Welcome to Week 1 of the 2020 season!
The national NFL Power Rankings have been released and the Detroit Lions open the season in the bottom third in more pools. Let’s take a look at where the Lions stand in the national eye.
USA Today: 20 (Previous 21)
“Pretty cool to see this organization leading league’s social justice charge following shooting of Jacob Blake. Now, will it galvanize club?” — Nate Davis
[lawrence-related id=49872]
Touchdown Wire, “Based on Strength of Schedule”: 7th
Touchdown wire took a unique spin on this week’s power rankings, focusing on strength of schedule instead of overall rankings. The Last traditional power rankings published at Touchdown wire saw Doug Farrar rank the Lions 26th and Mark Schfield had the Lions 31st.
“Average Opponent DVOA: -1.1%. Football Outsiders’ DVOA views the Detroit Lions as a middle-of-the-pack team, ranking them 17th in the league. Thankfully for them, they face a fairly easy road in 2020. They’ll get the Chicago Bears twice – a team currently ranked 21st in DVOA – as well as games against the Jacksonville Jaguars, the Washington Football Team, and the Carolina Panthers, all bottom-ranking teams in DVOA.” — Mark Schofield
NFL: 30 (Previous: 30)
“The late-period version of Adrian Peterson has a way of clearing low bars set for him by people on the outside. He carved a bigger role than people expected for two years in Washington, and now he lands in a crowded Lions backfield that already includes Kerryon Johnson, second-round pick D’Andre Swift and Bo Scarbrough. Perhaps Peterson is simply a temporary depth rental while Swift and Scarbrough get healthy. But, like we said, Peterson has a way — and offensive coordinator Darrell Bevell has a history with the future Hall of Famer.” — Dan Hanzus
ESPN: 28 (Previous: 28)
“The Lions could have as many as seven new defensive starters, and whether they can figure out how to become an effective unit leads to the overarching question for the 2020 season: Will Matt Patricia and Bob Quinn start to turn it around after a combined nine wins over two seasons, or will this be their final year in Detroit?” — Michael Rothstein
CBS Sports: 24 (Previous 27)
“This is likely a win-or-else year for coach Matt Patricia. The question is: Does he have enough to be a playoff team? Quarterback Matt Stafford is back healthy, so he has that to lean on.” — Pete Prisco
Sports Illustrated: 22 (Previous None)
“Matt Patricia enters his third season as Lions coach, coming off back-to-back last place finishes. It may be now or never in 2020.” — MMQB staff
Sporting News: 27 (Previous: 28)
“The Lions are hard team to read. They can end up getting top-flight QB play from Matthew Stafford, — which he delivered for half a season before his 2019 back injury — and still disappoint in terms of winning games. That’s tied to having an inconsistent running game, which they hope to correct with D’Andre Swift. Defensively, the heavy pressure will be on Matt Patricia to put the pieces together, fast.” — Vinnie Iyer