rams, who are not off a mini-bye (+3 Lions)
Week 16: Lions play the Steelers, who are off a Week 15 MNF game (+1 Lions)
Week 18: Lions, off a mini-bye, play the Bears, who are not off a mini-bye (+3 Lions)
The Lions are the first team in NFL history to play five opponents off a Monday Night Football game who then must play on a short week with one less day of rest.
Additionally, the Lions play just one game all season with a rest disadvantage, and it is just a one-day disadvantage.
As a result, the Lions are playing +7 net games with a rest edge (8 positive, 1 negative).
No team since at least 1990 has played more than +4 net games with a rest advantage.
The Detroit Lions are likely the first team in NFL history to play +7 net games with a rest edge.
It also just so happens that the Lions have key rest edges in three of their four toughest games they will play this year, against the Chiefs, Eagles, and Bengals.
There are three negatives with Detroit's schedule.
The first the NFL had no control over, and that was the opponents.
The Lions face the #3 toughest schedule of opponents any team will face this year.
It’s brutal, but the NFL doesn’t control WHO you play, only WHEN you play them.
The second issue is the Lions play three games off road Sunday night or Monday night games:
Week 4 vs. CLE after playing in Baltimore on MNF
Week 7 vs. TB after playing in Kansas City on SNF
Week 12 vs. NYG after playing in Philadelphia on SNF
Only one other team plays three games off road SNF or MNF games.
The good news for the Lions is that two of these next games are against two of the worst teams in the NFL (Browns and Giants), and the other one (Buccaneers), the Lions have an extra day to recover from their road trip, as the game against the Bucs is on MNF.
The final gripe is that Detroit’s bye week is partially negated because the Vikings have a mini-bye ahead of their Week 9 meeting.
But it’s extremely notable how Detroit, with a brutal schedule of opponents, has small advantages in rest ahead of 8 games this year.
The question is, will those edges be enough to combat this gauntlet they’re about to face?
One other note regarding the Lions schedule, which has nothing to do with rest:
Last year, it wasn’t until Week 9 that they played a game outdoors, and they didn’t play another outdoor game until Week 16 on December 22nd.
Look at the difference in 2025:
Outdoor games through Week 6
2024: 0
2025: 4
Outdoor games through Week 11
2024: 1
2025: 6
From a positive, after their Week 11 game, the Lions are indoors for 6 straight weeks until their Week 18 season finale in Chicago.
