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Week 5 brought a shake-up atop the NFL as the Philadelphia Eagles and Buffalo Bills both suffered their first losses of the season, while the Lions kept on rolling, nothing their fourth straight victory. The Lions are now tied for the best record in the league at 4-1. And now, they are very much in consideration as the best team in the NFL. In fact, as we go through the power rankings this week, it’s a clean sweep. All the sites we have listed here have the Lions as the No. 1 team. Let’s break it down and see what each site has to say about the Lions.
USA Today: No. 1 (Last Week: 5)
From Nate Davis:
While several teams have legit claims, they’re our new No. 1. Winners of four in a row, by an average margin of 19 points, nobody in the league is playing better. And Ben Who? The Lions’ 174 points scored are the most through five games in franchise history. Sunday night’s trip to Arrowhead should verify or debunk how accurately we’ve slotted Dan Campbell’s troops.
ESPN: No. 1 (Last Week: 3)
From Eric Woodyard: (on WR Jameson Williams being a fantasy surprise)
After his first 1,000-yard season in 2024, Williams has started slowly in 2025. He hasn’t logged more than 50 receiving yards in four of the Lions’ five games, as he works to get in sync with veteran quarterback Jared Goff and overcome dropped passes. Williams is viewed as a risky option because he’s averaging only 7.9 fantasy points per game in PPR leagues. He hasn’t turned limited targets into production or delivered consistently this season — but he can still make big plays.
The Athletic: No. 1 (Last Week: 3)
From Josh Kendall and Chad Graff:
That season-opening loss to the Packers feels like ancient history after four consecutive wins. But the easy part of their schedule is over, and a brutal stretch awaits, especially without cornerback Terrion Arnold. Their next five games are against the Chiefs, Buccaneers, Vikings, Commanders and Eagles.
NFL.com: No. 1 (Last Week: 3)
From Eric Edholm:
After the Eagles and Bills lost, it wasn’t hard to vault the Lions to the top spot, with Detroit having hit another gear since the thorough beating suffered in Week 1 at Green Bay. Sunday’s performance was great for three quarters, but then the Bengals went into turbo mode and almost made it a game again. All of the top teams have had games such as this, so I am not going to make too much of what happened in the fourth quarter. Knowing Dan Campbell, he’ll mine it as a source of inspiration. But there remains the question of just how good this defense is. The formula of containing the run and forcing turnovers worked until the Lions got overaggressive and less disciplined late in the game. We’ve seen far more good defensively than bad over the past three-plus games, but the true test will come against the Chiefs on Sunday night.
FOX Sports: No. 1 (Last Week: 3)
From Ralph Vacchiano:
Giving up 21 fourth-quarter points to Jake Browning and the Bengals is alarming, but they’ve won four straight and averaged 40.3 points in those games. Dan Campbell’s team is apparently back.
NBC Sports: No. 1 (Last Week: 3)
From Mike Florio:
The roar has been fully re-restored.
CBS Sports: No. 1 (Last Week: 3)
From Pete Prisco:
The offense is cooking right now, kicking aside the notion that Ben Johnson would be missed. They face a big one at Kansas City this week.
#Detroit #rises #top
