6 games to comfortably mark as wins on Detroit Lions 2023 schedule

2. Week 8: vs. Las Vegas Raiders

Before their Week 9 bye, the Lions get the Monday night stage on the night before Halloween against the Raiders. They finally moved on from Carr this offseason, swapping in Jimmy Garoppolo to reunite with Josh McDaniels.

Las Vegas has some good individual talent (Davante Adams, Maxx Crosby), but 1-53 on the roster they just don’t seem likely to do much this season. At home, in prime time, going into the bye and  between two of the toughest games on their schedule, this is one the Lions need to and should get pretty comfortably.

1. Week 3: vs. Atlanta Falcons

Going three out of four for the Lions to easily beat NFC South teams this season, and the fourth (Carolina Panthers) almost made this list too.

The Falcons have extra buzz after drafting Bijan Robinson. Witth an intriguing set of young offensive weapons, they also made an effort to beef up their defense this offseason.

But Desmond Ridder is still Atlanta’s quarterback, and an improved Lions’ defense gets an early season shot at him before he may be able to show his full potential in a full season as the starter. Arthur Smith also gives off in over his head vibes from the head coaching spot for the Falcons, which makes his team vulnerable.

Early odds have the game against the Falcons as a game the Lions are favored to win by the most on their schedule (-5 on DraftKings Sportsbook, tied with Week 5 against the Panthers). So with that, home against Atlanta early in the season gets further fortified for the top spot among the games to comfortably mark as a win.