When the Detroit Lions' schedule for the 2018 season was released, most fans had to be asking themselves, how did this happen? While some NFL experts believe that strength-of-schedule analysis is overrated since it is only centered around last year's results, teams shouldn’t get too up or down while analyzing the upcoming campaign.

Nevertheless, when you look at Detroit’s schedule, especially early on, it is hard to argue that Matt Patricia will have his work cut out for him in his first season as head coach of the Detroit Lions.

A September to remember?

The Lions will be front and center when Matt Patricia makes his debut as Detroit’s new head coach as Detroit hosts the New York Jets on Monday Night Football in Week 1 of the season. After the Jets, things get really interesting, really quickly.

According to Mlive, Detroit hits the road in Week 2 to take on the resurged San Francisco 49ers, who finished the season winning their five final games following their trade with New England for quarterback Jimmy Garoppolo.

The following week the Lions will face Patricia’s former team, the New England Patriots, followed by the Dallas Cowboys and Green Bay Packers.

If that doesn’t sound daunting enough, Detroit also has the Seahawks, Panthers, and Rams on the schedule and will play three of the final four contests on the road with two of them in Buffalo and Green Bay - where the weather is not so friendly in late December.

Fans react, and it is not all positive.

Lions fans wasted no time taking to social media last Thursday following the release of the NFL schedules for 2018 - and even though it has been over 48 hours since Lions fans have known their upcoming opponents, they are still taking to social media wondering how they will cope with such fierce competition week after week.

While some fans like TrapperJohn believe it will be the "same old" Lions in 2018, others are a bit more optimistic, like Luke Kennard Fan Club.

Either way, no one will know how things will turn out until the Lions actually hit the field and get down to business.

As for Las Vegas oddsmakers, Detroit isn't expected to be crowned the Super Bowl anytime soon. According to an Oddsshark report, the Lions are currently listed at +5000, or 50/1. Those odds put the Lions in the bottom third of NFL teams favored to capture the Vince Lombardi Trophy next February.

Despite losing several key players, the New England Patriots are the early favorites at +500 or 5/1.
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