The Detroit Lions will play a game outside of the United States for the first time in 11 years, with a November 15th tilt against the New England Patriots in Munich, Germany.
Munich is quite a way away. According to AirMilesCalculator.com, the air distance between Detroit Metropolitan Airport (DTW) and Munich Airport (MUC) is 4347.1 miles (6995.9 kilometers). That's just one way and for one game!
The Lions also have 16 other games to worry about, eight of them in Detroit and eight of them on the road. How many miles will the Lions actually travel throughout the season? And how does that compare to the rest of the league, especially those who aren't traveling abroad this season?
According to Bill Speros of Bookies.com, the Lions will travel 18,958 miles throughout the 2026 season. These estimates are determined by the GPS distance between each stadium and don't account for the method of travel.
18,958 miles may be a lot, but when compared to the rest of the league, it actually isn't too bad. The Lions rank 15th in total miles traveled for the 2026 season. They're slightly behind the Denver Broncos (19,129) and just ahead of the Washington Commanders (18,491). The Commanders, at least, will be traveling to London. The Broncos have no international games scheduled.
The Patriots themselves will travel 27,590 miles, good for the fifth most. This despite not playing in another international game.
Leading the way are the San Francisco 49ers (38,105) and the Los Angeles Rams (34,847), both of whom are playing in Australia in Week 1. At the bottom of the list is the Carolina Panthers, who will travel only 8,740 miles, roughly the distance the Lions will travel round-trip for their Munich game.
Domestically, the Lions' furthest travels will take them to Arizona to play the Cardinals, thanks to their fourth-place schedule. It'll be the Lions' only game west of Minnesota in 2026.
BREAKING: The 32 NFL teams travel 628,873 miles this season. That equals 25.2 trips around the circumference of the Earth, or 2.63 times the distance to the Moon.
— Bill Speros (@billsperos) May 13, 2026
Six teams will travel more than the distance around the earth the equator - 24,901 miles.
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Munich trip creates a divisional disadvantage
The Lions won't be the only NFC North team to play in another country this season, as the Minnesota Vikings will play the 49ers in Mexico in Week 11. In total, the Vikings will travel 14,852 miles in 2026 -- at least 4,000 miles fewer than the Lions and good for the 25th most miles traveled.
The Green Bay Packers (12,673) and the Chicago Bears (10,676) will benefit from staying in the United States, both traveling in the bottom five in total miles at 28th and 30th, respectively. Had the Lions remained home for the Patriots game, their total miles would've been in the low 10,000s (10,263.8 if subtracting the airport-to-airport mileage). That would've put them below the Bears for 30th most in the league.
READ MORE: The Athletic's projection model shows how well the Lions roster stacks up
The reason for such low mileage is that the NFC North is set to play the AFC East and NFC South this season, all in the eastern portion of the country, with the AFC East teams a relative stone's throw away compared to West Coast teams.
The Lions traveling almost half of their total mileage for one game is rough, especially in the second half of the season, and so close to Thanksgiving. If the Lions don't have a bye week after, they could be traveling abroad and playing multiple Thursday games in a span of a month, given the NFL has recently liked to use the Lions on Thursday Night Football the week after Thanksgiving.
At the same time, it could've been a lot worse than middle-of-the-pack. While the Lions may find themselves at a disadvantage within the NFC North, they'll have their own advantages compared to 14 other teams. How much of an advantage or disadvantage will be determined once the schedule is fully released.
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