Detroit Lions Schedule 2026: Printable PDF, Times, TV Channels
The Detroit Lions schedule 2026 opens at home. Detroit hosts the New Orleans Saints on Sunday, September 13 at 1:00 PM ET on FOX, a Week 1 draw with a personal edge for Dan Campbell, who spent five seasons in New Orleans before taking the Detroit job.
The headline date sits in Week 10. Detroit meets New England in Munich on November 15, the club’s first ever game in Germany and its first international trip since 2015. The Lions are the designated home team, so Ford Field hosts eight regular season games this year rather than nine.
Detroit finished 9-8 last season and missed the playoffs for the first time since 2022, losing four of its final six games after a 7-4 start.
Below is every date, kickoff time and TV channel for the year ahead, plus a free printable schedule and a wall calendar sized for US Letter paper.
Jump to: Preseason Schedule | TV Schedule | Kickoff Times | Printable Schedule | Wall Calendar | Bye Week
Detroit Lions Schedule 2026 Quick Facts
| Season and home opener | Sun, Sep 13 vs New Orleans Saints, 1:00 PM ET (FOX) |
| Season span | September 2026 through January 2027 |
| Stadium | Ford Field, Detroit, MI (65,000 seats, opened 2002) |
| Head coach | Dan Campbell (6th season) |
| Offensive coordinator | Drew Petzing (1st season) |
| Defensive coordinator | Kelvin Sheppard |
| Quarterback | Jared Goff (11th NFL season) |
| Division | NFC North |
| Home / road games | 9 / 8, but only 8 at Ford Field |
| Bye week | Week 6, weekend of October 18 |
| Prime time games | 4 (Weeks 2, 4, 15 and 16) |
| Networks | FOX 9, CBS 3, NBC 2, Prime Video 1, ESPN 1, TBD 1 |
| Special dates | Munich, Germany Nov 15. Thanksgiving Nov 26 vs Chicago |
| Radio | 97.1 The Ticket, WXYT FM (flagship) |
| 2025 season | 9-8, fourth in the NFC North, no playoffs |
Detroit Lions Schedule 2026: Every Date and TV Channel
Home games are marked “vs” and road games “at.” All times are Eastern, which is also the Lions’ home clock. Week 10 is listed as a home game because Detroit is the designated host in Munich.
| Week | Date | Opponent | Time (ET) | TV |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Sun, Sep 13 | vs New Orleans Saints | 1:00 PM | FOX |
| 2 | Thu, Sep 17 | at Buffalo Bills | 8:15 PM | Prime Video |
| 3 | Sun, Sep 27 | vs New York Jets | 1:00 PM | FOX |
| 4 | Sun, Oct 4 | at Carolina Panthers | 8:20 PM | NBC |
| 5 | Sun, Oct 11 | at Arizona Cardinals | 4:25 PM | FOX |
| 6 | BYE WEEK | |||
| 7 | Sun, Oct 25 | vs Green Bay Packers | 4:25 PM | FOX |
| 8 | Sun, Nov 1 | vs Minnesota Vikings | 1:00 PM | FOX |
| 9 | Sun, Nov 8 | at Miami Dolphins | 1:00 PM | FOX |
| 10 | Sun, Nov 15 | vs New England Patriots (Munich) | 9:30 AM | FOX |
| 11 | Sun, Nov 22 | vs Tampa Bay Buccaneers | 1:00 PM | CBS |
| 12 | Thu, Nov 26 | vs Chicago Bears | 1:00 PM | CBS |
| 13 | Sun, Dec 6 | at Atlanta Falcons | 1:00 PM | CBS |
| 14 | Sun, Dec 13 | vs Tennessee Titans | 1:00 PM | FOX |
| 15 | Sun, Dec 20 | at Minnesota Vikings | 8:20 PM | NBC |
| 16 | Mon, Dec 28 | vs New York Giants | 8:15 PM | ESPN |
| 17 | Sun, Jan 3 | at Chicago Bears | 4:25 PM | FOX |
| 18 | Jan 9 or 10 | at Green Bay Packers | TBD | TBD |
One row is still open. The Week 18 trip to Green Bay falls on Saturday, January 9 or Sunday, January 10, 2027, and the league sets it only after Week 17 ends. Sunday afternoon kickoffs from Week 5 onward can also shift under flexible scheduling, so treat the 1:00 PM slots as provisional until game week.
