Evaluating Lions Path to Playoff Bye

A look at Lions' potential path to home-field advantage.

Detroit Lions cornerback Amik Robertson (21). / Junfu Han/USA TODAY Network via Imagn Images

With 11 weeks in the books, the Detroit Lions are still the best team in the NFC.

Week in and week out, the Lions have shown off their defining traits of toughness and grit. Whether it be a thrilling comeback against the Texans or wire-to-wire dominance of Jacksonville, the Lions have proven they can win a number of different ways.

As a result, they have proven themselves as legitimate Super Bowl contenders. In their most recent win, a 52-6 thrashing of the Jaguars, Detroit proved that they are capable of getting up for every game regardless of the status of their opponents.

Following the game, several Lions players commented on their toughness and how they can dominate any opponent. Coach Dan Campbell said the team's identity hasn't changed since he arrived, and that the team is hungry and looking for more.

"I don't know where all that's coming from. But yeah, we're just playing football, and we're doing our style of game, the way we play. Hell, we pulled our freakin' guys out early fourth quarter," Campbell said. "We're just playing ball, man, this is what we do. And we're not playing any different than we have since I got here. We're an improved team, we're a better team, and we're gonna play football the way we believe in football and that's the bottom line."

As it stands, the Lions hold a one-game advantage for the top seed in the NFC playoffs. It won't be easy to maintain this, as the Lions have a road game at Indianapolis before a final six-game stretch featuring four divisional games and matchups with Buffalo and San Francisco.

If Detroit holds on to the one seed, it will earn a first-round bye and home-field advantage. If the season ended today, the Lions would host the lowest remaining seed in the Divisional Round.

The Lions are fueled with confidence and belief in the system their coaching staff has developed. As a result, they will be hard to eliminate and have legitimate aspirations to reach New Orleans and compete for the Lombardi Trophy.

"We've got a confident team, they freakin' work their tails off," Campbell said. "You should've seen how they worked on Thursday and how they worked during the week for all these games. They bust their ass, they believe the way you practice is the way you play. As long as we keep doing that, we keep trying to improve and clean up our errors, we will be a tough team to beat." 

Here's a look at the NFC playoff standings as of the conclusion of Week 11.

1.) Detroit Lions (9-1)

2.) Philadelphia Eagles (8-2)

3.) Arizona Cardinals (6-4)

4.) Atlanta Falcons (6-5)

5.) Minnesota Vikings

6.)Green Bay Packers

7.) Washington Commanders