Why Detroit Lions Have Easy Path to 2026 NFL Playoffs

The Lions will attempt to return to the postseason in 2026 after finishing 9-8 and missing out on the playoffs altogether a season ago. It was a disappointing campaign for Dan Campbell’s squad, which had serious Super Bowl aspirations coming off back-to-back NFC North division crowns.

Consequently, Detroit general manager Brad Holmes has used this offseason to beef up the depth on both sides of the ball. He's added multiple players at significant positions of need, including offensive linemen Cade Mays and Blake Miller and EDGE defenders D.J. Wonnum and Derrick Moore.

That, combined with a favorable 2026 schedule, has a myriad of fans and pundits believing the Lions are due for a bounceback season which will see them clinch a playoff berth.

You can add CBS Sports’ Carter Bahns to that ever-growing list. Bahns recently named the Lions as one of his five playoff-caliber teams with “the most favorable roads to the postseason.”

As Bahns pens, “The NFC North will be tough, but a majority of Detroit's non-division games come against bottom-dwellers. In total, it will play 10 contests against teams in the bottom half of Pete Prisco's post-NFL Draft power rankings.”

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Those teams include the Saints in Week 1, the Jets in Week 3, the Panthers in Week 4, the Cardinals in Week 5, the Vikings in Weeks 8 and 15, the Dolphins in Week 9, the Falcons in Week 13, the Titans in Week 14 and the N.Y. Giants in Week 16.

“Detroit gets two separate three-week runs against teams the public expects to finish with losing records,” Bahns added. “Those come in Weeks 3-5 and Weeks 13-15, giving Dan Campbell opportunities to build momentum when it matters most: the beginning and end of the season.”

On top of all that, Jared Goff & Co. will face the NFL's sixth-easiest schedule in 2026, based on last year's win-loss records. Detroit’s opponents, in fact, had a win-loss percentage of just .467.

Furthermore, the Lions will play seven games against playoff teams from last season and eight games against teams that had a winning record in 2025.

It’s far from the most daunting schedule, and it should give Detroit a leg up on its intraconference competition.

Along with the Lions, Bahns listed the Saints, the Bengals, the Eagles and the Ravens as having favorable paths to the playoffs this upcoming season.

Campbell & Co. will open the 2026 season with a matchup against New Orleans Sunday, Sept. 13, at 1 p.m. (EST) at Ford Field.

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