NFL power rankings: Defending champs up top, Detroit Lions in middle tier

The NFL has always been a league of haves and have-nots, with a hearty middle tier of teams capable of joining either group.

Get some good luck on the injury or schedule front and those middle-tier teams can make the playoffs. Get some bad luck and they end up with a top-10 pick.

The Lions, among the dregs of the NFL the past few seasons, have graduated to the middle tier. They have more talent on their roster than the Chicago Bears, Atlanta Falcons and New York Giants, but nowhere near as much as the Los Angeles Rams and Buffalo Bills.

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Their margin for error remains slim, but they have legitimate hope entering the season for the first time since I started doing my power rankings (Matt Patricia’s forgettable first season as head coach).

On the injury front, the Lions suffered a potentially significant loss this week when they placed starting right guard Halapoulivaati Vaitai on injured reserve. Vaitai’s timetable for return is not yet known, but it’s never good to lose a starter — potentially for the season — before meaningful games are played.

On the bright side, the Lions have an incredibly strong offensive line, one that might be able to weather Vaitai’s loss, and an incredibly favorable schedule that sets them up well for success. The Lions play eight games against the bottom nine teams in my power rankings. They probably won’t win them all, but they should win enough to take a major step forward in the record department this year.

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I have the Rams and Bills atop my initial power rankings, though I don’t have either in my projected Super Bowl. The Rams have the difficult task of trying to repeat (with a quarterback who may or may not have a bum elbow). The Bills are a popular pick to win the AFC, but I played a hunch and went slightly off the board.

Either way, the Rams and Bills deserve to be atop these rankings based on who they have coming back. They kick off the season tonight in what should be a great start to the year.