ALLEN PARK -- Nobody really knew what to expect from the Detroit Lions in Year 2 under Matt Patricia, but there was a pretty distinct dichotomy that developed between local and national analysts.

Beat writers mostly had Detroit somewhere between eight to 10 wins. But nationally, the expectations were far more dour. And nobody was worse than USA Today’s Nate Davis, who picked Detroit to finish dead-last in the league with three wins.

“I don’t look at that (expletive),” receiver Danny Amendola said.

But after two wins in four weeks, Davis has seen enough to change his tune rather considerably.

The Lions (2-1-1), sitting in third place in the NFC North, have skied all the way to fourth in Davis’ latest NFL power rankings. They trail only the the Patriots (4-0), Chiefs (4-0) and Saints (3-1).

“Admittedly lofty for 2-1-1 team,” Davis writes. “But over last three weeks, they’ve beaten two heavyweights (Chargers, Eagles) and, arguably, outplayed K.C. Will bye week stem that momentum?”

Detroit is off this week before resuming play in Week 6 with a Monday night game against Green Bay, which rounds out Davis’ top five. Minnesota is the worst-rated North team, at 12th.

The Lions are sitting at 12th in power rankings from MLive’s Ben Raven. For those, click here.