One of the reasons the Detroit Lions could rise in the standings in 2022 is a simple matter of the strength of schedule. The Lions have one of the easier schedules in terms of opponent win percentages from a year ago.
The Lions have the fifth-easiest schedule in 2022 when accounting for the aggregate win percentage of the 17 teams on the upcoming schedule. Only the four teams in the NFC East have lighter percentages than Detroit’s .467. And the Lions play all four of those teams — Dallas, New York Giants, Philadelphia and Washington. Detroit gets the advantage of opening at home against the Eagles and Commanders, too.
It helps that the Lions are playing a fourth-place schedule, of course. Finishing in last in the NFC North in 2021 at 3-13-1 set up Detroit to play fellow bottom-dwellers from a season ago in the AFC South and NFC South. Those two teams, Jacksonville and Carolina, combined to finish 8-26.
In 2021 the Lions sputtered to their last-place finish with one of the NFL’s tougher schedules. Detroit faced an aggregate .529 win percentage from 2020 in 2021.