2018 NFL Power Rankings: Eagles no longer on top after Week 2 of preseason

21. Detroit Lions

The Detroit Lions are one of those teams that are extremely thankful that it’s only preseason when seeing how they’ve lost each of their first two games, with the latest being a 30-17 loss to the Giants. Without question, hiring Matt Patricia was the best decision this team could have made in the offseason when looking at his success over the years as defensive coordinator with the Patriots, but as everyone knows, whether this team makes a playoff run will come down to Matthew Stafford.

Throughout his career, Stafford has always been the kind of quarterback that makes the players around him better, although Detroit hasn’t exactly done the best of jobs with providing him a reliable backfield. As reliable as the receiving corps has been at times, a quarterback like Stafford can only do so much on his own without the proper support from his teammates at running back.

Whether it’s Theo Riddick or Kerryon Johnson handling a majority of the carries, Stafford mostly cares about just receiving the necessary support. And if that does happen on offense, the Lions will have a much better shot at making the playoffs for a second time in three years while making Stafford quite happy.