The Detroit Lions’ 2024 schedule features a ton of great rematches from last year. Which one are you looking forward to the most?
The NFL released the full 2024 schedule last week, and the Detroit Lions ’ calendar is littered with rematches of high-stakes 2023 games. Teams like the Rams, Buccaneers, 49ers , and Cowboys all jump off the page and are circled on many fans’ calendars. Getting revenge for the latter two on games that slipped away from the Lions is considered a high priority for some.
Question of the day: Which 2024 rematch are you looking forward to the most on the Lions’ schedule?
My answer: While all the aforementioned are going to be on my radar when the season comes around, there is one game I have circled—the “Monday Night Football” matchup against the Seattle Seahawks in Week 4.
The Lions have failed to finish the job against Seattle for over a decade now. Almost every game has ended up an instant classic, but the Lions have consistently found themselves on the losing end. Let me put it this way: the Lions have yet to get revenge for the batted ball game.
That was a 13-10 loss in Seattle in 2015, also a “Monday Night Football” matchup. The Lions would visit the Seahawks again in the Wild Card round of the 2016 playoffs and get beat handily, 26-6. Then there was a 2018 rematch at Ford Field in the QuinnTricia era, ending in a 28-14 loss.
Since the Dan Campbell era, the Lions are 0-3 against Seattle. They hosted Seattle late in the 2021 season, losing a shootout 51-29 in a game closer than the score would indicate. Ten months later, the Lions were closer, but came up just short, losing 48-45 in a game filled with mistakes that would haunt the Lions as they just missed the playoffs. The third time, the Lions looked like they would finally end the curse, but the Seahawks pulled out a 37-31 overtime victory and put an end to the short-lived blue ski mask trend in Detroit.
I don’t know about you, but that’s a lot of pain at the hands of a franchise we don’t seem to regard as much of a rival. I want to see the Lions finally finish the job against the Seahawks, and it would be a full circle moment to get their first win since the batted ball incident on “Monday Night Football.”
It won’t be an easy feat, with the Seahawks retaining a lot of talent and bringing in a highly-regarded, young new coaching staff led by Mike MacDonald—a name many of you may remember as the mastermind behind Michigan’s 2021 defense. For the rest of you, you may not recognize the name, but he architected the defensive gameplan that handed the Lions their ugliest loss of the 2023 season, a 38-6 beatdown at the hands of the Baltimore Ravens .
He’s not the only familiar face on that sideline, either. MacDonald’s staff includes former Michigan special teams coordinator Jay Harbaugh in the same role, and former Michigan linebackers coach and special teams coordinator Chris Partridge coaching outside linebackers. MacDonald also has a right-hand man who has seen plenty of the Detroit Lions, with former Vikings HC Leslie Frazier filling the role of assistant head coach.
It’s not going to be an easy feat, but if the last few matchups are any indication, the Lions-Seahawks Week 4 matchup should be a good one. Here’s to hoping the Lions can finally turn the tide and hand the Seahawks their first loss of the series since 2012.
Which rematch on the 2024 schedule are you looking forward to the most? Let us know your thoughts in the comments.