The 2022 season was the Detroit Lions' 93rd in the National Football League (NFL), the 21st playing their home games at Ford Field and their second under the head coach/general manager tandem of Dan Campbell and Brad Holmes.
On March 28, NFL Films and HBO announced that the Lions would be featured in the newest season of Hard Knocks, a show that follows NFL teams through training camp.
After a 1–6 start, the Lions had a mid-season turnaround, winning eight of their next ten games. The Lions finished the season 9–8, improving upon their 3–13–1 record from the previous season. This marked their first winning record since 2017. The Lions won five out of six divisional games, splitting their season series with the Minnesota Vikings.
Prior to taking the field in Week 18 against the Green Bay Packers, the Lions were eliminated from playoff contention for the sixth consecutive season after the Seattle Seahawks defeated the Los Angeles Rams. Despite beating the Packers and having the same 9–8 record as the Seahawks, they lost the playoff spot based on the teams' Week 4 head-to-head meeting, won by the Seahawks. Nevertheless, their win simultaneously eliminated their NFC North rival from playoff contention and allowed the Seahawks to claim the final NFC wild card berth.
Player movements
Free agents
Additions
Subtractions
Draft
Detroit held the second overall selection in the draft. They had also gained the final pick in the first round, number 32, from the LA Rams. With days until the Draft, the Lions were heavily projected to draft University of Michigan's defensive end Aidan Hutchinson. After the Jaguars chose Travon Walker first overall, the Lions made their selection, choosing Hutchinson with their second overall selection. Holmes reflected on Hutchinson being a Michigan native, saying "It's always great to get the hometown favorite, but I know there's a lot of fanfare for Aidan. His ability to stay home and hopefully be, not only a productive player for our football team, but I know that he'll make his mark in this community. He already has so it's only gonna continue to trend up from here."
With the Lions holding the 32nd and 34th picks, they traded them along with the 66th pick to the Minnesota Vikings for the 12th and 46th picks. With the 12th pick, the Lions chose wide receiver Jameson Williams, who was coming off an ACL tear in the 2022 national championship.
Notes
Staff
Coaching changes
January 10: Anthony Lynn fired as offensive coordinator. February 9: Ben Johnson named offensive coordinator. October 31: Aubrey Pleasant fired as defensive backs coach.
Final roster
Preseason
Regular season
Schedule
Note: Intra-division opponents are in bold text.
Game summaries
Week 1: vs. Philadelphia Eagles
To open the regular season, the Lions hosted the Philadelphia Eagles. The Lions opened the scoring in the first quarter via a one-yard touchdown run from Jamaal Williams. The Eagles responded with 21 unanswered points in the second quarter via two one-yard touchdown runs from Jalen Hurts and Miles Sanders, respectively, and a 27-yard interception return by James Bradberry. The Lions responded with a seven-yard touchdown run from D'Andre Swift. The Eagles scored the final points of the half via a 23-yard field goal by Jake Elliott, which made the score 24–14 in favor of Philadelphia at half-time. The Eagles scored 14 points in the third quarter via a two-yard touchdown run from Kenneth Gainwell and a one-yard touchdown run from Boston Scott. The Lions responded with a four-yard touchdown pass from Jared Goff to Amon-Ra St. Brown. The Lions scored 14 points in the fourth quarter via a one-yard touchdown run from Williams and a 22-yard touchdown pass from Goff to D. J. Chark, making the final score 38–35 in favor of Philadelphia.