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Power Rankings: Lions Enter 2024 Playoffs Best Team in NFL

Detroit Lions are the team to beat in the playoffs.

John Maakaron

Detroit Lions defensive end Za'Darius Smith (99).
Detroit Lions defensive end Za'Darius Smith (99). / Junfu Han / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images
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The Detroit Lions are the NFC North champions for the second year in a row and will be the No. 1 seed in the NFC playoffs for the first time in franchise history.

Here's a look at where the team stands in the eyes of national pundits at the conclusion of the regular season.

Sports Illustrated

Power ranking: 1st

Previous ranking: 2nd

My preseason Super Bowl favorite Lions are now on a bye week to start the playoffs. The season-ending win over the Vikings was both a schematic victory and the showcasing of full team depth from Detroit. It’s funny how player empowerment and a culture of development brings out the best in your backups in a big spot. 

The Athletic

Power ranking: 1st

Previous ranking: 4th

Every football coach has said the phrase, “Next man up,” roughly one million times in their career. It’s the sport’s reflex response to injuries, as in, “We don’t make excuses around here, the backup will come in and play just fine.” But the Lions’ rash of injuries this year could show the ultimate fallacy of that argument. This is a team that has done everything right but has 16 players on injured reserve heading into the playoffs. Making matters worse, starting cornerback Terrion Arnold left Sunday night’s game in a walking boot.

CBS Sports

Power ranking: 1st

Previous ranking: 3rd

In 2023, Dan Campbell's group was the NFL's darling underdog-turned-contender. In 2024, they're just a straight-up powerhouse, making fourth-down conversions look routine with sharp point-guarding from Jared Goff, home run sprints from Jahmyr Gibbs and timely physicality from a makeshift defense under Aaron Glenn. They have a world-class line and weaponry, but best of all, they're never fazed.

Yahoo Sports 

Power ranking: 1st

Previous ranking: 4th

The tape of the Lions holding the Vikings to 9 points should be Aaron Glenn's entire case for any team wanting to interview him for a head coaching job. That was a master class. The resurgence of Detroit's defense, finishing the sweep of a team that went 14-1 against everyone else, gets the Lions the top spot back.

More: 2024 Lions Team Is Best In Franchise History

Bleacher Report

Power ranking: 2nd

Previous ranking: 2nd

On one hand, the Lions looked like the best team in the league for much of Sunday's game—what was supposed to be a back-and-forth slugfest wound up a one-sided beatdown. And if Detroit's injury-ravaged defense can put together three more efforts like we saw Sunday night, the Lions could absolutely win Super Bowl LIX.

But Goff's performance against the Vikings is also the kind of effort that could get Detroit bounced from the postseason if Gibbs and the Lions defense doesn't stand on its head. The road to the Super Bowl goes through Ford Field in the NFC, but the Lions aren't unbeatable—at least one NFC playoff team already showed that in Detroit this season, and both the Lions losses in 2024 were at home.

USA Today

Power ranking: 2nd

Previous ranking: 2nd

All the focus on injuries here also detracts from what this team has accomplished – like winning a club-record 15 games while posting 70 touchdowns (only three teams in NFL history have produced more in the regular season). QB Jared Goff, one of the offense's five Pro Bowlers, is a proven playoff commodity. And Detroit’s prospects for going all the way – the Lions are the only team that has played for the entirety of the Super Bowl era, which started in 1966, but never reached Super Sunday – are greatly enhanced by that first-round bye and the knowledge that the next two games would be at Ford Field, which has developed into one of the league’s best home-field advantages.

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John Maakaron
JOHN MAAKARON

John Maakaron has covered Detroit Sports since 2013. Brings a vast array of experience covering the Detroit Tigers, Detroit Lions, Michigan Wolverines, Michigan State Spartans, Detroit Mercy Titans, and Oakland University Golden Grizzlies. John brings a wealth of sports broadcast experience. In 2013, John had the vision to establish the Detroit Sports Podcast Network. Has recorded over 3000 podcasts analyzing Detroit Sports. In 2019, Sports Illustrated Media Group, a historical sports media outlet, partnered with Detroit Sports Podcast to provide daily Lions content for their growing and expanding digital media outlet. Our Lions content can also be read in the newspaper at The Oakland  Passionate about Detroit Sports and it is reflected in his coverage of the local teams!

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