The Lions saw their four-game winning streak come to an end Sunday against the Kansas City Chiefs. As a result, their stay atop the media power rankings was short-lived. The question is how far did the various media ranks drop the Lions?
There’s also a chance the Lions can move back to the top with a win Monday. Their Week 7 opponent, the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, have moved up to the top spot in just about every power rankings set.
USA Today: No. 11 (Last Week: 1)
This is an appropriate place to take a pause − and ask if it’s appropriate to drop a team from first overall to 11th merely because a dominant four-game winning streak was snapped? Maybe not? But 1) the Lions, after feasting on lesser competition, were unequivocally handled in their losses by the best teams they’ve faced so far (Packers, Chiefs) and 2) the apparent upper echelon of the league is so tightly packed, with 14 teams sporting a winning percentage of .667 or better (plus three more that are 3-2), that it’s tough to distinguish those currently clustered together – as next Monday’s matchup with the Bucs will likely attest. DB Brian Branch’s self-inflicted suspension hardly helps, either.
ESPN: No. 2 (Last Week: 1)
From Eric Woodyard: (on DE Aidan Hutchinson getting back to elite form)
A broken leg ended Hutchinson’s 2024 season early, but he picked up where he left off as one of the league’s elite pass rushers. He set a single-season team record by producing at least 1.0 sacks in five consecutive games, in addition to another franchise mark of four straight games with a forced fumble. His 24 pressures is also the most in the NFL, as he’s moving fluidly after a tough rehabilitation process.
The Athletic: No. 6 (Last Week: 1)
From Josh Kendall and Chad Graff:
No one in the NFL has caught more regular-season passes than St. Brown (474) since 2021, when he joined the league as a fourth-round pick. (Only Travis Kelce has more when you count playoff games.) St. Brown caught nine more passes Sunday and is the ninth-highest fantasy scorer (21.02) in the league. That’s just about perfect for his managers, who drafted him 10th on average.
NFL.com: No. 2 (Last Week: 1)
The Lions have struggled to slow down explosive offenses this season. They had issues at times with Green Bay in Week 1, Baltimore (with a healthy Lamar Jackson) in Week 3 and were stung several times by Patrick Mahomes on Sunday night. Now the high-flying Bucs come to Detroit this coming Monday night in another huge test for the defense. Allowing more yards and points to that caliber of offense is understandable, but the Lions must produce more splash plays defensively. Against the Packers, Ravens and Chiefs, they forced only one total turnover; they had eight turnovers forced in the other three games. The Chiefs essentially made it an eight-possession game for the Lions, limiting the visitors’ chances to score.
FOX Sports: No. 2 (Last Week: 1)
There aren’t many more complete teams in the league than the Lions, but if they have any weakness at all it’s in their depleted secondary. That’s what cost them the top spot in these rankings — and their Sunday night game against the Chiefs.
NBC Sports: No. 3 (Last Week: 1)
Brian Branch needs to learn that the kneecap biting ends when the game does.
CBS Sports: No. 5 (Last Week: 1)
The secondary being crippled by injuries showed up in the loss to the Chiefs. Now they face a tough Tampa Bay offense led by Baker Mayfield.