Rumor: Lions' First Four Opponents Could Be All AFC Teams

The 2020 NFL schedule could feature an interesting twist, according to NFL reporter John Clayton.

The official NFL schedule will be released Thursday, and many are awaiting how the Lions' schedule will shake out.

Clayton told 93.7 The Fan the first four weeks will feature all NFC vs. AFC matchups.

.@JohnClaytonNFL tells @937theFan that the NFL schedule will be NFC vs AFC for the 1st 4 weeks of the season. Steelers play the NFC East. So 1st 4 games would be Cowboys, Eagles, Redskins, and Giants.
— Andrew Fillipponi (@ThePoniExpress) May 6, 2020

The Lions are projected to play home games at Ford Field against New Orleans, Tampa Bay, Washington, Indianapolis, Houston, Green Bay, Chicago and Minnesota.

Road opponents will include Tennessee, Jacksonville, Carolina, Atlanta, Arizona, Green Bay, Chicago and Minnesota.

If Clayton is correct, Detroit's first four opponents on the 2020 schedule will be Houston, Jacksonville, Indianapolis and Tennessee in no particular order.

This schedule would mean that Detroit would play two games at home and two games on the road against AFC foes.

Heading into a "must-win" season, Detroit would certainly have an opportunity to at least be .500 and maybe even better.

Jacksonville struggles annually, and the Colts are coming off of a 7-9 2019 season.

According to Yahoo Sports, "The NFL needs an easy way to shorten the schedule, in case opening day is pushed back. Non-conference games would be easiest to dump, so front-loading them makes sense. If the start of the season takes place in October, it wouldn’t complicate the rest of the schedule to eliminate the first four weeks."

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