The goal is to win every game, but the reality for every NFL team is there will be some losses along the way. Only two teams have ever run the table in the regular season in the Super Bowl era and (spoiler alert!) these Detroit Lions are not going to join the ’72 Dolphins and ’07 Patriots as undefeated regular season champs.

Detroit’s new coach is Matt Patricia, who comes from that undefeated New England regime. He was the linebackers coach for that team before becoming the defensive coordinator in 2012. Now he’s charged with leading the Lions into battle in the tough NFC North. His roster is capable of winning a lot of games, but that hasn’t been the issue for the Lions of late.

Avoiding the bad losses is what can quickly distinguish Patricia from predecessor Jim Caldwell. The Week 16 loss to Cincinnati last season, a failure which cost the Lions a playoff berth, is the type of upset these Lions desperately need to avoid under Patricia.

Here are the five games in 2018 the Lions must win.

New York Jets – Week 1

The first week is typically a crapshoot, but the Lions absolutely cannot afford to lose the opener – not to these Jets and certainly not on Monday Night Football.

The entire NFL world will be watching Patricia’s coaching debut, and falling flat on national television would quickly snowball on Detroit. I can write the headlines now:

“Lions fail with new coach”

“Did Detroit drop the ball in firing Jim Caldwell”

“Matthew Stafford can’t even beat bad teams any more”

This needs to be avoided at all costs. The Jets are universally projected to be among the teams picking in the top 10 of the 2019 NFL Draft, with major QB uncertainty and perhaps the weakest overall offensive skill position core — former Lions WR Andre Roberts might start! — I’ve seen in the NFL in a very long time. Their defense packs a real punch, however, and Stafford and the Lions own offense cannot afford an off night.