Pride of Detroit
The Detroit Lions (6-4) dropped a tough game to the Eagles in Week 11. On the road, in primetime, against the defending Super Bowl Champions, makes for difficult circumstances, but the Lions have shown they can overcome in the past. While the Lions’ defense was terrific in Philadelphia, their offense was stuck in the mud and failed to build any momentum to push them to victory.
Following the loss, the Lions drop from first in the NFC North down to third, and from third in the NFC playoff race to eighth, one spot outside the postseason dance. That said, there are still seven games left in the season, and all playoff prediction models still have the Lions headed to the postseason, with most projecting them as the favorites to win the NFC North.
Most power rankers are reactive, and all of them dropped the Lions down in this week’s rankings. However, none moved the Lions out of the top 10, suggesting they also align with the view that the Lions are still a team expected to challenge over the back half of the season.
Let’s take a look at how things shook out in this week’s power rankings.
This team is still one big leap away from the elite.
I can’t imagine how frustrating Sunday night’s loss must have been for Lions fans. While Detroit’s defense didn’t force sacks or turnovers against Philadelphia, it dominated the Eagles offense on third down, kept Philly’s passing game reined in, and gave Jared Goff and the offense several chances to win the game.
If this were truly a championship-quality team, Detroit’s offense would’ve been able to do enough to squeeze out a win. Instead, Goff looked rattled and as inaccurate as we’ve seen him in years—and that’s not something head coach Dan Campbell can change by taking over play calling duties.
The Lions’ loss on Sunday night brought up the old story of Jared Goff struggling outdoors when the weather isn’t perfect, and it’s hard to deny that his stats plummet in the elements. And Sunday’s loss means a No. 1 seed and home-field advantage through the playoffs is unlikely.
The Lions have come up short in some of their biggest matchups of the season. And outside of Ford Field, they’re not performing to the level we’ve become accustomed to seeing, already suffering their third road loss — the same number as they had in the past two regular seasons combined — in Philadelphia on Sunday night. Interestingly, they still have a better playoff probability than the Bears, per Next Gen Stats, even as Detroit finds itself in third place in a tough division. This was a major setback for the offense, as Jared Goff had one of his worst games in recent memory, and the Lions...
