Detroit, Michigan (PSF) - As a long time Detroit Lions fan, this is the first year in a long time where my hope for the season may actually be reciprocated by the team’s play. Having watched the Lions for the past 15 years I feel I have a good understanding of how to grade the team and predict their schedule.

Week 1: Detroit Lions at Kansas City Chiefs Thursday Sept. 07, 2023, 8:20 P.M. ET

Prediction: Lions 24, Chiefs 35

Even though this is just the first week of the season, this is the biggest game of the season. Depending on how the team plays will be a good indication of the sort of season they will have. The Chiefs coming off their Super Bowl victory will want to show the league they are still in top form especially against a team with the most hype this upcoming season. If the Lions offense can play at the level they were at late last year they have a chance of keeping up with the Chiefs offense. This will be a great opener to the season hopefully resulting in a shootout between quarterbacks Jared Goff and Patrick Mahomes.

Week 2: Seattle Seahawks at Detroit Lions Sunday Sept. 17, 2023, 1:00 P.M. ET

Prediction: Seahawks 9, Lions 31

This game is a rematch of last year’s week four matchup that resulted in a 48-45 result with Seattle taking the win after a controversial third down call. Seattle quarterback Geno Smith surprised the league last year with his play with a dominating running back room behind him. This year, I see the Seahawks taking a major step back especially in the play of Smith who I do not predict living up to his 2022 form. The Lions defense will be better against the run this year which was a major weak point in their loss last year against the Seahawks.

Week 3: Atlanta Falcons at Detroit Lions Sunday Sept. 24, 2023, 1:00 P.M. ET

Prediction: Falcons 21, Lions 24

The Falcons this year will be a legitimate playoff contender with the moves they made during the offseason and draft. The Lions and Falcons always have competitive games no matter how good either team is doing, and I see this game being no different. This game is a toss up and could go either way especially with the Lions being without wide receiver Jameson Williams. If wide receivers like Amon-Ra St. Brown and Josh Reynolds can step up in his absence the Lions have a high chance of winning a lot of toss up games these first six weeks.

Week 4: Detroit Lions at Green Bay Packers Thursday Sept. 28, 2023, 8:15 P.M. ET

Prediction: Lions 14, Packers 24

The Packers will not be as bad as most people predict this season. The Lions and Packers this year will go one-for-one in their series. Every time these two teams meet on primetime the Lions will play poorly against their NFC North rivals. All Lions fans will remember the torment of primetime moments against the Packers, like the Aaron Rodgers Hail Mary, and the Trey Flowers penalties that still haunt Lions fans to this day.

Week 5: Carolina Panthers at Detroit Lions Sunday Oct. 08, 2023, 1:00 P.M. ET

Prediction: Panthers 10, Lions 35

This one is pretty self-explanatory with the Panthers being a team with a new coach and rookie quarterback at the helm. The Lions will easily dispatch the Panthers unlike in the 2022 regular season when they lost to a Sam Darnold led Panthers severely hurting their playoff contention. Of course, this is a game that could always be an upset as the Lions seem to drop one or two games a year to teams they should easily beat while simultaneously beating teams they have no chance of winning against.

Week 6: Detroit Lions at Tampa Bay Buccaneers Sunday Oct. 15, 2023, 1:00 P.M. ET

Prediction: Lions 28, Buccaneers 3

Back-to-back dominating performances are a real possibility in these two weeks. The Lions face off against the weak NFC South two weeks in a row. The Buccaneers without Tom Brady will be a bottom five team in the league this year possibly putting up some of the lowest points-per-game (PPG) of any team.

Week 7: Detroit Lions at Baltimore Ravens Sunday Oct. 22, 2023, 1:00 P.M. ET

Prediction: Ravens 28, Lions 21

This is the year quarterback Lamar Jackson puts the haters to bed after signing his long-term contract. The last time these two teams met the Ravens narrowly squeaked by a victory with a record setting game winning field goal. In this close contest, the winner will be determined by how well each other’s defenses play on that given Sunday. The game could go in favor of the Lions as well with Jameson Williams returning to the lineup after his six-game suspension is finally up.

Week 8: Las Vegas Raiders at Detroit Lions Monday Oct. 30, 2023, 8:15 P.M. ET

Prediction: Raiders 21, Lions 42

The Raiders seem to be in a limbo state of competing and on the verge of a rebuild. Bringing in quarterback Jimmy Garoppolo is just replacing a broken lamp with another broken lamp. Garoppolo and former Raiders quarterback Derek Carr are two sides of the same coin. I do not see the Lions falling to the Raiders and instead cruising to an easy victory over Las Vegas.

