It never gets easier for Detroit Lions fans. As if it weren’t enough for the team to kick off the Matt Patricia era with two disappointing losses Kenny Golladay Jersey , their next matchup against the New England Patriots may have just gotten a bit harder.According to ESPN’s Adam Schefter, the Patriots are trading a fifth-round pick for Cleveland Browns receiver Josh Gordon:The Browns announced over the weekend they planned on releasing Gordon after they reached a point where they “feel it’s best to part ways and move forward.” Reports suggested that Cleveland finally lost trust in the troubled receiver after he arrived at their practice facility late and suffering from an injury suffered during a promotional shoot. Some reports even suggested Gordon was “not himself” when he arrived, speculating that he may be struggling with substance abuse, something that has earned him multiple suspensions in the past.With the Patriots, Gordon will have another shot at a fresh start, and he could play as soon as Sunday night’s tilt against the Lions. According to Schefter, Gordon’s injury over the weekend is not serious enough to put his availability in doubt this week. The question remains when the Patriots will be comfortable enough to play him.They could certainly use the help immediately. New England’s receivers combined for just 11 catches and 104 yards against the Jaguars last week. Chris Hogan, Phillip Dorsett and Cordarrelle Patterson are not exactly a triple threat with Julian Edelman still serving a four-game suspension.So Gordon could very likely play this week, but will he be super effective? Obviously, Tom Brady will be the best quarterback he’s ever played with, but Gordon has only played in six games in the past three years, and his last performance was a modest three-catch Authentic Kerryon Johnson Jersey , 17-yard performance.Detroit Lions have toughest 2018 schedule in NFC North per Football Outsiders The Detroit Lions have it tough enough. They’re fighting against a division with some of the best quarterbacks the league has to offer. They have decades of failure to overcome and seemingly permanent stigma to shed. They have the local expectations of immediate success thanks to back-to-back 9-7 seasons, and they have the adversity of overcoming all of that with a first-time head coach.Unfortunately, their 2018 schedule isn’t doing them any favors, either. Football Outsiders came up with their 2018 strength of schedule rankings based on their DVOA metric. While imperfect since it has no real data to go upon, it may be a little more predictive than last year’s win-loss record, which would rank Detroit’s schedule as the second-hardest in the entire NFL. According to the ESPN Insider article detailing the strength of schedule, it does take into account preseason injuries, suspension and newer dealings, like the Bears acquiring Khalil Mack in a trade.So taking all of that into account, Football Outsiders projects the Lions to have the 11th-hardest schedule in the league. While that may not seem so bad, it’s not exactly great when comparing to the rest of their division rivals.The Vikings have the next toughest schedule at 16th, the Bears follow at 18th Youth LeGarrette Blount Jersey , and the Green Bay Packers have the easiest schedule among the division, ranking 25th overall.The NFL schedule is set up in a way that is supposed to make things easier for the worst teams. It’s a small advantage, but two games a season are scheduled against teams that finished in the same place in their respective division. So since the Lions placed second in the NFC North this year, they are playing the second-place finishers in the NFC East (Cowboys) and NFC South (Panthers). Given this setup, you would think the Vikings would have the toughest schedule in the division and the Bears would have the easiest, but it doesn’t always work out that way due to drastic year-to-year changes. One interesting note from Football Outsiders was the steep change in difficulty the Lions face from the first half of the season to the second half. “Detroit has one of the largest gaps between the average DVOA of its first eight opponents (3.3 percent) and the average DVOA of its last eight opponents (minus-2.2 percent),” Aaron Schatz writes.That means the Lions are going to have to get off to a hot start and be prepared to face some serious competition early in the year. While they may have a Jets and a rookie quarterback in Week 1, the Patriots, Cowboys and Packers all await in the next 30-some days.
