Michael Rothstein, ESPN Staff Writer 10y

Lions up to No. 13 in Power Rankings

After one week, the Detroit Lions are starting to make an impression on our many voters in ESPN’s weekly Power Rankings.

The Lions, who were sitting right in the middle of the NFL at No. 16 last week, bumped up to No. 13 this week in the latest poll after beating the New York Giants pretty handily, 35-14, on Monday night. The Lions were particularly impressive on offense, where Matthew Stafford looked more comfortable and more in control than at any point during his career.

Not only that, but Detroit’s defense did a good job pressuring Eli Manning (two sacks, nine quarterback hits) and a banged-up secondary picked off Manning twice. There’s also this: The Lions now have a bona fide second defensive star in linebacker DeAndre Levy, who had 10 tackles and an interception on Monday night.

Below was my ballot for the Power Rankings (and my previous rankings in parentheses):

1. Seattle (1)

2. Denver (2)

3. Philadelphia (9)

4. Atlanta (18)

5. San Francisco (7)

6. Indianapolis (5)

7. Cincinnati (8)

8. Green Bay (4)

9. Carolina (10)

10. Detroit (16)

11. Arizona (11)

12. Pittsburgh (12)

13. New Orleans (6)

14. Miami (19)

15. Minnesota (24)

16. New England (3)

17. Buffalo (31)

18. Tennessee (26)

19. San Diego (13)

20. New York Jets (27)

21. Houston (29)

22. Chicago (14)

23. Tampa Bay (17)

24. Jacksonville (28)

25. Cleveland (30)

26. Washington (21)

27. Baltimore (20)

28. Kansas City (15)

29. Dallas (23)

30. New York Giants (25)

31. Oakland (32)

32. St. Louis (22)

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