The Detroit Lions didn’t have the opportunity to play the Philadelphia Eagles this season. Philadelphia held its end of the bargain by playing in the NFC Championship game, but Detroit lost to the Washington Commanders in the divisional round of the playoffs.
The Eagles ended up winning the Super Bowl while the Lions had a disappointing end to a 15-2 season.
There’s an opportunity for the Lions to see how good they are against the Super Bowl champions, as Detroit plays Philadelphia next season. Lions wide receiver Amon-Ra St. Brown wants Philadelphia on opening night (the Eagles host the kickoff game since they are the defending Super Bowl champions).
“Eagles have the home opener next year, because they won the Super Bowl,” St. Brown said on his podcast with his brothers Equanimeous and Osiris. “Can I read you the list of teams that could be in that first game? Commanders, Cowboys, Giants, Bears, Lions, Raiders, Rams, Broncos. Out of all those teams, if you’re the NFL, who are you putting in there?”
St. Brown’s brothers both said the Lions, which prompted Amon-Ra to say this.
“That’s what I’m saying. So we might be playing opening night,” St. Brown said. “You would see what our healthy defense, how that shit operates.”
The Lions did have plenty of injuries on their defense last season, as they started 30 players last year (tied for the most by any NFL team on one side of the ball since the 1970 merger). They allowed 32.5 points per game and 7.4 yards per play in December, the most yards per play allowed by any team in December in the Super Bowl era. They allowed just 16.4 points per game in September through November and missed five Week 1 starters in their playoff opener.
St. Brown does have a point, but the Eagles also had 95 points in their final two games — the most combined points between a conference championship game and a Super Bowl in NFL playoff history.
The Eagles did their job and the Lions didn’t. The battle between two of the conference powers will be one to watch in 2025, no matter what week they play.
