The Detroit Lions (2-1-1) head into their BYE week with a winning record and despite coming off a tough loss to the Kansas City Chiefs, the Lions did rise in half the national power rankings.
Let’s take a look at where the Lions stand in the national eye.
USA Today: 4 (Previous: 11)
“Admittedly lofty for 2-1-1 team. But over last three weeks, they’ve beaten two heavyweights (Chargers, Eagles) and, arguably, outplayed K.C. Will bye week stem that momentum?” — Nate Davis
NFL: 13 (Previous: 14)
“The Lions were forced to settle for a moral victory on Sunday when it could have been so much more. Matt Patricia’s team had a three-point lead with less than two minutes to play when Patrick Mahomes scrambled for a first down on fourth-and-8 to keep the Chiefs alive. Kansas City would finish off the drive with a touchdown, marking the last of five lead changes in the second half. Final possession aside, the Lions’ defense did a great job all afternoon of putting pressure on Mahomes, who was held without a touchdown pass for only the fourth time in his career (including playoffs). Kerryon Johnson ran for 125 yards and Matthew Stafford threw for nearly 300 yards with three touchdowns, with two of those scores going to Kenny Golladay … and it still wasn’t enough. A tough loss to swallow, but Detroit showed it can hang with anybody on a good day.” — Dan Hanzus
ESPN: 15 (Previous: 13)
“How to increase their playoff chances: Fixing the pass rush. One of Detroit’s biggest perceived strengths entering the season was its defensive line — a group that has been hurt by injuries (Da’Shawn Hand, Mike Daniels) and that has three sacks combined. Some of the pressure is instead coming from linebackers, as Devon Kennard has three sacks, but the Lions need more pressure up front. With a secondary that might be among the league’s best when healthy and an offense creeping toward balance, a pass rush could make Detroit one of the tougher teams in the NFC and vault it to a playoff berth in the league’s most difficult division.” — Michael Rothstein
CBS Sports: 12 (Previous 11)
“They showed they are legit by pushing the Chiefs on Sunday. Losing the game the way they did isn’t an indictment of their fast start.” — Pete Prisco
Sports Illustrated: 10 (Previous: 14)
Ranked as high as 6 by two voters and as low as 12 by four, the Lions were going to rise in these rankings no matter what. “Four-place jump after a loss? The Lions had Patrick Mahomes and company on the ropes; to take the next step they’ll have to learn how to close out those kinds of games.” — MMQB staff
Sporting News: 14 (Previous: 14)
“The Lions were impressive in pushing the Chiefs at home, but they are still making critical mistakes as a forced running team. They could benefit from opening things up with Matthew Stafford.” — Vinnie Iyer
