Lions Could Be Screwed by NFL Schedule in 2021

The Detroit Lions were awful last season after finishing with a 5-11 record. One NFL insider believes the culture has completely changed but the Lions shouldn't expect easier going heading into 2021, at least in terms of the schedule.

According to ESPN's Mike Clay, the Lions own the third most difficult schedule in the entire league for 2021. It should be noted that the order of games has not been set, but based on the current construction of the league's yearly schedule, the opponents Detroit will face are already known.

Lions Schedule 2021

Clay used known opponents and the current construction of league rosters to come up with his strength of schedule projection. Although this projection is based on a random order of games, all of Detroit's opponents are set in stone and their schedule is loaded with talent from the NFC West and AFC North.

It's going to be a slow rebuild for Detroit but the Lions front office is hopeful for strong performances from the new starting quarterback Jared Goff. Goff is a two-time Pro Bowl selection but threw for only 42 touchdowns over the past two seasons.

Detroit also added offensive lineman Penei Sewell at No. 7 overall in the 2021 NFL Draft. The Lions can make some noise if they improve the win-loss record, especially considering this brutal schedule.

As it stands, FanDuel Sportsbook is giving the Lions +2100 odds to win the NFC North.

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Adam Taylor McKillop is not a FanDuel employee. In addition to providing DFS gameplay advice, Adam Taylor also participates in DFS contests on FanDuel using his personal account, username atmckillop. While the strategies and player selections recommended in his articles are his personal views, he may deploy different strategies and player selections when entering contests with his personal account. The views expressed in their articles are the author's alone and do not necessarily reflect the views of FanDuel.