NFL Power Rankings Week 8: Detroit Lions and Teams That Will Climb Back Up

Sometimes, the NFL's almighty schedule-makers have to be cruel to be kind.

For these three teams, the joy of winning in Week 8, and moving up the power rankings as a result, will be that much sweeter after suffering defeat in recent weeks, albeit at the expense of awful opponents.

Detroit Lions

The Motor City Kitties had to come crashing back to Earth at some point, though nobody figured they'd hit quite as hard as they have over the last two weeks.

Assuming Matthew Stafford's right ankle is still strong enough to play on, he and the Lions should be in good enough shape to win in Denver, even on Tebow Time.

Not sure how that lines up with Central Daylight Time.

As gutty a winner as Tim Tebow may be, I'd like to see him stay upright, much less run through Ndamukong Suh, Corey Williams and Cliff Avril, known around Detroit as "The Silver Crush."

Buffalo Bills

The Bills lost a thriller to the Giants in Week 6 and, thanks to a Week 7 bye, have had all too much time to stew over it.

Buffalo's defense has been suspect, and the team won't have the benefit of a real home-field advantage while playing in Toronto, but the Redskins are in bad enough shape, with John Beck at quarterback, Santana Moss out for more than a month and Tim Hightower lost for the rest of the season.

If all else fails, Ryan Fitzpatrick and Fred Jackson can always come to the rescue, as they have for practically the entire season.

Tennessee Titans

How do you bounce back from a 41-7 loss in a critical division game? If you're the Tennessee Titans, the answer is simple: host a team that suffered a 62-7 thrashing on the very same day.

Surely, the Colts, sans Peyton Manning, will have the cure to what ails the Titans, namely a defense that Matt Hasselbeck than thrown on and Chris Johnson can run all over, not to mention an offense that can hardly move the ball against a stiff wind.

And if Tennessee can't beat Indy after Sunday night's embarrassment in New Orleans, then Mike Munchak will have every right to jam on the panic button.

Or throw Jake Locker into the game, if you're not into metaphors.

Josh Martin's Week 7 NFL Power Rankings

1. Green Bay Packers

2. New England Patriots

3. New Orleans Saints

4. San Francisco 49ers

5. Baltimore Ravens

6. Pittsburgh Steelers

7. Atlanta Falcons

8. New York Giants

9. Detroit Lions

10. Buffalo Bills

11. New York Jets

12. Tampa Bay Buccaneers

13. San Diego Chargers

14. Cincinnati Bengals

15. Houston Texans

16. Chicago Bears

17. Kansas City Chiefs

18. Cleveland Browns

19. Oakland Raiders

20. Tampa Bay Buccaneers

21. Philadelphia Eagles

22. Tennessee Titans

23. Washington Redskins

24. Carolina Panthers

25. Minnesota Vikings

26. Denver Broncos

27. Seattle Seahawks

28. Jacksonville Jaguars

29. Arizona Cardinals

30. Miami Dolphins

31. St. Louis Rams

32. Indianapolis Colts