Detroit Lions Schedulegami: Every Opponent Never Faced in Primetime

Every opponent, every matchup window

All 31 opponents, most meetings first. Each count is the number of games in that window, 1966 through 2025, and opens the head-to-head page; “never” means the pairing is open there, and “2026 first” means this season’s schedule carries their first.

Venue notes: primetime windows where every Lions meeting with that opponent has been in one city. A game in the other city would be a venue first, not a schedulegami.

• All 2 Bears–Lions Sunday night games have been in Detroit, never in Chicago.
• All 2 Lions–Vikings Monday night games have been in Detroit, never in Minnesota.
• All 2 Lions–Buccaneers Monday night games have been in Detroit, never in Tampa Bay.
• The only Falcons–Lions Monday night game was in Detroit, never in Atlanta.
• The only Lions–49ers Sunday night game was in San Francisco, never in Detroit.
• The only Lions–Rams Sunday night game was in Detroit, never in Los Angeles.
• The only Lions–Commanders Sunday night game was in Washington, never in Detroit.
• The only Cowboys–Lions Thursday night game was in Detroit, never in Dallas.
• The only Lions–Saints Monday night game was in New Orleans, never in Detroit.
• The only Lions–Eagles Sunday night game was in Philadelphia, never in Detroit.
• The only Lions–Steelers Sunday night game was in Detroit, never in Pittsburgh.
• The only Lions–Chiefs Sunday night game was in Kansas City, never in Detroit.
• The only Broncos–Lions Sunday night game was in Detroit, never in Denver.
• All 2 Lions–Jets Monday night games have been in Detroit, never in New York.
• All 3 Lions–Raiders Monday night games have been in Detroit, never in Las Vegas.
• The only Bills–Lions Thursday night game was in Buffalo, never in Detroit.
• The only Lions–Chargers Monday night game was in San Diego, never in Detroit.
• All 2 Lions–Dolphins Sunday night games have been in Miami, never in Detroit.
• The only Lions–Patriots Sunday night game was in Detroit, never in New England.
• The only Panthers–Lions Sunday night game was in Carolina, never in Detroit.
• The only Lions–Texans Sunday night game was in Houston, never in Detroit.

Lions schedulegamis in 2026

2027 opponents and their open windows

The projected 2027 opponents from the Lions team page, with the windows each pairing has never played through the 2026 schedule. 3 opponents depend on Week 18 standings.

Lions schedulegami FAQ

How many opponents have the Lions never faced in primetime?

8 opponents have never met the Lions on Monday night, Sunday night, or Thursday night, 1966 through 2025: Arizona Cardinals, Indianapolis Colts, Cleveland Browns, Cincinnati Bengals, Tennessee Titans, Buffalo Bills, Carolina Panthers, and Jacksonville Jaguars. By window, the Lions have never faced 16 opponents on Monday night, 16 on Sunday night, and 27 on Thursday night.

Which teams have the Lions never played on Monday night?

Arizona Cardinals, Washington Commanders, Philadelphia Eagles, Indianapolis Colts, Pittsburgh Steelers, Cleveland Browns, Kansas City Chiefs, Denver Broncos, Cincinnati Bengals, Tennessee Titans, Buffalo Bills, Miami Dolphins, New England Patriots, Carolina Panthers, Jacksonville Jaguars, and Houston Texans. That is 16 of 31 opponents, 1970 through 2025, counting every Monday game as Primetime & Holiday History counts it.

Which opponents have the Lions never met outside a Sunday afternoon?

Arizona Cardinals, Cincinnati Bengals, and Jacksonville Jaguars: these pairings have met only in Sunday afternoon windows since 1966. Nothing on the 2026 schedule changes that.

How many schedulegamis do the Lions have on the 2026 schedule?

3 games: Week 2 at Bills Thursday night (scheduled); Week 4 at Panthers Sunday night (scheduled); Week 10 vs Patriots International (scheduled).

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About the data

A schedulegami is a game placed in a broadcast window where those two teams have never met before. The pair is unordered. Venue does not matter: a pairing that has only ever met on Sunday night in one city has still met on Sunday night, so the same game in the other city is not a schedulegami. Sunday afternoon windows are never a schedulegami. Two levels are tracked: window-level, the first time a pairing meets in one window, and standalone-level, the first time a pairing meets outside a Sunday afternoon window.

Game history is the same file as Primetime & Holiday History, regular season only, with franchises carried forward under their current names. Coverage by window: Monday night: since 1970, every Monday game as Slot History counts it; Sunday night: since 1987; Thursday night: all Thursday games since 1966 as Slot History counts them; the first non-Thanksgiving Thursday game in the data is 1978; the weekly package began in 2006; Thanksgiving: since 1966; Christmas: since 1966; Saturday: since 1966; Kickoff Game: since 2002; International: since 2005; Friday: since 1966; Wednesday: all-time. A Sunday international game with a verified 8 PM ET or later kickoff counts as International and Sunday night; two games qualify, the 2005 49ers at Cardinals game in Mexico City and the 2026 Vikings at 49ers game in Mexico City. Schedulegami is a MockSlate term, first published September 2026.