Immediately following the Detroit Lions’ Week 2 loss to the Buffalo Bills, the narrative surrounding the Lions was grim. Their offense struggled to get going early, and their defensive performance was riddled with mental mistakes, leading them into a hole they couldn’t climb out of. While the final score suggests the game was competitive—they lost 41-31—the Bills controlled it throughout.
In the ensuing days, fans expressed their concerns, local media broke down what went wrong, and the national media hammered
the Lions’ defense, questioning whether they could correct their errors moving forward.
However, when the power rankings were released on Tuesday, cooler heads prevailed as analysts realized that September football can be ugly, with many teams facing a plethora of issues.
The Lions certainly have their problems, and with those obstacles come doubters, but there were a surprising number of national media outlets that expressed confidence in the Lions’ ability to right the ship quickly, with two outlets ranking the Lions as a top-10 team—including one that moved the Lions up INTO the top 10—and seven of the eight ranking the Lions in the top 15.
Let’s take a look at where the national media believe the Lions stand entering the 2026 season in this week’s power rankings.
The Athletic: 8 (Previous rank: 8)
From Chad Graff and Josh Kendall:
Rookie spotlight: Blake Miller
The first-round tackle started in Week 1 but wasn’t active in Week 2 due to an ankle injury — and the offensive line missed him. Fifth-round cornerback Keith Abney had a TFL in Week 1 but was not active in Week 2. (On an unrelated note, the Lions could be big risers here soon. They face the Jets, Panthers, Cardinals and Packers next.)
USA Today: 10 (Previous rank: 12)
From Nate Davis:
Just what they needed, S Avonte Maddox, who’d been pressed into the starting lineup himself, is out for the season with a foot injury. GM Brad Holmes needs to consider making a move or two to augment what is, by far, the NFC’s worst pass defense through two weeks.
Yahoo Sports: 13 (Previous rank: 9)
From Frank Schwab:
The Lions have given up 658 passing yards, which is second-most in the NFL, with only the Colts being worse. They are decimated due to injuries, which is why they were working out defensive backs like Jordan Fuller and Jalen Mills on Monday, according to Jeremy Fowler of ESPN. Safety Avonte Maddox is the latest to go down; he’ll miss the rest of the season due to a foot injury. Since halftime of the season opener, the Lions have given up 71 points and 804 yards. Facing Josh Allen in Week 2 factors into the defensive problems, but it’s still alarming.
“Defensively, we knew it was a tall task, but we gave up too much,” Lions head coach Dan Campbell said. “There were some things in there that we have to get cleaned up. You have to play your best ball to have a chance to reduce points against that team and that quarterback, and we did not do that. We had a hand in helping them out there a little bit, and it wasn’t good enough. It’s not good enough.”
The good news is the Lions still have an easy schedule, and there are winnable games coming up against the Jets, Panthers and Cardinals. Detroit needs to win those games to quell some fears, especially about its defense.
NFL.com: 13 (Previous rank: 13)
From Nick Shook:
Detroit’s offense is capable of hanging with most everyone. The opposite is true of the Lions’ defense, at least until the unit gets healthier in the back end. With a leaky secondary existing as a major liability, the Lions can’t realistically expect to beat the best, but their fight (and Jared Goff’s second-half performance) in Thursday night’s loss to Buffalo shows they’re still an above-average team with clear flaws.
ESPN: 14 (Previous rank: 11)
From ESPN Staff, excerpt from Eric Woodyard:
One thing we know about the QB1: Jared Goff continues to build a case the greatest QB in franchise history.
Despite facing heavy pressure behind a banged-up offensive line, Goff has continued his efficient play in Year 11. He has racked up 25 straight games with a passing touchdown, which is the longest active streak in NFL and the longest in Lions history, per ESPN Research. He also reached 40,000 career yards in Buffalo, tying Kirk Cousins and Dan Marino as the fourth-fastest to that mark in NFL history (153 games). Goff is currently in his sixth season in Detroit and continues to reach major milestones at 31 years old.
Sporting News: 14 (Previous rank: 13)
From Vinnie Iyer:
The Lions knew they might have some bigger defensive problems away from their Aidan Hutchinson-led front. They are trying to compensate better with Jahmyr Gibbs, Amon-Ra St. Brown and the rest of their offensive stars, but are they stuck trying to win high-scoring games every week.
CBS Sports: 15 (Previous rank: 15)
From Pete Prisco:
The defense is awful right now. The injuries in the secondary have crippled that unit. Can the offense score enough to compensate on a weekly basis?
Sports Illustrated: 18 (Previous rank: 10)
From Connor Orr:
I’m trying to separate the issues of some disappointing teams into different buckets. Are these seemingly broken scheme issues, talent issues, or both? The Lions’ back end seems to be both, with Kelvin Sheppard facing an early do-or-die scenario with Detroit sitting at 1–1. Dan Campbell has had a quick-ish hook for underperforming assistant coaches in the past. Will Sheppard buck that trend?
