3–2, tied for 2nd in the NFC North; offense top 10, defense bottom 10.
The Lions are 3–2 in 2026.
By opponent-adjusted EPA per play the Lions' offense ranks 5th (+0.11) and their defense 30th (+0.10 allowed); 17th of 32 by net (+0.01).
Data through Week 5's games (the last played Mon, Oct 12), from nflverse play-by-play; nflverse last published it .
Week 7 · Sun, Oct 25 · 3:25 PM CT on Fox
Our call: Lions Toss-up
4 of 4 models favor the Lions. On average the models have the Lions by 1.9 points, a 56% win chance.
Every model, the quarterbacks and the matchup →
TV listings: ESPN
Headlines and a line or two from each outlet's own feed, linked to the original; the stories are theirs, not ours. League-wide news →
| Team | Record | In the division |
|---|---|---|
| Minnesota Vikings | 5–0 | 2–0 |
| Green Bay Packers | 3–2 | 1–1 |
| Detroit Lions | 3–2 | 0–0 |
| Chicago Bears | 3–2 | 0–2 |
By winning percentage (a tie counts half), then the NFL's division tiebreakers as our standings apply them.
| Week | Opponent | Result | Our call | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Week 1Sun, Sep 13 · Fox | vs Saints | W 31–30 (OT) | Lions Lean · ✓ | Game page |
| Week 2Thu, Sep 17 · Prime Video | at Bills | L 31–41 | Bills Lean · ✓ | Game page |
| Week 3Sun, Sep 27 · Fox | vs Jets | W 31–24 | Lions Lean · ✓ | Game page |
| Week 4Sun, Oct 4 · NBC | at Panthers | L 26–32 | Lions Toss-up · ✗ | Game page |
| Week 5Sun, Oct 11 · Fox | at Cardinals | W 45–21 | Lions Toss-up · ✓ | Game page |
| Week 6 | Bye | |||
| Week 7Sun, Oct 25 · Fox | vs Packers | — | Lions Toss-up | Game page |
| Week 8Sun, Nov 1 · Fox | vs Vikings | — | Lions Toss-up | Game page |
| Week 9Sun, Nov 8 · Fox | at Dolphins | — | Lions Lean | Game page |
| Week 10Sun, Nov 15 · Fox | vs Patriotsneutral site | — | Patriots Toss-up | Game page |
| Week 11Sun, Nov 22 · CBS | vs Buccaneers | — | Lions Lean | Game page |
| Week 12Thu, Nov 26 · CBS | vs Bears | — | Lions Lean | Game page |
| Week 13Sun, Dec 6 · CBS | at Falcons | — | Lions Toss-up | Game page |
| Week 14Sun, Dec 13 · Fox | vs Titans | — | Lions Strong | Game page |
| Week 15Sun, Dec 20 · NBC | at Vikings | — | Vikings Toss-up | Game page |
| Week 16Mon, Dec 28 · ESPN | vs Giants | — | Lions Lean | Game page |
| Week 17Sun, Jan 3 · Fox | at Bears | — | Lions Toss-up | Game page |
| Week 18Sun, Jan 10 | at Packers | — | Packers Toss-up | Game page |
Our call is the team the consensus of our models favored before kickoff, never changed after it; ✓ when that team won, ✗ when it lost. Each game page shows every model.
TV listings: ESPN
2026 regular season through Week 5, from nflverse's player stats: the Lions players above the leaders page's marks per team game.
| Player | Yardspassing | Attempts | Completedof attempts | TD | INT | EPAper dropback |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Jared GoffQB | 1,485 | 191 | 67% | 12 | 0 | +0.32 |
| Player | Yardsrushing | Carries | Yardsper carry | TDrushing | Targets | Share ofteam targets |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Jahmyr GibbsRB | 504 | 105 | 4.8 | 7 | 34 | 18% |
| Player | Yardsreceiving | Catches | Targets | Share ofteam targets | Air yards | TD |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Amon-Ra St. BrownWR | 372 | 37 | 57 | 30% | 465 | 5 |
| Jameson WilliamsWR | 276 | 18 | 29 | 15% | 479 | 2 |
| Player | Yardsreceiving | Catches | Targets | Share ofteam targets | Air yards | TD |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Sam LaPortaTE | 316 | 27 | 37 | 20% | 232 | 3 |
| Player | Tackles | For loss | Sacks | INT | Passesdefended | Fumblesforced |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Jack CampbellLB | 44 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| D.J. ReedCB | 37 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 0 |
| Chuck ClarkSAF | 35 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 |
| Derrick BarnesLB | 27 | 4 | 3 | 1 | 2 | 0 |
| Christian IzienSAF | 26 | 4 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 |
| Roger McCrearyCB | 18 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 7 | 1 |
| Aidan HutchinsonDE | 15 | 3 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
| Rock Ya-SinCB | 15 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Trevor NowaskeLB | 15 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Malcolm RodriguezLB | 14 | 0 | 0.5 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
Top 10 by tackles.
| Player | FG made | FG tried | Longestyards | Extra pointsmade | Extra pointstried |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Jake BatesK | 8 | 8 | 54 | 20 | 20 |
Opponent-adjusted, from nflverse play-by-play, 2026 regular season to date; league rank of 32 beside each.
| Lions | Rank | |
|---|---|---|
| Offense, EPA per play | +0.11 | 5th |
| Offense, success rate | 46% | 9th |
| Passing offense, EPA per dropback | +0.19 | 5th |
| Rushing offense, EPA per run | −0.03 | 9th |
What the defense allowed, opponent-adjusted, 2026 regular season to date; 1st allowed the least. Net is offense minus defense.
| Lions | Rank | |
|---|---|---|
| Defense, EPA per play allowed | +0.10 | 30th |
| Defense, success rate allowed | 46% | 27th |
| Pass defense, EPA per dropback allowed | +0.18 | 28th |
| Run defense, EPA per run allowed | −0.06 | 20th |
| Net EPA per play (offense minus defense) | +0.01 | 17th |
Week 5 report (last filed); bye in Week 6
The official injury report, as of Tue, Oct 13 · 9:57 AM CT: players with a game status or a missed or limited practice.
Our call had the winner in 4 of 5 Lions games (80%).
| Model | Games | Winner right | Rate | Average miss |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Consensus (our call) | 5 | 4 of 5 | 80% | 8.1 |
| Our model Experimental | 5 | 4 of 5 | 80% | 8.7 |
| Elo | 5 | 4 of 5 | 80% | 8.2 |
| SRS | 5 | 5 of 5 | 100% | 8.1 |
| ESPN FPI | 5 | 4 of 5 | 80% | 7.8 |
| Record | 5 | 4 of 5 | 80% | — |
Winner right: games where the model favored the team that won (a tie counts half). Average miss: points between the model's margin and the final margin. Weeks 1–4 reconstructed: worked out afterwards from data before each week. Every game, every team →
Likely in: the Lions reach the playoffs in 62% of our 20,000 simulations of the rest of the season and win the NFC North in 17%; their average finish is 10–7.
In the race for the 2027 draft: the Lions get the #1 pick in <1% of the simulations and a top-5 pick in 1%. Draft order →
After Week 5's games; simulated Tue, Oct 13 · 6:05 PM CT. The rest of the season is played out 20,000 times, each game with our call's win chance; the NFL's tiebreakers are applied in simplified form (no points or touchdown steps). How the simulation works →