I was hoping the post-game thread for tonight would be titled, "Back to Green Bay we go." Instead, following their 45-28 loss to the New Orleans Saints, the Detroit Lions' season has come to an end. An ugly loss like that with so many blown opportunities (and blown calls) certainly is tough to take, but it should not overshadow what the Lions accomplished this season. It was a lot of fun to watch this team make the playoffs, win 10 games and show the world how good Matthew Stafford and Calvin Johnson are. The building blocks for championships are there, and it's much nicer going into the offseason knowing that the Lions are a few players away from being championship caliber instead of a few players away from merely potentially being .500.

The recap for this game will be up in a bit, and next week we will wrap up 2011 and look ahead to the offseason. In the meantime, I want to say thank you, Lions, for providing fans with the first season we can be proud of in a long, long time.

The Lions are down 24-21 to the Saints going into the final quarter of the game.

The Lions are up 14-10 on the Saints at halftime.

The Lions are up 7-0 on the Saints after one quarter in New Orleans.