Michael Rothstein, ESPN Staff Writer 10y

Power Rankings: No. 11 Detroit Lions

A weekly examination of the Lions' ESPN.com Power Ranking:

Preseason: 24 | Last Week: 12 | ESPN.com Power Ranking since 2002

Slow, incremental movement back toward the top 10 -- this is happening in the Lions' power rankings world, and it should be attainable. Detroit is No. 11 this week, up one spot and down one from its season high of No. 10. But there is a large opportunity on Sunday for the Lions. They play the No. 8 team, Cincinnati, and they play the Bengals at Ford Field.

Detroit has said all season that one of its goals is to win all of its home games. If it accomplishes that, it would be no worse than 10-6 this season -- and that should be good enough to clinch a playoff berth. And the Lions have put themselves in this position not at full strength offensively with both Calvin Johnson and Reggie Bush battling injuries at points this season.

But Sunday proves to be a big game. If the Lions can knock off another playoff contender, albeit from the AFC, that could show how much potential this team really has.

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