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Detroit Lions Release 2017 Schedule

Allen Park, Mich. – The Detroit Lions announced today their 2017 regular season schedule that features five nationally-televised games, including three of the team's eight home games. Detroit opens the season at home against the Arizona Cardinals in Week 1 (Sunday, September 10) and then travels to the New York Giants in Week 2 (September 18) for ESPN's Monday Night Football.

Detroit plays Arizona in the season's opening game for 10th time in the series history. This year's game is the Lions' sixth season opener at home against the Cardinals and the second at Ford Field. In 2003, Detroit defeated Arizona 42-24 at Ford Field in the opening game of the season.

When the Lions face the Giants on MNF in Week 2, Detroit will appear in primetime on the road against a New York team for the first time. The Lions and Giants have twice met on MNF, with the most recent meeting occurring in the 2014 season opener when the Lions won 35-14 at Ford Field. The first MNF meeting between the two teams took place November 7, 1983 when the Lions claimed a 15-9 victory at the Pontiac Silverdome.

In Weeks 8-9, the Lions play consecutive primetime games when they host the Pittsburgh Steelers in Week 8 (October 29) on NBC's Sunday Night Football before heading to Green Bay the following week for a MNF game in Week 9 (November 6). In SNF's return to Ford Field, the Lions and Steelers meet in primetime for the first time in the history of the series that dates back to 1934. The last time the Lions played a MNF game on the road against the Packers occurred November 1, 1971 at Milwaukee County Stadium when the teams played to a 14-14 tie.

Detroit's 78th Thanksgiving Day Classic takes place Thursday, November 23 at 12:30 p.m. ET as the Lions host the Minnesota Vikings for the second consecutive season. In last year's Thanksgiving Day game, the Lions claimed a 16-13 win over the Vikings. Detroit is 37-38-2 all-time on Thanksgiving Day, including wins in each of the past four seasons. This year marks the first time since 1979-80 (Chicago) that the Lions have hosted the same team on Thanksgiving in back-to-back seasons.

FOX will air the Lions' 78th Thanksgiving Day game to a national audience.

The Lions host the Chicago Bears in Week 15 on Saturday, December 16 in a game that will air nationally on the NFL Network at 4:30 p.m. ET. The game represents Detroit's first game to broadcast solely on NFLN.

For the seventh-consecutive season, the Lions will play at least two nationally-televised games. Since 2011, the Lions have played in 22 games on national television (eight Monday Night Football, five Sunday Night Football, six Thanksgiving Day, one Thursday Night Football and two International Series).

Detroit concludes the 2017 regular season with a home contest against the Green Bay Packers in Week 17 for the second-consecutive season. Detroit hosted Green Bay in last year's season finale, and the teams have met six times in the final game of the season since 1993.

The Lions' Bye Week occurs Week 7 (Sunday, October 22) of the NFL season.

FLEX SCHEDULING
"Flexible scheduling" will be used in Weeks 10-15 and 17. Additionally, in Weeks 5-9, flexible scheduling may be used in no more than two weeks. Only Sunday afternoon games are eligible to be moved to Sunday night, in which case the tentatively scheduled Sunday night game would be moved to an afternoon start time. Flexible scheduling will not be applied to games airing on Thursday, Saturday or Monday nights. A flexible scheduling move would be announced at least 12 days before the game. For Week 17, the Sunday night game will be announced no later than six days prior to December 31.

"Cross-Flex": For the fourth-consecutive year, a select number of games are being "cross-flexed," moving between CBS and FOX to bring potentially under-distributed games to wider audiences.

2017 PRESEASON SCHEDULE
The Detroit Lions also announced today dates and times for the team's 2017 NFL Preseason schedule. Detroit opens the preseason on the road at Indianapolis on Sunday, August 13 at 1:30 p.m. The Lions return to Ford Field for Weeks 2-3 of the preseason, featuring home contests against the New York Jets on Saturday, August 19 (7:30 p.m.) and New England Patriots on Friday, August 25 (7:00 p.m.). Detroit closes out the preseason on Thursday, August 31 at Buffalo, with kickoff scheduled for 7:00 p.m.

2017 DETROIT LIONS SEASON TICKETS
Season tickets for 2017 are available now: Season ticket membership information is available at DetroitLions.com/tickets and by calling 313.262.2222.

Week 1 - Detroit vs. Arizona Cardinals - Sep. 10 - 1:00 pm

Week 2 - Detroit @ New York Giants - Sep. 18 - 8:30 pm

Week 3 - Detroit vs. Atlanta Falcons - Sep. 24 - 1:00 pm

Week 4 - Detroit @ Minnesota Vikings - Oct. 1 - 1:00 pm

Week 5 - Detroit vs. Carolina Panthers - Oct. 8 - 1:00 pm

Week 6 - Detroit @ New Orleans Saints - Oct. 15 - 1:00 pm

Week 7 - BYE

Week 8 - Detroit vs. Pittsburgh Steelers - Oct. 29 - 8:30 pm

Week 9 - Detroit @ Green Bay Packers - Nov. 6 - 8:30 pm

Week 10 - Detroit vs. Cleveland Browns - Nov. 12 - 1:00 pm

Week 11 - Detroit @ Chicago Bears - Nov. 19 - 1:00 pm

Week 12 - Detroit vs. Minnesota Vikings - Nov. 23 - 12:30 pm

Week 13 - Detroit @ Baltimore Ravens - Dec. 3 - 1:00 pm

Week 14 - Detroit @ Tampa Bay Buccaneers - Dec. 10 - 1:00 pm

Week 15 - Detroit vs. Chicago Bears - Dec. 16 - 4:30 pm

Week 16 - Detroit @ Cincinnati Bengals - Dec. 23 - 1:00 pm

Week 17 - Detroit vs. Green Bay Packers - Dec. 30 - 1:00 pm

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