Lions keep making strong case as the NFL’s best team
The Detroit Lions are the best team in the NFL. A sentence that would once have sounded very strange is very legitimate this season. And while some may look at Detroit’s beating down of the Jaguars as just an expected outcome between a contender and a struggling team, it still shows just how good they truly are.
Unlike in college football, where style points can matter for rankings, winning is all that matters in the NFL. But with that said, the Lions did much more than just win on Sunday. They made a big statement defeating Jacksonville, 52-6.
Jared Goff, once viewed as a castoff of the Rams as they felt a quarterback upgrade was needed to win a championship — and they were right at the time, posted some monster numbers against a weak Jaguars defense. Goff completed 24-of-29 for 412 yards while throwing for four touchdowns and adding 21 more yards on the ground.
Amon-Ra St. Brown also stood out, making 11 receptions for 161 yards and a pair of touchdowns of his own. Goff and St. Brown have had their best statistical performances of the 2024 season by far.
Most importantly, Detroit’s defense held Jacksonville to single digits with only six points.
Detroit is now 9-1, with only a Week 2 close loss to Baker Mayfield and a good Tampa Bay Buccaneers team going against their record. So now, as Dan Campbell’s team sits at the top of the conference and enjoys a lead in the NFC North, it’s becoming clear the Lions are head and shoulders above the rest this year.
When looking at the rest of the NFC, the other division leaders in Philadelphia, Arizona and Atlanta all have a worse record and blemishes on their resume. They have each been exposed at one point or another.
Factor all of that with the fact the Lions own a head-to-head win over Sam Darnold and the Minnesota Vikings, who are on Detroit’s heels in the division, and there’s no other option but to acknowledge the team from the Motor City.
Over in the AFC, the Kansas City Chiefs are undefeated and the back-to-back Super Bowl champions, making them an obvious threat to repeat, but they have been winning thanks to a lot of luck and despite Patrick Mahomes playing below his normal standard. Mahomes entered the week with only a 12-9 touchdown-interception ratio.
And beyond the Chiefs, the Steelers and Ravens appear evenly matched as usual and have endured their hiccups. Josh Allen and the Bills are dangerous but banged up and in a similar position they have experienced in recent seasons — looking up at the Chiefs.
As things stand right now, the Lions are the only team in the entire league that has yet to show a clear weakness and has also played like a championship-caliber team all year since the season kicked off in September.
While the thought of the Lions in the Super Bowl still may sound strange to some — Detroit is one of only four franchises to never even appear in a Super Bowl — it’s a very real possibility based on what’s been happening here in 2024. The city of Detroit has been home to a champion plenty of times before, but never in the NFL since way back in 1957.
