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The Detroit Lions are third in the NFC and their power rankings across the net are starting to reflect that. Although it seems they may have plateaued around the 7-9 range, there is a larger consensus that this is a top-10 team. Even SB Nation, a long holdout on the Lions, now has them creeping closer to the top third in the league. Here’s where the Lions stand after 12 weeks of play:
- SB Nation: 13th (up 2)
- NFL.com: 8th (no change)
- Yahoo! Sports: 9th (no change)
- CBS Sports: 9th (no change)
- USA Today: 7th (up 1)
- ESPN: 7th (up 3)
There wasn’t that much movement from the Lions this week despite their big win over the Vikings. That’s to be expected when you play on Thursday, win by the narrowest of margins and don’t have much room to move anyways.
The Lions may be five-point underdogs heading into New Orleans to face the Saints this week, but these power rankings unanimously have the Lions ahead of their opponents. Most sites have New Orleans ranked just below the middle of the league:
- SB Nation - 17th
- NFL.com - 20th
- Yahoo! Sports - 18th
- CBS Sports - 22nd
- USA Today - 15th
- ESPN - 21st
But rankings won’t matter on Sunday. The Saints are desperately trying to keep pace in a tight Wild Card race. They currently find themselves as the nine seed at 5-6, a game and a half outside of a playoff spot. They could also potentially still contend for the NFC South, though they currently find themselves trailing both the Falcons and the Buccaneers.
There’s plenty of motivation for both teams this week, so expect high intensity in a playoff-style game between these two NFC foes.