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

Preseason: 24 | Last Week: 10 | ESPN.com Power Ranking since 2002

This should not be a surprise. Detroit lost, fairly handily, to Green Bay on Sunday, 22-9. The Calvin Johnson-less offense did not look good and the defense had some breakdowns in the second half on big plays. But when healthy, this is still a good football team. The defense, despite Sunday's struggles, is still second best in the league on third downs and has a very talented front seven. Bill Bentley may have had his best game of the season, including breaking up a touchdown pass in the first half.

The 10-12 region might be where Detroit resides for most of the season. They are a borderline playoff team that should be in the conversation for a berth the rest of the way. They are the No. 6 NFC team in the Power Rankings, but to give you an idea of how difficult the division is, they are No. 3 in the NFC North, just behind No. 10 Chicago and No. 11 Green Bay. It may just be the toughest division in football.