2016 NFL Power Rankings: Chasing The West Divisions

player. 50. Calvin Johnson is gone. By far the best playmaker the Detroit Lions have had since Barry Sanders chose to leave the game of football much like the Hall of Fame running back. Young. It’s a rather bitter, ironic twist for this long-suffering franchise. Still they have no choice but to move on. Matthew Stafford will have to do the best he cast with what he has. Golden Tate and Marvin Jones aren’t Megatron, but together they have the potential to be effective. <p>The good news is they seem to have something good going on defense. Teryl Austin has proven himself an able coordinator. Ezekiel Ansah is an emerging pass rusher and DeAndre Levy should finally be back healthy at linebacker. Darius Slay and Glover Quin round out a decent secondary as well. Is this team good enough to take down the top of the NFC North? That will depend on whether they can overcome the inconsistency issues that plagued them last year.</p>. . . Detroit Lions . 24