The NFC Championship Game everyone expected never came to fruition in the 2024 NFL Playoffs, and per a now confirmed Sunday night schedule leak, fans will have to wait a little longer to see the Detroit Lions clash with the Philadelphia Eagles.
Despite landing on Philly’s home schedule for the 2025 season, the NFL passed on the Lions — and Los Angeles Rams, for that matter — in picking the NFC East rival Dallas Cowboys for its Sept. 4 Thursday night season kick-off game at Lincoln Financial Field.
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The NFL has avoided divisional opponents in the TNF season opener for the past 12 years. The last time it happened was in 2012, when the then-Super Bowl champion New York Giants opened with — who else? — the Cowboys in East Rutherford.
It’s also rare for a team with a losing record the prior season to be picked. It’s only happened one time since Philadelphia’s last Super Bowl title in 2017 — and it was once again Dallas, in Dak Prescott’s return from a gruesome ankle injury, vs. Tom Brady and the Buccaneers to kick-off the 2021 season.
Detroit, of course, finished the 2024 season with a 15-2 record, blasting the Minnesota Vikings in the Week 18 season finale to clinch home-field advantage throughout the NFC playoffs. The Lions were surprisingly cooked at Ford Field after their first-round bye by superstar rookie Jayden Daniels and the Washington Commanders.
The Lions still have plenty of star power on the field, including the potential return of EDGE Aidan Hutchinson, but their coaching staff has taken a major hit. Both coordinators — Ben Johnson (Bears) and Aaron Glenn (Jets) — left Detroit during this year’s head coach hiring cycle, for example.
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Picking the Cowboys over Detroit is a bit surprising, but it makes sense. Eagles-Lions could still end up being one of the top regular-season matchups of the 2025 regular season, and saving it for later in the season (when teams are playing at a different speed) is hardly an injustice.
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