9. Detroit Lions (Lw: 10)
Detroit needed that. Fresh off back-to-back road losses to the Cardinals and Patriots, the Lions were gifted the Bears and Buccaneers on a platter at home. Promptly, they beat both teams by the same 34-17 score and held firm in their stance as a deserving playoff team. Still featuring the league’s top scoring defense, the Lions next two games are against teams with losing records – Minnesota and Chicago – and, if they can hold serve until Week 17, could close their season in Green Bay with a battle for the NFC North title. As a fallback plan, the Lions winning their next two games likely earns them a playoff berth, anyway, as a team with eleven wins should see games in January.
