Detroit Lions, NFL schedule leaks 2022: Bills are the Thanksgiving Day game
It's NFL schedule release day, which means the 2022 regular season schedule is slowly leaking out. While the NFL plans to announce the schedule at 8 p.m., some games on the schedule will be leaked throughout the day, including some Detroit Lions games.
This story will be updated with timestamps as those games are revealed:
1:50 p.m.: Week 12 on Thanksgiving vs. Bills
One of the Super Bowl favorites will visit Ford Field in the Lions' annual Thanksgiving Day spectacle, when quarterback Josh Allen brings Buffalo to town, according to SB Nation's Buffalo Rumblings.
The Bills, you'll recall, lost an overtime heartbreaker to Kansas City in the AFC Divisional round of the playoffs last season, after going 11-6 and winning the AFC East.
Ken Dorsey, the former Miami Hurricane and NFL quarterback, takes over as offensive coordinator after the departure of Brian Daboll.
— Free Press sports desk
1:45 p.m.: Week 11 at Giants
Another cross-division matchup of last-place teams will take place Nov. 20, the Sunday before Thanksgiving, according to Marc "The Moose" Malusis of PIX11 TV in New York.
The Giants went 4-13 last season, finishing at the bottom of the NFC East, and overhauled their leadership, replacing coach Joe Judge and general manager Dave Gettleman. The new head coach is Daboll — who served as Bills offensive coordinator from 2018-21 — and former Bills' assistant GM Joe Schoen is the Giants' new GM.
The team added beef to both lines with two picks in the top 10 of the 2022 NFL draft, grabbing Oregon DE Kayvon Thibodeaux at No. 5 and Alabama OT Evan Neal at No. 7.
Daniel Jones is still the quarterback, though, with Saquon Barkley at running back and former Lions standout Kenny Golladay at receiver.
— Free Press sports desk
11:55 a.m.: Week 17 vs. Bears
The Lions will ring in the new year by hosting the Chicago Bears in a Jan. 1 game, according to the Chicago Tribune.
The Lions will have at multiple holiday games this season. Along with their New Year's Day tilt at Ford Field, they host their annual Thanksgiving game, and Week 16 of the NFL season falls on Christmas weekend.
The NFL already has announced its Christmas Day game this year, the Los Angeles Rams against the Denver Broncos, but most other games that weekend will be played on Christmas Eve.
Last year, the Lions lost twice to the Bears, including 16-14 on Thanksgiving.
— Dave Birkett
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10:33 a.m.: Week 5 at Patriots
The Patriot Way has (thankfully) left town, but the Lions will get a reminder of what they don't miss this fall when they visit former head coach Matt Patricia and the New England Patriots in early October, according to the Boston Herald.
Patricia came to Detroit from New England in 2018 and was fired after three miserable seasons. He holds a prominent but mysterious role on the Patriots coaching staff, serving as some combination of offensive line coach and offensive coordinator who signs his name to contracts and perhaps is being groomed to take over for Bill Belichick one day.
The Lions beat the Patriots in 2018, but lost in their last trip to Foxboro four years earlier.
— Dave Birkett
9:05 a.m.: Opener vs. Eagles
The Detroit Lions will open the 2022 season at home against the Philadelphia Eagles, according to the Philadelphia Inquirier.
The Lions, coming off a 3-13-1 season, are opening their season at Ford Field for the third straight year and the fifth time in six seasons. They have not won their opener since beating the Arizona Cardinals, 35-23, in Week 1 of the 2017 season.
The Eagles, coming off a 9-8 season, are one of five playoff teams on the Lions' schedule this fall. They handed the Lions their worst loss of the season last year, 44-6, at Ford Field.
According to PackersCentral.com, the Lions will close the season in Green Bay against the Packers.
The Lions have played the Packers in the final game of the regular season five of the past six years, going 3-2 in those games. The Lions beat the Packers in Week 18 last year, 37-30, when Green Bay rested MVP quarterback Aaron Rodgers and most other key starters in the second half.
— Dave Birkett
2022 Detroit Lions schedule
This will update as leaks come in. All times, TV information is to be announced.
Week 1: vs. Philadelphia Eagles
Week 2: TBA
Week 3: TBA
Week 4: TBA
Week 5: at New England Patriots
Week 6: TBA
Week 7: TBA
Week 8: TBA
Week 9: TBA
Week 10: TBA
Week 11: at New York Giants
Week 12: vs. Buffalo Bills on Thanksgiving
Week 13: TBA
Week 14: TBA
Week 15: TBA
Week 16: TBA
Week 17: vs. Chicago Bears
Week 18: at Green Bay Packers
Contact Dave Birkett at dbirkett@freepress.com. Follow him on Twitter @davebirkett.
This article originally appeared on Detroit Free Press: Detroit Lions NFL schedule leaks 2022 updates: Bills on Thanksgiving