The layout of the year is unusual. Detroit plays five games, takes its bye, then runs 12 straight weeks without a break. The division slate is stacked at both ends: Green Bay and Minnesota at home in Weeks 7 and 8, then Minnesota, Chicago and Green Bay in four of the last five weeks.
Also Check: NFL TV Schedule Today
Lions Preseason Schedule 2026
Detroit plays two of its three 2026 NFL preseason games on the road, opening in Cincinnati for the first time since 2008.
| Game | Date | Opponent | Time (ET) | TV |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Thu, Aug 13 | at Cincinnati Bengals | 7:00 PM | Lions TV Network |
| 2 | Sat, Aug 22 | vs Washington Commanders | 12:00 PM | Lions TV Network |
| 3 | Sat, Aug 29 | at Indianapolis Colts | 1:00 PM | Lions TV Network |
All three air locally on the Lions TV Network. The August 22 home date against Washington is the one to watch, because Dan Campbell has pointed to it as the game where Jared Goff and other first team players could see snaps. With a new play caller and a reshuffled offensive line, Detroit has more reason than usual to use the exhibition slate.
What Channel is the Lions Game On? TV Schedule
FOX carries more than half the season, which is standard for an NFC club. The Lions have eight nationally televised windows in all.
| Network | Games | Weeks |
|---|---|---|
| FOX | 9 | 1, 3, 5, 7, 8, 9, 10, 14, 17 |
| CBS | 3 | 11, 12, 13 |
| NBC | 2 | 4, 15 |
| Prime Video | 1 | 2 |
| ESPN | 1 | 16 |
| TBD | 1 | 18 |
Three things to know:
- Only one game needs a paid stream. Week 2 at Buffalo is exclusive to Prime Video nationally. Thursday night games still get a free over the air simulcast in the two participating markets, so Detroit area viewers should find it on local television. There is no Netflix game and no Peacock exclusive this season.
- Thanksgiving is on CBS this year. The early Thanksgiving window alternates between FOX and CBS from one season to the next, and 2026 is CBS’s turn. It sits inside a three week CBS run that also covers Tampa Bay in Week 11 and Atlanta in Week 13.
- Flex scheduling can still move things. Sunday night is eligible from Week 5, Monday night from Week 12 and Thursday night from Week 13. A strong December would put the Week 14 and Week 17 kickoff times most at risk.
97.1 The Ticket, WXYT FM, is the flagship radio home. The station signed a multi year extension with the club in February 2026 covering preseason, regular season and playoffs. Dan Miller calls play by play with Lomas Brown and T.J. Lang as analysts, and the broadcast runs across Lions Radio Network affiliates around Michigan.
Out of market viewers can pick up the Sunday afternoon FOX and CBS games through NFL Sunday Ticket on YouTube. Inside Michigan, 14 games are free over the air on FOX, CBS and NBC. The Week 2 Thursday game adds a local simulcast in the Detroit market, which leaves only the Week 16 ESPN game behind cable and Week 18 still unassigned.
Lions Kickoff Times in Every Time Zone
Five kickoff windows appear on the Detroit Lions schedule 2026, one of them very early. Eastern is the Lions column.
| Eastern (Detroit) | Central | Mountain | Pacific |
|---|---|---|---|
| 9:30 AM | 8:30 AM | 7:30 AM | 6:30 AM |
| 1:00 PM | 12:00 PM | 11:00 AM | 10:00 AM |
| 4:25 PM | 3:25 PM | 2:25 PM | 1:25 PM |
| 8:15 PM | 7:15 PM | 6:15 PM | 5:15 PM |
| 8:20 PM | 7:20 PM | 6:20 PM | 5:20 PM |
Eight of the 17 games kick at 1:00 PM ET, so most Lions Sundays start at the same hour. Only four road trips leave the Eastern zone, and three of them are division games in the Central zone: Minnesota in Week 15, Chicago in Week 17 and Green Bay in Week 18.
The fourth is the Week 5 trip to Arizona. Arizona does not observe daylight saving time, so in October its clocks match Pacific rather than Mountain. A 4:25 PM ET kickoff is a 1:25 PM local start at State Farm Stadium.
The outlier is Munich. A 9:30 AM ET kickoff is 3:30 PM in Germany and 6:30 AM on the West Coast, so set an early alarm if you follow the Lions from California.
