# Can Lions go from worst to first? ESPN ranks 2025 last-place teams
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There were eight last-place teams in the NFL in 2025, and the Detroit Lions were one of them.
But, it wasn’t so long ago that the Lions were on top of the NFC North, winning back-to-back titles in 2023 and 2024, and it might not be long before they’re at the top of the heap again.
ESPN on Friday ranked the eight last-place finishers in terms of which team was most likely to flip its fortunes to first place. The Lions topped the list, based on odds of winning their division via ESPN’s Football Power Index.
The Lions, according to the FPI, own an NFC North-best 38.2% chance of winning their division, and a 68.4% chance of reaching the postseason.
After winning a combined 27 regular-season games in 2023 and 2024, the Lions stumbled to 9-8 last season, watching their playoff hopes officially evaporate on Christmas Day against the Minnesota Vikings and their backup quarterback.
Still the Lions were just a half-game behind the second-place Green Bay Packers — though the Packers swept both regular-season meetings — and two games behind the division-winning Chicago Bears, who the Lions swept.
“The Lions have by far the best odds to go from worst to first for three main reasons,” ESPN NFL analyst Aaron Schatz writes, “Schedule, injuries and they weren’t really that bad last season. Of course, this is exactly what I wrote about the 49ers a year ago, so there certainly are no guarantees.”