The Lions are the team to beat in the NFL

After a shaky start to the season, the Detroit Lions are well and truly on the move, and their 31-29 victory over the previously undefeated Vikings propels them to the rank of best team in the NFL, period.

It is still early in the calendar and obviously, the Lions are not without some flaws, but as the halfway point approaches, this is the observation that is clear.

Many will say that the Chiefs are the champions and that until proven otherwise, they are at the top of the mountain.

Watching the Lions play over the past few weeks, however, we sense that something special is coming out of this team.

It’s no longer the cute fairy tale of last season, when the team won its first division title in 30 years and qualified for the playoffs for the first time since 2016.

The Lions find themselves with a record of five wins and one loss, which gives them first place in the North division of the national conference by virtue of their victory against the Vikings, who have the same record. They find themselves with a 5-1 record for the second year in a row, which has not happened since the team moved to Detroit in 1934.

The difference is that this year, everyone is waiting for the Lions. Head coach Dan Campbell warned his troops after the conference final loss last January, saying it would be harder to win now that everyone is taking them seriously. Yet they continue to shine.

In a hostile environment

The Vikings were undefeated, and their stadium is one of the most hostile in the league. In this environment, the Lions quickly fell into a 10-0 deficit and responded with three touchdowns in the second quarter. They are not intimidable.

Jared Goff completed his first 14 passes and finished with 22 completions on 25 attempts, for 280 yards and two touchdowns. He was particularly steadfast in reacting quickly to the numerous blitzes deployed by the Vikings.

Twice, the Lions built 11-point leads and let that cushion melt away when linebacker Ivan Pace scored a defensive touchdown for the Vikings after a fumble by running back David Montgomery with just under six minutes to play.

It was careless, but what matters is that the Lions kept their composure until their decisive push, which allowed Jake Bates to score the game-winning field goal.

A complete team

The Lions gained 144 rushing yards against a team that had held four of its first five opponents to fewer than 90 rushing yards. The tandem of Jahmyr Gibbs and Montgomery is formidable. Not once this season has this duo produced fewer than 116 yards rushing.

Goff, for his part, has a fiery arsenal and is on a three-game streak with an efficiency rating (rating) above 140. This is rare to the point where only three quarterbacks in history – and not the least – have achieved this feat (Roger Staubach in 1971, Kurt Warner in 1999 and Aaron Rodgers in 2011).

In his last three games, only 10 of his 68 passes have been incomplete and he has thrown seven touchdown passes. Not so bad, when you consider that the Rams would have practically paid to get rid of him a few years ago.

The pass defense remains a question mark, but we no longer speak of a glaring deficiency as in the past.

The Lions therefore find themselves at the top of the best division in the NFL and the race will be exciting. The Vikings (5-1), Packers (5-2) and Bears (4-2) have not said their last word, but Detroit is the team to beat.

5 KEY MOMENTS

1. The Chiefs were hot

Despite an array of injuries, the 49ers with their B (or even C) offensive alignment provided good opposition to the Chiefs. Patrick Mahomes only had 154 passing yards, with no touchdown passes, with two interceptions. Luckily, his opposite Brock Purdy, deprived of Christian McCaffrey, Deebo Samuel, Brandon Aiyuk (during part of the match) and Jauan Jennings, looked bad with three interceptions. The most critical was made by rookie Jaden Hicks, a fourth-round pick, in the end zone when the score was 21-12 in favor of the Chiefs.

2. Washington seduces London

Parker Washington is a supporting player for the Jaguars. As a sixth-round pick, the receiver is little involved in the offense, but he found an excellent way to make a major impact in the victory against the Patriots in London. Late in the second quarter, he scored a touchdown on a spectacular 96-yard punt return. It was the longest touchdown in Jaguars history and the first punt return touchdown in the London games. And to think that players are always asked not to touch the ball on a clearance inside their line of 10!

3. Deshaun Watson gets injured

Browns quarterback Deshaun Watson may have seen his season come to an end. When he set off for a run, he collapsed to the ground without any contact. This is often a sign of a ruptured Achilles tendon. The Browns being the Browns, they decided to designate Jameis Winston only as an emergency quarterback for this game, which is incomprehensible. They therefore had to rely on Dorian Thompson-Robinson, who was the victim of two interceptions before being injured in turn, finally paving the way for Winston, who threw a touchdown pass. Ridiculous!

4. Hello, Amari Cooper!

There were questions about how big of a role newcomer Amari Cooper would play for the Bills, just days after the trade that brought him from Cleveland to Buffalo. The receiver made a good first impression with four receptions for 66 yards. His first pass caught in a Bills uniform was good for a 12-yard touchdown. So that’s good news for the Bills and the other good news is that rookie wide receiver Keon Coleman caught four passes for 125 yards in the win against the Titans.

5. Tough day for Cousins

Despite the final gap of 20 points, the duel between the Falcons and the Seahawks was competitive until the fourth quarter. The Seahawks began to take full control when defensive end Boye Mafe connected with Kirk Cousins, knocking him off the ball. Derick Hall recovered the ball and returned it to the end zone for a touchdown to make it 31-14. It was one of three turnovers for the Falcons quarterback. The Falcons’ winning streak ended at three.

WINNERS OF THE WEEK

1. Saquon Barkley

New York fans booed their former running back Saquon Barkley, who now plays for the Eagles. Barkley responded with 176 yards rushing, 11 passing and a touchdown. It was clearly an emotional match for him.

2. Les Colts

The win over the Dolphins was the least elegant ever, with Anthony Richardson completing just 10 of 24 passes for 129 yards. The fact remains that at 4-3, they are only one game behind the Texans (5-2) for the lead in their division.

3. Jordan Love

It was far from perfect for Jordan Love and the Packers, but the quarterback still threw three touchdown passes. It’s the eighth time he’s thrown three touchdown passes since last season, an NFL high.

4. The Commanders

No one is going to put a sticker on their helmet for beating the Panthers, but they crushed them without quarterback Jayden Daniels (rib injury), which shows how serious they are. We can only hope that Daniels returns quickly.

5. Greg Rousseau

There are some matches that you have to see rather than just watching a summary. Bills defensive end Greg Rousseau is having a good season and against the Titans, he haunted Mason Rudolph by hitting the quarterback six times. He only collected half a sack, but was constantly threatening.

LOSERS OF THE WEEK

1. The Patriots

Not only did the Patriots suffer a sixth straight loss, but afterward, head coach Jerod Mayo said his team was playing sluggishly. Defensive players pointed fingers at each other. It’s starting to get harder than hard.

2. The Texans

Nothing bad about losing to the Packers, but it’s unusual that the aerial attack only generated 55 net yards. CJ Stroud completed just 10 of 21 passes. It happens, but against such a good team, he clearly needs to do better.

3. Mike McDaniel

We all understand that the Dolphins head coach is without his quarterback Tua Tagovailoa, but Tyreek Hill and Jaylen Waddle combined for two receptions for 19 yards against the Colts. Even with reserve quarterbacks, a true offensive guru would find solutions.

4. Myles Garrett

The Browns star defensive end wasted a great opportunity to keep his mouth shut when he came to Deshaun Watson’s defense by saying he had been a model citizen his entire career. Really? We can no longer even count the number of lawsuits!

5. Brandon Aiyuk

The 49ers receivers were already not having a good start to the season after sulking for a long time to obtain a big contract. At the start of the game against the Chiefs, he dropped a perfect pass. Subsequently, he suffered a knee injury. From bad to worse…