Free Printable Detroit Lions Schedule 2026 (PDF)
This printable Detroit Lions schedule 2026 puts the full year on a single page: three preseason games and all 18 regular season weeks with dates, opponents, kickoff times and TV channels. Home games print in bold so the Ford Field dates stand out, and every row leaves an empty box for the score.
The strip across the top carries the 9 and 8 home and road split, the Week 6 bye, Ford Field and Dan Campbell. The notes panel flags what a table cannot: the Munich kickoff in local time, the Thanksgiving date, and the fact that Detroit runs 12 straight games after its bye. Sized for US Letter paper, 8.5 by 11 inches, free, with no sign up or email required.
Want every club on one page? Get the full 2026 NFL schedule with all 32 teams, week by week.
Lions 2026 Wall Calendar Printable (PDF)
Prefer month grids? This version runs August 2026 through January 2027. Home dates are filled in Honolulu blue, road dates are outlined in silver, preseason squares are tagged PRE, and each square carries the opponent and kickoff time.
November is the month worth pinning up, with five game days including Munich and Thanksgiving. October is the opposite, only three squares filled, because the bye clears the middle weekend. January holds a single entry on the 3rd at Chicago and waits on the league to date the finale at Green Bay. Also US Letter, also free.
Printing tip: pick “Actual size” or “100%” instead of “Fit to page” so the small type stays sharp.
Munich Changes the Shape of the Season
Week 10 sends Detroit to Allianz Arena, home of Bayern Munich, to face the New England Patriots on November 15. It is the club’s first game in Germany, its first international game of any kind since 2015, and the first time Detroit has been the designated home team abroad.
That last detail matters more than it sounds. Because the Munich game counts as a Lions home date, only eight of the nine home games are actually played at Ford Field. Season ticket holders give up a Sunday, and the club sells the Munich date through official travel packages rather than through its usual ticket office.
There is a personal thread too. Amon-Ra St. Brown was born in California to a German mother, and he has spoken about playing in Germany as a long standing ambition.
The rest advantage sits with the visitors. New England takes its bye in Week 11, straight after Munich. Detroit does not, and instead flies home to host Tampa Bay six days later. The Lions’ own bye came five weeks earlier, so they cross the Atlantic and back with no cushion on either side.
The 87th Thanksgiving Classic Comes Full Circle
Detroit hosts the Chicago Bears on Thursday, November 26 at 1:00 PM ET on CBS. It is the 87th Thanksgiving game in franchise history and the 21st against Chicago on the holiday.
The symmetry is neat. The tradition began in 1934, when new owner George Richards scheduled a Thanksgiving game against the Bears to draw a crowd in the team’s first Detroit season. Ninety two years later the same opponent walks into Ford Field on the same holiday.
This is also the fifth Detroit and Chicago Thanksgiving meeting in the last nine seasons, so the pairing has become a modern habit rather than a one off nod to history. Expect it to be the hardest home ticket of the year outside the Monday night game.
When is the Lions Bye Week in 2026?
Week 6, the weekend of October 18. Detroit plays five games before the break and 12 after it, which is one of the most lopsided splits in the league this year.
Byes run from Week 5 through Week 14 in 2026, with none at all in Week 12 because of Thanksgiving. Only Carolina and Kansas City are off earlier than Detroit. Cincinnati, Miami and Minnesota share the Week 6 date.
The upside is a rested team heading into back to back home games against Green Bay and Minnesota that open NFC North play. The downside is a 12 week grind with a transatlantic flight, a short week for Thanksgiving and road trips to Atlanta and Minnesota in December before the January finish at Chicago and Green Bay.
The break sits between the road game at Arizona on October 11 and the home game against Green Bay on October 25. Compare every club on our NFL bye weeks page.
Lions 2026 Coaching Staff and Key Players
The staff changed at the top of the offense, the roster mostly did not.
- Dan Campbell enters his sixth season, hired in January 2021. Drew Petzing takes over as offensive coordinator after three years in the same job in Arizona. He replaces John Morton, though Campbell himself called plays over the back half of 2025. Kelvin Sheppard stays on defense and Dave Fipp keeps special teams. Executive vice president and general manager Brad Holmes remains.
- Mike Kafka arrives as pass game coordinator after four seasons with the New York Giants, where he finished 2025 as interim head coach. The Lions host the Giants on Monday night in Week 16, which gives that game a subplot.
