Yikes! That's practically half the schedule right there. Not to mention opening the season at playoff bubble team, 10 game winner Tampa Bay.

Other potentially difficult games include; the aforementioned contest @Tampa Bay in week 1, @Minnesota in week 3, @Dallas in week 4, Minnesota in week 14, @Oakland in week 15, and San Diego in week 16.

Record Projection:
In 2011 we project the Lions to go (8-8), matching the season win total line of 8 games. Detroit is on the up and up. And after so many years of projecting dismal finishes for the Lions (and being right), we'd love nothing more than to project double digit wins and a playoff appearance. But the '11 schedule is pure brutality.

If the Lions playes in the NFC West, they'd probably go (5-1) in the division this year and coast into the playoffs. But they don't. They play in the highly ranked NFC North... But that's not to say the Lions can't be in playoff contention this season. To get FootballLOCKS.com's favorite season win totals picks, sign up here.

Updates:
Revisit this prediction page for any potential preseason upgrades or downgrades to the 2011 Detroit Lions season record forecast & outlook. This 2011 NFL projection will be "frozen" before the '11 season officially kicks off... Once the regular season begins, you can track in season, rolling NFL win total standings picks here.

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NFL Season Win Totals:
Naturally, one goal of the 2011 NFL team record prognostications as seen above is to create a guide for assessing and/or betting on 2011 NFL season win totals listed by Las Vegas NFL odds makers during the preseason.

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