The Lions lost their first five games in 2015 before winning seven of their final 11.
They started 1-3 in 2016 before winning eight of their next 12.
To say NFL schedule-makers were responsible for these slow starts would be a stretch. But in light of the arrangement of late, Lions President Rod Wood said Tuesday he’s kindly submitted a request to the powers that be before next month’s 2017 schedule release: Please, not again.
Wood told reporters he asked the NFL not to assign the Lions three road games in their first four weeks. Such has been the case the past two regular seasons.
Before that stretch, it hadn’t happened to Detroit since 2011.
The Lions went 10-6 that year, winning their first five games en route to the franchise’s first playoff berth since 1999. The results were less favorable when the schedule began the same in 2010; Detroit lost its first four games in a 6-10 year.
The Browns, Dolphins, Rams and Raiders are the only other clubs who began 2016 with three of four games on the road.
Only the Lions were doing so for a consecutive year.