- Jared Goff begins his 11th NFL season after throwing for 4,564 yards, 34 touchdowns and 8 interceptions in 2025, second in the league in both yards and touchdowns. The backup job changed hands in August: Teddy Bridgewater stepped away and went on the reserve retired list on August 9, and Detroit signed Joshua Dobbs the same day.
- Amon-Ra St. Brown and Jameson Williams lead the receivers, Sam LaPorta works the middle, and Jahmyr Gibbs signed an extension through 2030 to anchor the run game behind Penei Sewell.
- On defense, Aidan Hutchinson rushes the edge and Jack Campbell, also extended through 2030, runs the linebacker room. Payton Turner and Damone Clark were added in free agency.
How to Get Detroit Lions Tickets
Single game seats run through the official Lions ticket page, which routes sales to Ticketmaster. Verified resale is available on StubHub, SeatGeek and Vivid Seats. Suite and hospitality inquiries go through the club directly.
Three home dates price highest: Thanksgiving against Chicago, the Monday night game against the Giants, and the Week 7 visit from Green Bay. The Week 14 game against Tennessee is the value pick, a 1:00 PM Sunday in December against a non conference opponent.
The Munich game is not sold through the normal Lions channels. Tickets and travel run through the NFL’s official hospitality provider, and inventory for the Allianz Arena is handled separately from Ford Field seating.
Detroit Lions Schedule 2026 FAQ
When do the Lions play their first game in 2026?
Sunday, September 13, 2026 against the New Orleans Saints at Ford Field, 1:00 PM ET on FOX. It is both the season opener and the home opener. Dan Campbell spent five seasons in New Orleans as assistant head coach and tight ends coach before Detroit hired him in January 2021.
Where can I get a free printable Detroit Lions schedule 2026?
Use the download buttons above. The printable is a one page US Letter PDF with all three preseason games and all 18 regular season weeks, including dates, kickoff times, TV channels and a blank box for each result. A wall calendar version covering August 2026 through January 2027 is also available. Both are free with no sign up or email required.
What channel are Detroit Lions games on in 2026?
FOX carries 9 games and CBS has 3. NBC has two Sunday night games in Weeks 4 and 15, ESPN has the Week 16 Monday night game and Prime Video has the Week 2 Thursday night game at Buffalo. Week 18 at Green Bay is still TBD. Preseason games air on the Lions TV Network, and 97.1 The Ticket is the flagship radio station.
Who do the Lions play on Thanksgiving 2026?
The Chicago Bears, on Thursday, November 26 at 1:00 PM ET on CBS at Ford Field. It is the 87th Thanksgiving game in Lions history and the 21st against Chicago on the holiday. The tradition started in 1934 against the same opponent, and this is the fifth Detroit and Chicago Thanksgiving meeting in the last nine seasons.
When is the Lions bye week in 2026?
Week 6, the weekend of October 18. Detroit plays five games before the break and 12 straight after it with no further rest. The bye falls between the road game at Arizona on October 11 and the home game against Green Bay on October 25. Cincinnati, Miami and Minnesota are also off in Week 6, and only Carolina and Kansas City have an earlier bye in 2026.
Where do the Lions play in Germany and what time does it start?
Allianz Arena in Munich, home of Bayern Munich, on Sunday, November 15 against the New England Patriots. Kickoff is 9:30 AM ET, which is 3:30 PM local time in Germany and 6:30 AM on the West Coast. FOX carries it. Detroit is the designated home team, so this is the club’s first international game as host and its first ever game in Germany.
How many home games do the Lions play at Ford Field in 2026?
Eight. Detroit has nine home games on paper because the NFC hosts the extra interconference game this year, but the Week 10 game against New England is played in Munich, so only eight are at Ford Field. The eight are Weeks 1, 3, 7, 8, 11, 12, 14 and 16.
How many Super Bowls have the Detroit Lions won?
None. The Lions have never reached a Super Bowl. Their last league title came in 1957, before the Super Bowl era began, and they hold four NFL championships in total from 1935, 1952, 1953 and 1957. Detroit went 9-8 in 2025 and missed the playoffs.
The Detroit Lions schedule 2026 asks a lot in a short space. An early bye, a trip to Germany, a Thanksgiving short week and a December that runs through Minnesota, Chicago and Green Bay. Get through that stretch and the NFC North is live in January.
Bookmark this page for kickoff times and TV channels, and grab the free printable PDF above to keep the full slate in front of you.
Last Updated: August 11, 2026.
