What are the NFL teams without primetime games in the 2022-23 season?
The Detroit Lions are the only team in the NFL that will have no primetime games, but this doesn’t seem to bother head coach Dan Campbell in the least.
The NFL recently released the schedule for 2022-23, and it turns out that only one team in the league will NOT have a primetime game the whole season- the Detroit Lions. It’s the second time in three years that the team will not be given a chance to play before a wider television audience.
This doesn’t seem to be at all an issue for head coach Dan Campbell. “It’s awesome,” he said of the schedule.
Detroit Lions coach: Knock them out, then go home
“You knock them out, you go home, you get ready for the next opponent. You’re not waiting all day in the hotel, all night. Then you’re on a short week, it feels like. So, I’ve got no problem.”
Each NFL team is required to have at least one Thursday game during the year, which usually gives them a chance to appear on Thursday Night Football.
However, the Lions are scheduled to host the Buffalo Bills on Thanksgiving at 12:30 p.m., and as that satisfies the Thursday game requirement, they miss their chance to get the primetime TNF slot.
NFL: No success, no primetime slot
NFL management said the Lions were not given prime TV exposure mainly due to the team’s recent lack of success.
The team has finished last in the NFC North Division for four years in a row, and has failed to qualify for the playoffs since 2016.
The Lions were not able to win a postseason game in the 12 years they had with Matthew Stafford, who then won the Super Bowl with the Los Angeles Rams immediately after leaving Detroit.
The Lions will face the Philadelphia Eagles in their first regular season game on Sept. 11, Sunday.