4. Green Bay Packers
The Packers might have gotten a little dejá vu going up against the Cincinnati Bengals in Week 6, thanks to the Bengals making a trade to acquire Joe Flacco. Flacco was already part of an upset of the Packers this season while he was starting for the Cleveland Browns, but lightning did not strike the same place twice.
The Packers handled Flacco in his first start with the Bengals, even though the Bengals kind of made things interesting in the second half. Coming off of a bye week, the Packers were a little sloppy. They gave the Bengals three free first downs in this game via penalties and Jordan Love’s interception was the game’s only turnover.
But ultimately, Josh Jacobs was too much for the Bengals to handle late in this game. Maybe the most exciting for the Packers and their fans in this game was the explosive element added by rookie Matthew Golden. Golden had a career-high 102 yards from scrimmage on just five touches. He’s been unlocked.
3. Detroit Lions
Back in Week 1, the Detroit Lions got their teeth knocked in by the Green Bay Packers. I get it that it feels wrong a little bit for Packers fans to have the Lions above Green Bay in these power rankings, but the overall body of work is a little better for Detroit at this point.
The Lions just got smacked around a little bit on Sunday night against the Kansas City Chiefs, and even with Kansas City entering that game at 2-3 on the season, you're not holding that one against Detroit too much.
Yes, you'd love to see the Lions show up and show out better than what they did, but Patrick Mahomes was locked in and Detroit couldn't do much about that Kansas City offense. I'm still very much buying this Lions team going forward and how dynamic that offense is capable of being. The Chiefs playing at home with their backs against the wall is a tough draw. It's not going to get any easier with the Bucs on deck, followed by the Vikings, Commanders, and Eagles. This gauntlet will test the Lions in a big way.