High-scoring Lions slide in latest Week 5 NFL power rankings
This week’s NFL power poll roundup reflects the good news/bad news scenario that plagues the 1-3 Detroit Lions. Dan Campbell’s team leads the league in points scored, but also in points allowed. The minus-1 overall point differential ranks 15th in the league, but the lack of wins keeps the Lions from being slotted that highly in the power rankings.
At USA TODAY, analyst Nate Davis dropped the Lions from 14th to No. 19. Having the league’s No. 1 scoring offense weighs into the equation, as Davis notes,
They’ve scored 140 points and surrendered 141. Keep this up, and they’ll give up a league record 599 points … but, like Sunday, at least they’ll lose in entertaining fashion.
Detroit is down to No. 26 in Touchdown Wire’s polling. The Lions were No. 24 before the high-scoring loss to the Seahawks in Week 4. The rationale for the drop makes sense,
The Lions have the ignominious distinction of losing an offensive showdown with Geno Smith. The positive from the first four weeks is that Detroit’s offense is more prolific than initially imagined. The downside is the Lions still struggle to close out games, which is why they keep tumbling in the power rankings.
The Lions held serve at No. 25 in ESPN’s poll, which accurately ranks Detroit’s defense dead last. Losing to Seattle sent the Lions tumbling from 16th to 24th at NFL.com.
Detroit fell into the bottom tier at The Ringer (25th) and also slid back a spot at CBS Sports to No. 29. The Athletic remains more bullish on the Lions, where Detroit dropped only from 19th to 20th.
