Author: Paula Pasche

Paula Pasche, a veteran sports writer, covers the Detroit Lions for her Lions Lowdown blog. She has written two books, "Game of My Life Detroit Lions" and "100 Things Lions Fans Should Know & Do Before They Die" which are available at bookstores and on Amazon.com. She won first place for column writing from the Society of Professional Journalists in Detroit (Class B) in 2011, 2012 and 2013 and was The Oakland Press 2010 Staffer of the Year.

Detroit Lions release 2019 schedule

Will play one Monday night game on the road

Not too much drama in the release of the Detroit Lions’ 2019 schedule on Wednesday night although just two of the first five games will be played at Ford Field.

The Lions open on the road at the Arizona Cardinals on Sept. 8 with their first home game in Week 2 against the Los Angeles Chargers who finished 12-4 last season.

They will play on Monday night game, on Oct. 14 at the Green Bay Packers. It will be their first game after the bye in Week 5 (Oct. 6).

On Oct. 27, the Lions will welcome the New York Giants and wide receiver Golden Tate.

On Thanksgiving they will face the Chicago Bears for the second straight season. In 2018 the Bears feasted on the Lions with a 23-16 win.

The regular season — the second under coach Matt Patricia —  will wrap up on Dec. 29 against the Packers at Ford Field. It’s the second straight home finale against the Packers. The Lions won that game 30-0 last year to finish the season, 6-10.

2019 REGULAR SEASON LIONS SCHEDULE

Sunday, Sept. 8 at Arizona Cardinals, FOX, 4:25 p.m.

Sunday, Sept. 15 LOS ANGELES CHARGERS, CBS, 1 p.m.

Sunday, Sept. 22 at Philadelphia Eagles, FOX, 1 p.m.

Sunday, Sept. 29 KANSAS CITY CHIEFS, FOX, 1 p.m.

Sunday, Oct. 6 BYE WEEK

Monday, October 14 at Green Bay Packers, ESPN, 8:15 p.m.

Sunday, Oct. 20 MINNESOTA VIKINGS, FOX, 1 p.m.

Sunday, Oct. 27 NEW YORK GIANTS, FOX, 1 p.m.

Sunday, Nov. 3 at Oakland Raiders, FOX, 4:05 p.m.

Sunday, Nov. 10 at Chicago Bears, CBS, 1 p.m.

Sunday, Nov. 17 DALLAS COWBOYS, FOX, 1 p.m.

Sunday, Nov.24 at Washington Redskins, FOX, 1 p.m.

Thursday, Nov. 28 CHICAGO BEARS, FOX, 12:30 p.m.

Sunday, Dec. 8 at Minnesota Vikings, FOX, 1 p.m.

Sunday, Dec. 15 TAMPA BAY BUCCANEERS, FOX, 1 p.m.

Saturday, Dec. 21/Sunday, Dec. 22 at Denver Broncos TBD

Sunday, Dec. 29 GREEN BAY PACKERS, FOX, 1 p.m.

PRESEASON SCHEDULE

Thursday, Aug. 8 NEW ENGLAND PATRIOTS, WJBK-TV FOX 2, 7:30 p.m.

Saturday, Aug. 17 at Houston Texans WJBK-TV FOX 2, 8 p.m.

Friday, Aug. 23 BUFFALO BILLS, CBS, 8 p.m.

Thursday, Aug. 29 at Cleveland Browns, WJBK-TV, FOX 2 7:30 p.m

Lions LB Devon Kennard: Defense starting season with a clean slate

The fifth-round pick offers advice to success

ALLEN PARK — Devon Kennard remembers his draft day in 2014 as the most stressful and the best day all rolled into one.

The Lions linebacker, who was drafted in the fifth round by the New York Giants, has found success despite his late-round status.

It wasn’t an accident, he worked hard as a rookie and still does.

With the NFL draft starting on April 25 he has advice for late-round picks.

“I would definitely say like learn the playbook early on, that helped me my first year. I feel like I’m an intelligent player, if you don’t know what you’re doing like the game is going to be moving too fast as a rookie and a late-round guy,’’ Kennard said at a Tuesday press conference.

Many of the Lions players reported to voluntary workouts starting on Monday.

“I think I earned my teammates and coaches respect, I came in as a rookie I dove into the playbook right away and I was out there I didn’t do everything perfect. I knew where to line up and play certain things and was doing things the right way,’’ Kennard said. “That gave me a huge headway to end up starting as a rookie even though I was a late-round draft pick.’’

He started six games as a rookie for the Giants and played three more seasons there before he joined the Lions for the 2018 season when he started in 15 games.

The Lions’ defense was a work in progress in 2018, the first under first-year coach Matt Patricia, although improvement was obvious by the end of the season.

Kennard said that doesn’t matter.

“I’m kind of a firm believer in last year is last year. If you try to hang your hat on something like that you know teams are watching film and studying too,’’ Kennard said. “So if you think we finished the year strong so we’re going to be good and we’re going to be strong because that’s how we finished that’s the recipe for disaster.

“I kind of look at it as complete clean slate. The best advantage we have is just our understanding of our defense and our ownership of the defense. It’s what we do with it now moving forward,’’ Kennard added.

The NFL will announce the 2019 schedule at 8 p.m. on Wednesday.

 

Lions to open preseason at home against Super Bowl champion Patriots

2019 preseason opponents announced

The Lions have announced their 2019 preseason opponents starting with the defending Super Bowl champion New England Patriots at Ford Field, Aug. 8-12. Exact dates and times will be announced at later date.

It will mark the third time in seven years the Lions and Patriots have met in the preseason. Detroit leads the preseason series 6-3.

In Week 2 (Aug. 15-19), the Lions will play at the Houston Texans. Detroit’s last preseason game in Houston was against the Oilers in 1996.

In Week 3, the Lions will welcome the Buffalo Bills at 8 p.m. on Aug. 23 in a game to be broadcast nationally on CBS. It will be the 38th time they have met in the preseason.

The Lions wrap up their preseason at the Cleveland Browns on Aug. 29 or 30. The Lions and Browns have met in the preseason 47 times, more than any other Lions opponent. Detroit leads the Preseason series with a record of 25-21-1.