2016 Opponents Announced For The Detroit Lions
By: Evan Jankens
@kingofthekc
The 2015 Detroit Lions season is in the books and now it's time to look forward to the 2016 season.
Who will be the Lions head coach? Who will be the Lions GM? Will Calvin Johnson still be in a Lions uniform? Those are just a few of the questions that lead us into next season.
Even though we may not find out any of those answers for days, weeks or maybe even months we at least know who the Lions will be taking on in 2016.
The teams the Lions will be hosting at Ford Field will be the normal NFC North opponents in the Minnesota Vikings, Green Bay Packers and Chicago Bears. The Lions will also be hosting the Philadelphia Eagles, Washington Redskins, St. Louis Rams, Jacksonville Jaguars and the Tennessee Titans.
Detroit will be going on the road to face the same NFC North opponents in the Vikings, Packers and Bears but also the Dallas Cowboys, New York Giants, New Orleans Saints, Houston Texans and the Indianapolis Colts.
According to CBSSports.com this is how the schedule is made:
Home and away against its three division opponents (six games).
The four teams from another division within its conference on a rotating three-year cycle (four games).
The four teams from a division in the other conference on a rotating four-year cycle (four games).
Two intraconference games based on the prior year's standings (two games). These games match a first-place team against the first-place teams in the two same-conference divisions that the team is not scheduled to play that season. The second-place, third-place, and fourth-place teams in a conference are matched in the same way each year.
Beginning in 2010, a change was made to how teams are paired in the schedule rotation to ensure that teams playing the AFC and NFC West divisions would not be required to make two West Coast trips (e.g., at San Francisco and at Seattle), while other teams in their division had none (e.g., at St. Louis and at Arizona).
Which games are you most looking forward to for the 2016 season?