Detroit Lions wide receiver Calvin Johnson (81) walks off the field after the game against the Arizona Cardinals at Ford Field. The Cardinals won 42-17. Mandatory Credit: Raj Mehta-USA TODAY Sports
This week’s NFL power rankings keep the same six teams at the top, in the same order as last week. Arizona stays ahead of the undefeated Carolina Panthers, who jump the 2-3 Seattle Seahawks after the Hawks dropped their road contest with Cincinnati in overtime. That puts the six undefeated teams and the Cardinals in a top ten that’s rounded out with two New York teams and those same Seahawks previously mentioned. They lost in overtime on the road against an undefeated team so I’m not holding that one against them.
The rest of the power rankings shake out with some preseason picks for contenders falling farther and preseason fodder climbing the polls a bit. This week’s biggest riser is the Chicago Bears, who move up seven spots to number 21 on the back of two consecutive wins with a healthy Jay Cutler.
There’s a three-way tie for the biggest drop this week. Dallas, Baltimore and New Orleans all fell four spots as Dallas is letting the wheels come off a bit with their third consecutive loss under Brandon Weeden. Baltimore and New Orleans both followed up their first win of the season with disappointing losses. The Ravens dropped an overtime matchup against the Browns and Josh McCown’s record performance while the Saints got smoked by an Eagles team that just couldn’t get it figured out (until Sunday), giving up 39 points.
While not the biggest drop of the week, we have a new team in dead last and it’s of course, your Detroit Lions. Caldwell’s squad just didn’t have their heads screwed on right for their matchup with Bruce Arians’ Cardinals. The Lions took themselves out of the contest well before Arizona had any chance to. The Lions had four first half turnovers including two Matthew Stafford interceptions (one that set up the Cards with 1st-and-goal), Golden Tate tossed a fumble to an Arizona defensive back, Ameer Abdullah fumbled twice (losing one) and that was all before halftime. Before the turnovers started falling from the sky, Detroit was in this game too. The Lions jumped out to an early lead, their first since Week 1, and then decided to flush the season down the drain. Two more second half interceptions brought the Lions’ game total to six and their season total to fifteen. They’re on pace for nearly fifty turnovers this season. Additionally, DeAndre Levy re-injured his hip and may end up getting shut down for the season. Looks like everyone in Allen Park is folding up shop for the year and it’s barely October.
That about does it for the big movers and shakers in this week’s NFL power rankings, so without further ado:
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