Ahead of knowing when they’ll spefically play games, the Detroit Lions won’t be traveling as much as many other teams during the 2022 season.
The Detroit Lions know their opponents for the 2022 NFL regular season, ahead of next Thursday’s full schedule release. It has also been confirmed they won’t have an international game, so a deeper schedule note from ESPN’s Adam Schefter isn’t too surprising.
With home and road opponents known, Schefter has listed out how many miles and time zones each NFL team will travel during the 2022 season. The team that will log the most miles, the Seattle Seahawks, isn’t a big surprise. If you were trying to predict without knowing, Florida teams (Jacksonville Jaguars, Miami Dolphins, Tampa Bay Buccaneers) would land in the top five or 10 in miles to travel just like they do.
At the bottom of the list in miles to be traveled is the Pittsburgh Steelers, who will travel just under 6,500 miles. They’ll never even leave the Eastern time zone.
Detroit Lions have the second-fewest miles to travel in 2022
The Lions will travel the second-fewest miles during the 2022 season, at 8,348. A glance at the road schedule tells the tale, with divisional games in Minneapolis, Chicago and Green Bay, trips to teams in NFC East (New York Giants, Dallas Cowboys), the AFC East (New York Jets, New England Patriots) and a trip to take on the Carolina Panthers.
The Lions’ 2021 schedule included trips west to take on the Seahawks, the Denver Broncos and the Los Angeles Rams, with a solidly lengthy trip south-southeast to take on the Atlanta Falcons. Only one similar trip (to the Panthers) is on the slate this year, and the furthest west they’ll get is Dallas/Arlington.
Three Lions’ opponents who would be long road trips–the Seahawks, the Dolphins and the Jaguars–will be coming to Ford Field during the 2022 season.