Schedule leak: Vikings to host Lions on Christmas Day

Christmas Day falls on a Thursday this year, so Minnesota could be playing on short rest.

Dec 11, 2022; Detroit, Michigan, USA; Detroit Lions fans dressed up in a Christmas theme during the first quarter of a game against the Minnesota Vikings at Ford Field. Mandatory Credit: David Reginek-Imagn Images | David Reginek-Imagn Images

It looks like Vikings fans will be busy watching football on Christmas Day this year.

According to multiple reports, the Vikings will host the division rival Detroit Lions on December 25, which falls in Week 17 of the 2025-26 NFL regular season. The information has come from Paul Lambert of KFAN-FM 100.3 and Ben Goessling of the Minnesota Star Tribune.

There was a post on X from Yahoo's Jordan Schultz that suggested the Lions are hosting the Vikings on Thanksgiving Day, but he quickly deleted that post after it briefly went viral. Schultz then posted a new report, saying the Christmas Day game between the Vikings and Lions will be streamed on Netflix.

Christmas Day falls on a Thursday this year and we already know that the Vikings aren't part of the NFL's Saturday, Dec. 20 doubleheader in Week 16, so unless they are scheduled for Thursday Night Football in Week 16, they'll be playing on four days rest in what could be the biggest game of the season.

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Playing on short rest that late in the season when the bye might come in Week 6 after back-to-back games in Dublin and London might make for an extremely physically taxing time for the purple.

And if it's true that the Vikings and Lions will meet in Week 17, it's possible that the regular season finale features a game against the Packers or Bears. Minnesota typically closes out the regular season schedule against a division rival, so it only makes sense that it would be Green Bay or Chicago in Week 18.

We'll know for sure when the NFL schedule release happens at 7 p.m. CT.