Lions get hit with a major demotion within the NFC North in latest power rankings

The Detroit Lions, despite a 15-2 season in 2024, have once again found themselves as an underdog on another analyst's power rankings.

This time, it's courtesy FOX Sports' Ralph Vacchiano, who has the Lions all the way in 9th place in his rankings ahead of the 2025 season.

Ahead of them are a few teams that make sense - the Philadelphia Eagles are understandably first, with the Baltimore Ravens and Kansas City Chiefs right on their tails. It's who comes in at 5th overall that might boggle the minds of Lions fans who have been watching Detroit dominate the NFC North for the last two seasons: the Green Bay Packers.

There's only one real explanation for such a tax on the Lions for Vacchiano here, and that's Detroit losing both Ben Johnson and Aaron Glenn this offseason for head coaching vacancies. Even then, that is such an empty argument.

Lions get taxed heavily for losing Johnson, Glenn in latest power rankings

As the regular season creeps up on all of us, the Lions have been hard at work during training camp ahead of their very early preseason bout against the Los Angeles Chargers. With their participation in the Hall of Fame game comes an extra week of preseason football, so the preparation has been intense.

One of the benefits that Lions fans receive as a result of that extra camp time is reports from those watching live. And, on all accounts, it sure seems like the Lions are ready to roll into the regular season without having suffered much of a bump in the road after losing their top two coordinators.

READ MORE: Hendon Hooker expected to do one simple thing during Lions' first preseason bout

While Johnson and Glenn were and are uber-talented coaches in the NFL, Detroit had excellent replacements to them waiting in the wings in the form of John Morton at OC and Kelvin Sheppard at DC. Players have been nothing but complimentary of both of their coaching styles, and it sounds like the team is ready to play just about the exact same style of football they did in 2024.

Why pundits continue to discredit their work as well as the Lions' roster continuity is unknown. The NFC North isn't a complete wash like, let's say, the NFC South. The Packers are legitimately good, especially with Jordan Love improving every year and the team having made some smart signings this offseason.

But, Detroit also had a solid offseason, bringing back Graham Glasgow in the nick of time and signing D.J. Reed to slot in alongside potential breakout defender Terrion Arnold. They have a tough schedule - in fact, the toughest in the league - but they seem constructed for the challenge.

Falling behind teams like the Pittsburgh Steelers or Cincinnati Bengals in this power ranking all because of coaching changes is simply laughable.

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