a tie game, the Lions call plays more conservatively, hoping to avoid a turnover that would give the Panthers a short field and a game-winning

How will the NFL schedule-makers treat the Lions this year?"On Tuesday Womens Christian Jones Jersey , the NFL announced that the 2019 regular season schedule will be released on Wednesday at 8 p.m. ET. While some of the excitement of the event has already been spoiled since we already know the Detroit Lions 2019 home and away opponents, the real excitement is seeing how many nationally televised games they’ll have this season.We already know the Lions will have the Thanksgiving Day Classic—in spite of efforts from the Eagles to take them on the road—but will the Lions break into the primetime audience after a disappointing 6-10 season? Today’s Question of the Day is:How many primetime games do you think the Lions will have on their initial schedule? My answer: It would be hard to justify more than one. The Lions weren’t only disappointing in 2019, but they were actually quite boring, too. Their offense was no longer the highlight machine it used to be, and the thrilling fourth-quarter comebacks were gone. The defense was even tougher to watch, especially in the first half of the season.That being said, there are reasons to believe Detroit could be more thrilling this year. A new offensive coordinator is in town Calvin Johnson Jersey White , the Lions grabbed arguably the best defensive player in free agency, and with a top-10 pick coming in (pending a trade), the Lions could be one of the better bounce-back stories in 2019.However, if I were the NFL, I’d hedge my bets. If the Lions turn out to be a surprise team in 2019, then you can flex them into primetime for “Sunday Night Football.” Otherwise, they’re a hard sell nationally right now.Your turn. Panthers coach Ron Rivera morphed back into his Riverboat Ron persona on Sunday Kerryon Johnson Jersey White , even though the whole go-for-two thing has become so commonplace that he could now be called Riverbot Ron. (And, yeah, I thought of that only after I accidentally said “Riverbot” instead of “Riverboat” during , which as on-air verbal accidents go could have been a lot worse.)But the classic, late-game, go-for-the-win-by-going-for-two move needs to consider a variety of factors unrelated to the proverbial numbers (a far less nerdy version of “analytics”). The biggest factor is and always will be the amount of chances the other team would have to win the game, if the late two-pointer puts the other team behind by a point.If the touchdown that pulled the margin to within one happens on the final play of regulation Womens Luke Willson Jersey , it’s not an issue. If it happens with significant time on the clock, it’s definitely an issue.On Sunday, Rivera’s gamble, if it had paid off, would have given the Lions a chance to win the game (and to avoid losing it) with 1:07 to play and three time outs. If Rivera had simply opted to tie the game (assuming that kicker Graham Gano wouldn’t have missed his third kick of the day), the Lions would have found themselves in a tie game, and with a far different mindset.In a tie game Trey Flowers Jersey , the Lions punt on fourth down. In a game that the Lions are trailing by a point, they go for it on fourth down.In a tie game, the Lions call plays more conservatively, hoping to avoid a turnover that would give the Panthers a short field and a game-winning field goal. In a game that the Lions are trailing by a point, they open the playbook and go for it.The fact that the Lions had three time outs would have allowed quarterback Matthew Stafford to spray the ball all over the field, not worrying about the clock running on a play that ends with a tackle in bounds. And with 67 ticks on the clock, the Lions could have gotten in position for a long Matt Prater field goal.It still could have happened in a tie game Levine Toilolo Jersey White , but the Lions necessarily would have had a different approach if the score were 20-20 than if it were 21-20.Ultimately, it didn’t matter, because the two-point try failed. But the decision in those situations always needs to take into account the consequences of failing (virtually certain loss), succeeding (likely win, but more work would be needed), and opting for one (likely overtime).