The Detroit Lions are the NFC North champions for the second year in a row and will be the No. 1 seed in the NFC playoffs for the first time in franchise history.
Here's a look at where the team stands in the eyes of national pundits at the conclusion of the regular season.
Sports Illustrated
Power ranking: 1st
Previous ranking: 2nd
My preseason Super Bowl favorite Lions are now on a bye week to start the playoffs. The season-ending win over the Vikings was both a schematic victory and the showcasing of full team depth from Detroit. It’s funny how player empowerment and a culture of development brings out the best in your backups in a big spot.
The Athletic
Power ranking: 1st
Previous ranking: 4th
Every football coach has said the phrase, “Next man up,” roughly one million times in their career. It’s the sport’s reflex response to injuries, as in, “We don’t make excuses around here, the backup will come in and play just fine.” But the Lions’ rash of injuries this year could show the ultimate fallacy of that argument. This is a team that has done everything right but has 16 players on injured reserve heading into the playoffs. Making matters worse, starting cornerback Terrion Arnold left Sunday night’s game in a walking boot.
CBS Sports
Power ranking: 1st
Previous ranking: 3rd
In 2023, Dan Campbell's group was the NFL's darling underdog-turned-contender. In 2024, they're just a straight-up powerhouse, making fourth-down conversions look routine with sharp point-guarding from Jared Goff, home run sprints from Jahmyr Gibbs and timely physicality from a makeshift defense under Aaron Glenn. They have a world-class line and weaponry, but best of all, they're never fazed.
Yahoo Sports
Power ranking: 1st
Previous ranking: 4th
The tape of the Lions holding the Vikings to 9 points should be Aaron Glenn's entire case for any team wanting to interview him for a head coaching job. That was a master class. The resurgence of Detroit's defense, finishing the sweep of a team that went 14-1 against everyone else, gets the Lions the top spot back.
More: 2024 Lions Team Is Best In Franchise History
Lone Wolves Video Podcast
— DetroitSportsPodcast (@DetroitPodcast) January 6, 2025
--Why did NFL experts not pick Lions to beat Vikings?
--Aaron Glenn worked his magic
--Why not play the Vikings again in the playoffs
--Can Jahmyr Gibbs record 2,000 all-purpose yards in 2025?
--Two games away from Super Bowl pic.twitter.com/grNzc6OtN7
Bleacher Report
Power ranking: 2nd
Previous ranking: 2nd
On one hand, the Lions looked like the best team in the league for much of Sunday's game—what was supposed to be a back-and-forth slugfest wound up a one-sided beatdown. And if Detroit's injury-ravaged defense can put together three more efforts like we saw Sunday night, the Lions could absolutely win Super Bowl LIX.
But Goff's performance against the Vikings is also the kind of effort that could get Detroit bounced from the postseason if Gibbs and the Lions defense doesn't stand on its head. The road to the Super Bowl goes through Ford Field in the NFC, but the Lions aren't unbeatable—at least one NFC playoff team already showed that in Detroit this season, and both the Lions losses in 2024 were at home.
USA Today
Power ranking: 2nd
Previous ranking: 2nd
All the focus on injuries here also detracts from what this team has accomplished – like winning a club-record 15 games while posting 70 touchdowns (only three teams in NFL history have produced more in the regular season). QB Jared Goff, one of the offense's five Pro Bowlers, is a proven playoff commodity. And Detroit’s prospects for going all the way – the Lions are the only team that has played for the entirety of the Super Bowl era, which started in 1966, but never reached Super Sunday – are greatly enhanced by that first-round bye and the knowledge that the next two games would be at Ford Field, which has developed into one of the league’s best home-field advantages.
