The 16-game schedule is dead. Long live the 16-game schedule. Last week, the NFL added a 17th game to each team’s schedule—a interconference matchup that will all be hosted by the AFC in 2021 and the NFC in 2022.
The 16-game era lasted 43 years (1978 to 2020), and needless to say, it wasn’t exactly a shining era of Detroit Lions football. We all know that Detroit has failed to make a Super Bowl, and has only won a single playoff game over that era.
But it gets even worse for Lions fans.