# 5 thoughts on Lions 3-1 start as case for best NFC team, Amik Robertson’s big moment
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1. The Lions are the best team in the NFC right now, and maybe the entire NFL
I’d rank the Buffalo Bills first and the Philadelphia Eagles second if I were doing power rankings. Both teams are undefeated, they deserve the top spots, and the Eagles have played arguably the toughest schedule in the league so far.
But I’m not sure either team would beat the Lions on a neutral field. The Eagles aren’t winning with any authority right now, the Bills just survived a scare from the lowly New Orleans Saints and the Lions lead the league in scoring margin (12.3 ppg) for the second straight year.
The Lions have an offense that feels like it can score on anybody, at any time, and a defense that devours the run. That’s a lethal combination, and coupled with a few scheduling breaks – no Joe Burrow when they travel to Cincinnati to face the Bengals this week – it makes me think I was too pessimistic in predicting the Lions would finish 11-6 this year.
I thought the Lions would look more disjointed early in the season, that they’d have to navigate more inconsistency on their revamped offensive line and that their lack of pass rush would be expose their secondary to big plays.
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2. I’m not sure what to make of the Packers
3. What could hold the Lions back in the final 14 weeks of the season?
Well, injuries, of course, and the Lions suffered two potentially costly ones Sunday when they lost starting cornerbacks Terrion Arnold (shoulder) and D.J. Reed (hamstring) in the second half of their 34-10 trouncing of the Browns.
4. Amik Robertson will have bigger role
Robertson is one player who likely will have a bigger role going forward as the Lions navigate their injuries at cornerback.
Robertson moved from slot to outside corner when Carlton Davis was lost for the season to a broken jaw last year and he split No. 2 cornerback reps with Arnold before Arnold’s injury Sunday.
5. I don’t think that was the best performance by the Lions’ offensive line this season
Myles Garrett, Maleik Collins and the rest of the Browns’ very good defensive front made its share of plays throughout the game.But it’s hard to find much fault in a game where the group didn’t allow a sack in 27 pass attempts and helped Jahmyr Gibbs average 6.1 yards per rush.
“We know who they are,” Lions left guard Christian Mahogany told me. “They have really good players. Ninety-five’s (Garrett) probably the craziest specimen I’ve ever seen with my own eyes. So, yeah, we took that, not personal but it’s just something that we knew we needed to do. They’re a good front. We want to be a good front together cause we’re just getting all into it, gelling, everything. So they’re a proven front (and) we have to prove it every week.”
Both Mahogany and rookie right guard Tate Ratledge have come a long way since their uneven Week 1 performance. It helps having an anchor like Penei Sewell at right tackle, but if the Lions’ young guard continue on the trajectory they’ve shown the past few weeks, this will be a very good unit by the end of the year.