Week 10: Detroit Lions at Los Angeles Chargers Sunday Nov. 12, 2023, 4:05 P.M. ET

Prediction: Lions 31, Chargers 35

While the Lions take down the Raiders with ease the Chargers will be another story. The two teams will compete in a back-and-forth game with the Chargers barely edging out the Lions towards the end to take the win. Although the Lions are coming off their bye week I don’t see them being able to stop Chargers quarterback Justin Herbert and the pass-heavy offense they run. The Lions can run away with this one if Chargers Head Coach Brandon Staley sabotages his team.

Week 11: Chicago Bears at Detroit Lions Sunday Nov. 19, 2023, 1:00 P.M. ET

Prediction: Bears 10, Lions 17

The Chicago Bears are not going to be an overly improved team this year because they made a few splash signings. I can see them fighting for third in the division, but I do not predict them to have some breakout season some analysts are predicting them to have. This game is one I am not looking forward to as I think both matchups against the Bears this year will be boring.

Week 12: Green Bay Packers at Detroit Lions Thanksgiving Day 12:30 P.M. ET

Prediction: Packers 24, Lions 28

The Lions come back for their revenge on Thanksgiving Day against the Packers and split the series one to one for the season. Depending on who wins the first matchup between these two will determine who wins this game as no matter what happens I predict the Lions and Packers to each take a game away from each other this season.

Week 13: Detroit Lions at New Orleans Saints Sunday Dec. 03, 2023, 1:00 P.M. ET

Prediction: Lions 38, Saints 10

The Saints are another team I do not expect to improve much this season even with adding quarterback Derek Carr. The Saints have an aging defense and an offense that runs solely through wide receiver Chris Olave. The Lions should make easy work of New Orleans as they win back-to-back games.

Week 14: Detroit Lions at Chicago Bears Sunday Dec. 10, 2023, 1:00 P.M. ET

Prediction Lions 21, Bears 6

Just like the other matchup against the Bears, I don’t see a situation where the Lions lose to the Bears given how much better their roster is. The Bears could sneak a win out against the Lions since division games can give us some of the closest and hard-fought games in any given season.

Week 15: Denver Broncos at Detroit Lions, TBD

Prediction: Broncos 14, Lions 27

The Broncos are a team that is hard to predict how well they will play this upcoming season. Will we get quarterback Russell Wilson back in form with new Head Coach hire Sean Payton at the helm, or will they be the same Broncos from last year who disappoint. If the Broncos play like they did last year then this game should be a walk in the park for the Lions. If they greatly improve under Payton then I could see this game being much closer than my prediction entails.

Week 16: Detroit Lions at Minnesota Vikings Sunday Dec. 24, 2023, 1:00 P.M. ET

Prediction: Lions 12, Vikings 28

The Vikings may not perform to the standards that they did last year, but they still pose a dangerous threat. Once again, division opponents are always hard to predict because we saw a winless Lions squad beat the Vikings who were favored by multiple scores at the time. This might be another division that can go one-for-one or a complete sweep depending on how the teams are playing.

Week 17: Detroit Lions at Dallas Cowboys Saturday Dec. 20, 2023, 8:15 P.M. ET

Prediction: Lions 35, Cowboys 42

The Lions historically have not performed well against the Dallas Cowboys. At this point in the year, both teams will most likely be fighting for playoff contention and this game can turn into a shootout. I give the edge to the Cowboys as they always seem to have the Lions number when they play and scheme accordingly to stop whatever the Lions throw at them.

Week 18: Minnesota Vikings at Detroit Lions, TBD

Prediction: Vikings 24, Lions 28

This could be another primetime game at the end of the season depending on how contentious the NFC North is at the end of the year. This game might decide who wins the division and goes to the playoffs. Although they lost to the Vikings just two weeks prior, the Lions have a bounce back game and punch their ticket to the playoffs with a win over the Minnesota Vikings at home.

For my season prediction, I have the Detroit Lions finishing with an 11-6 record and winning the NFC North. Knowing the Detroit Lions and watching them for so long, do not be shocked if they come out the gate and drop three or four of their first five games of the season. Hopefully I am wrong, and the Lions finally make that final push to being a top 10 team in the league. A huge factor in the success of the team this year will be how the new rookies and signings play. Huge additions to the secondary like Cam Sutton and C.J. Gardner-Johnson need to play to the same level of play as last year.