The Detroit Lions have dropped consecutive games to divisional rivals Green Bay and Minnesota, respectively.
And as such, they’ve taken a bit of a tumble in the recently released NFL Power Rankings. Let’s take a look at where several outlets have them ranked as they head into Sunday’s tilt with the New York Giants.
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USA Today: 14 (Previous: 10)
“Trey Flowers was understandably frustrated in Week 6 — but maybe he should also be frustrated by his disappointing production (1 sack, 3 QB hits) so far.” — Nate Davis
Touchdown Wire: 14 (Previous: 12)
“The Lions had a short week to recover from their Monday night loss to both the Green Bay Packers and Clete Blakeman’s officiating crew before running directly into the unlikely buzzsaw that Minnesota’s passing offense has become. Kirk Cousins blew apart Matt Patricia’s man and match concepts for four touchdown passes, and Vikings running back Dalvin Cook gashed Detroit’s front for 142 yards and two touchdowns on 25 carries. Lions wide receiver Marvin Jones enjoyed his second career four-touchdown game, putting him in rarefied air with Jerry Rice, Sterling Sharpe, and Bob Shaw as the only receivers in NFL history with multiple games of four or more touchdown catches. But Jones also became the first receiver in NFL history to catch four touchdown passes while gaining fewer than 100 yards (93 yards on 10 catches and 13 targets), which kind of sums up Detroit’s season so far. There’s talent up and down this roster, and it’s the NFL’s best team with a losing record, but these kinds of defeats take their toll after a while.” — Doug Farrar
NFL: 17 (Previous: 13)
“We’ve reached the stage where it’s not good enough to merely hang with quality opponents. As Herm Edwards once taught us, “You play to win the game,” and the Lions haven’t done that this month. The biggest culprit is a sieve-like defense that has allowed 450 yards in each of their last three losses. Their run defense has been suspect all year (Detroit has allowed at least 100 yards on the ground in six straight games), and now the entire unit is beginning to melt. This was not supposed to happen under Matt Patricia, who won a title running Bill Belichick’s defense in New England. It wasn’t all bad against the Vikings. Matthew Stafford threw four touchdown passes, all four of them going to Marvin Jones. The craziest stat of Week 7? That wasn’t even Jones’ first four-TD game; he did it with the Bengals in 2013.” — Dan Hanzus
ESPN: 17 (Previous: 17)
“Recalibrated expectation: Hope for the wild card. The Lions looked like they could be contenders — and have been competitive in every game — but at 2-3-1 with a porous run defense, no pressure on opposing quarterbacks and perhaps an injured running back in Kerryon Johnson, reaching the playoffs as a wild-card team would be the best-case scenario for Detroit. But more realistically, hanging around .500 is probably where the Lions will end up this season.” — Michael Rothstein
CBS Sports: 17 (Previous 14)
“Two straight division losses has them reeling a little bit, even though they did some good things in both games. The defense isn’t good enough.” — Pete Prisco
Sports Illustrated: 14 (Previous: 12)
“The Lions’ defense ran out of gas in the fourth quarter, and Detroit was dealt their second crushing loss in a row in the NFL’s toughest division. A win against the Giants is a must for this group.” — MMQB staff
Sporting News: 17 (Previous: 17)
“The Lions keep losing close games they have chances to win thanks to one or two mistakes. Matt Patricia has a good team, but he is still having trouble installing a winning mentality down to the finish, especially defensively.” — Vinnie Iyer
