Coming off a 15-win season in 2024, the Detroit Lions aren’t getting any breaks from the NFL schedule makers in 2025. In fact, only the New York Giants have a tougher slate based on last year’s win percentages. The Lions open the season at Lambeau Field and will face 11 opponents that made the playoffs last year — including both Super Bowl teams, the Ravens, Rams, and Commanders. On top of that, they’re scheduled for seven prime-time or standalone games.
But head coach Dan Campbell? He’s fired up about it.
“It’s fricking awesome,” Campbell said on Friday. “To me, by the end of the year we ought to be just scarred up. We should be scarred up and ready to go, hardened for battle and ready for the playoffs.”
Campbell knows nothing will come easy — not even within the division — but he believes the challenge is a good thing. The idea is simple: go through the fire now so you’re battle-tested when the games matter most.
By the time Week 18 rolls around, there won’t be any questions about whether this team has been pushed to the limit. And if Campbell’s right, that pressure might just forge a championship-caliber squad.
Dan Campbell Calls Lions’ Gauntlet Schedule the “Right Kind of Brutal”
