Where Lions sit in power rankings entering Week 8

Current rank: 3

Last week’s rank: 5

What Eric Edholm had to say: “After staking the Vikings to a 10-0 lead, committing five penalties in an ugly first quarter, the Lions ripped off 21 unanswered points in the second quarter. Things also got dicey late, as the 11-point lead evaporated and the Lions fumbled twice (with one run back for a touchdown) in the final six minutes of the game. But when Detroit absolutely had to have it, Jared Goff delivered some clutch throws on the game-winning field-goal drive, and the Lions got out of Minnesota with a gutsy two-point win. The stats say the Lions sacked Sam Darnold four times, and that’s true, but there were times when the Vikings’ offense was heating up where you looked around for Aidan Hutchinson, waiting for him to make a game-saving play. Those aren’t coming anytime soon. If Hutch returns this season, it’ll be for the Super Bowl, and even that’s no guarantee, so the Lions might want to consider adding more pass rushers. But they have the requisite fearlessness and explosiveness befitting a championship-level team, and that can’t at all be dismissed.”