Notes: Lions inch up the power rankings after latest win

The Detroit Lions managed to claw their way up the power rankings this past week following a win against the Washington Football Team.

Here’s a look at what national sports media has to say:

1. NFL.com’s Dan Hanzus

• Rank: 20
• Previous rank: 27

“Detroit won’t play another team that currently has a winning record until the middle of December. A path to relevance is there. Will they take it?”

Full ranking.

2. NFL Nation at ESPN

• Rank: 22
• Previous rank: 25

Along with the ranking, this list offered one thing each team would take back if they could. For the Lions: “The fourth-quarter strategy against Chicago.”

Full ranking.

3. CBS Sports’ Pete Prisco

• Rank: 20
• Previous rank: 22

“They are now 4-5 and still in the playoff race. Matt Patricia always seems to win a game just when it looks like his time is up.”

Full ranking.

4. NBC Sports’ Joe Fann

• Rank: 20
• Previous rank: 26

“Matt Prater is low key the clutchest kicker in football, it just gets loss in the shuffle most of the time since Detroit is such a mess overall.”

Full ranking.

5. Yahoo Sports’ Frank Schwab

• Rank: 25
• Previous rank: 27

“I’d love to hear Lions ownership honestly answer if Matt Patricia would have been fired had Detroit lost in overtime, after blowing a 24-3 lead. If the answer is no, I don’t know what more Patricia would need to do to get fired. But the Lions won, and Patricia can thank Matt Prater for the long field goal to keep that question at arm’s length another week.”

Full ranking.

Can they defeat the Carolina Panthers this Sunday and climb even higher? We’ll see.

And onto the rest of your notes.

• “He’s an incredible guy. A welcome addition. He fit right in.” Justin Rogers for the Detroit News explains how coaches and teammates say Everson Griffen adds energy and personality to the Lions.

• Great feature from The Athletic’s Chris Burke on what it was like for several Lions to play in the very first NFL game they attended.

• With Turkey Day right around the corner, Lomas Brown chats about his favorite Thanksgiving memories with Mike O’Hara.

• A breakdown of what’s goin’ on with the NFC North heading into Week 11 from detroitlions.com’s Tim Twentyman.

• Though it’ll look a little different this year, Pro Bowl voting is underway. The NFL and EA Sports are teaming up to present a week-long virtual event featuring current and former players, streamers, and celebs.