This week, instead of reliving the baffling regular-season finale that was the Packers game, I've decided to look forward to the Saints by looking back at the Lions' previous matchup with them. When I first analyzed the game, I focused on the game Nick Fairley had. This time around, I want to focus on what the Lions did well and what they'll need to improve upon to come away with a victory this time around.

Though the final score of the game was a decisive 31-17, the game was very much up for grabs in the final quarter. With 13 minutes left in the game, the Lions had the ball at the Saints' 35-yard line only down by seven (they would eventually miss a long field goal, giving the Saints a short field). Though the stat line looks ugly, the Lions defense actually did a good job limiting the Saints offense. The Saints are averaging 41.1 points per game at home, so holding them to 31 points was actually a pretty big accomplishment. Here's how the Lions hung with the Saints.

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Don't laugh. I did actually manage to find five good defensive plays by the Detroit Lions from Sunday's loss to the Green Bay Packers. Here they are:

No. 5 - Lions' stop of Packers on third-and-one in third quarter

On the opening drive of the second half for the Packers, the Lions forced a three-and-out. This came after Matthew Stafford threw an interception on the Lions' first drive of the half. The Packers had a chance to start pulling away, but the defense came up with a big stop by forcing an incompletion on third-and-one.

No. 4 - Willie Young's one-yard sack of Matt Flynn in fourth quarter

Trailing 38-34 with seven minutes left, the Lions appeared to be in some serious trouble. Green Bay took over near midfield after another blown call (Jordy Nelson's muffed fair catch being blown dead) and could have made this a two-possession game with a touchdown. However, Green Bay wasn't able to get a first down, let alone a TD, on this drive. A big reason why was because on third-and-11, Young wrapped up Flynn and took him down for a sack. Young went fishing for his celebration, which was greeted with far less hostility than the celebration that took place after play No. 3 on this list.

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If you wish to read about the Packers defense, you can read my post over at the SideLion Report on them.

The Detroit Lions came into this season believing that their defense was fully rebuilt with the offseason acquisitions of Eric Wright, Stephen Tulloch, Justin Durant, and Nick Fairley, in addition to already having great players like Kyle Vanden Bosch, Cliff Avril, Louis Delmas and Ndamukong Suh. Yet, the Lions go into the final week of regular season play ranked 21st in the NFL in points allowed. They are 26th against the run and 14th against the pass, which would let you believe that the Lions have quite a bit of rebuilding still left to do.

That isn't to say that the Lions have not progressed in the last three years. When Martin Mayhew took over this team in 2008, the Detroit Lions were one of the worst defenses in NFL history. They were one of only three teams since 2001 that allowed more than 30 points a game ('09 Lions and '01 Colts being the other two). In hindsight, the 22.8 points they are allowing right now looks pretty good compared to what we are used to from Lions defenses. Still, the Lions coaching staff was given a ton of talent and depth to work with compared to many others teams around the league, and I think they could have done a far better job.

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Since this game is meaningless to the Packers and I have already covered their offense, I'm going to take the time today to break down the Lions' offense.

It feels as if this NFL season has passed by in a flash. The Detroit Lions sit at 10-5 and have a playoff berth in hand going into their game on Sunday against the arch rival Green Bay Packers at Lambeau Field. The Lions haven’t won a game at Lambeau since the 1991 season, a fact that we are constantly reminded of every season when the Packers away game comes around. However, the Lions go into this year’s game with their best shot of winning it since ... last season when they lost to the Pack by a score of 28-26.

Leading the Lions in this game will clearly be their offensive unit that is ranked fourth in the NFL this season and is putting up close to 28.9 points a game. The Lions have won all 10 games in which they have scored 20 or more points and have flirted with the 50-point mark several times this season. Clearly, this is the vision that Martin Mayhew, Jim Schwartz and Scott Linehan had for this unit when they spent draft picks and money bringing in guys like Matthew Stafford, Brandon Pettigrew, Jahvid Best, Nate Burleson, Tony Scheffler and Titus Young, among others.

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Today, I'm going to take a different angle to this article. Instead of breaking down the X's and O's of specific plays, looking at how a play developed, I'm just going to let you sit back and marvel at how amazing Matthew Stafford was on Saturday. His accuracy was off the charts, his decision making was brilliant and he likely had his best game of his career when a playoff berth was on the line. He may not be a Pro-Bowler, but I'd be hard-pressed to find an NFC team who would take a quarterback not named Rodgers, Brady or Brees over Stafford.

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The most remarkable thing about the Detroit Lions' playoff berth this season is that it comes only three years after they went 0-16. In just a few years, the Lions went from being one of the worst teams in the history of the NFL to one of the 12 teams that will fight for this season's Super Bowl title.

The Lions' road back from the dark ages wasn't easy, but everything came together pretty quickly (in the grand scheme of things) once Martin Mayhew became the general manager. When Matt Millen was finally sent packing, Mayhew put a plan in place to assemble a roster filled with talent. He also filled his coaching staff with talent after being named the permanent GM by hiring Jim Schwartz and an excellent group of assistants that includes Gunther Cunningham and Scott Linehan.

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The San Diego Chargers came into this year in somewhat of a transition on defense after losing many key pieces in the last few offseasons. Gone is three-year defensive coordinator Ron Rivera, who took the Carolina Panthers head coaching job. Also gone are key players such as three-time All-Pros Shawne Merriman and Jamal Williams, and solid role players like Igor Olshansky and Antonio Cromartie. With losses like that, I guess it should come as no surprise that this defensive unit ranks in the bottom half of the NFL right now.

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