Matthew Stafford gave the Detroit Metro area and the entire state of Michigan a great early Christmas present on Christmas eve: A guaranteed trip to the playoffs.

Stafford was on fire from the time he set foot in the stadium on Saturday: 29 of 36 for 373 yards and 3 TDs...and most importantly 0 INTs.  And it wasn't all the Stafford to Johnson show either.  More than six different Lions players had two receptions or more.

And the defense were able to stop the run and also keep Philip Rivers, who came into the game as hot as any quarterback in the league, in check too...intercepting him twice.

For the first time since 1978, the Lions were able to beat the Chargers...one more nasty streak cut down by these young upstart Leos.

Next week, the Lions will once again have another monster streak to cut down...Lambeau Field.  Sure the Chargers streak was longer, but because the Lions play the Packers every year...and largely because of the Devil named "Favre"...this twenty year losing streak at Lambeau will get all the play this week.

But for a moment...let's enjoy their first trip to the post season....whew...I can't believe it.  It's shocking really.   Matthew Stafford has stayed healthy all year....silencing the boat loads of critics who claimed he was "injury prone."  I'm sorry to say I was leaning toward getting on that boat myself...

1. Stafford now holds the single season passing records for yards, touchdowns and completions.

2. Stafford is still only 23 and there is still one game left this season.

3. Calvin Johnson now has the most receiving touchdowns for a Lion in a season, 15.

4. Stafford to Johnson, hopefully, knock on wood, will own all the Lions records in a few years...or at least all the ones that don't have "Sanders" or "Hanson" on them.

5.  Merry Christmas everybody!  And thanks to the Lions.

Let me make this clear, I am a Lions slappy.  I live and die by the team and I will always hold it in my heart that they WILL come back and win.

That's why I'm an idiot.  That's why I'm always heart broken.

For the second week in a row all of the "cards" fell into place for the Lions to cement themselves as the leader in the clubhouse to grab at least the last wild card spot, if not the fifth seed.  The Giants lost.  The Bears lost.  If the Lions could beat the Raiders they'd have a really good shot of grabbing one of those two spots in the next two weeks.

Which is why they came out and played like crap for most of three quarters.  I was firmly under the impression that this was just a really young team who didn't understand how to deal with the kind of pressure applied to a team in the midst of a playoff stretch.

Matthew Stafford was missing open receivers or if he did manage to hit them, the Lions would drop them--9 dropped passes on the day...how can you win like that?  The running game never got on track and the majority of the Lions offense came on a handful of big plays that simply kept them close.

The Lions weren't stopping the run either and the corners were treating Oakland receivers as if they had some sort of communicable disease.  Chris Houston, playing an injured ankle, was giving a ten yard cushion...when he wasn't giving a fifteen yard cushion...and he also looked like he had decided that tackling was a job best left for other players.  He had a bad, bad game.

But then, in the fourth quarter, when it all mattered most, the Lions woke up again.  They've been doing this too much this season.  This is a trend that will not play in the playoffs...

Look at me, talking about playoffs in December and I'm not even using a statement like, "Someday, hopefully before I die, when the Lions make the playoffs." 

1. Stafford needs to start hitting more of these open receivers.  Also, in watching Drew Brees and Aaron Rodgers and Tony Romo, when these quarterbacks are under pressure, they pull the ball down in order to make time to throw the ball down field.  That's not what Stafford does--Stafford pulls the ball down, waiting for a sack or in order to be able to better throw the ball away.  I don't know if that's something that he has to learn...or something he has been taught.  It's scary.

2.  Until Chris Houston is 110% healthy, they need to let Alphonso Smith play.  He may give up a pass every once in a while, but he also makes big plays.

3. I loved when Stafford pulled it down in order to get three yards and a first down on that critical late game fourth down play.

4. Ndamukong Suh came back for his first game and remained relatively invisible until the last play of the game.  If this continues, that suspension has done a lot more damage than it's done good.

5. The Lions are still WAY too penalty prone.

6. The offensive line, and Dominic Raioloa in particular, looked pathetic against that Raiders front.  Stafford was under too much constant pressure and the running game was...bad.  Raiola couldn't handle Richard Seymour and that was just the beginning of the Lions line problems.

7. Calvin Johnson is a stud.  Titus Young could be a star in this league.  Burleson and Pettigrew and Kevin Smith need to have superglue applied to their hands.

8. If the Lions can win either of their last two games (San Diego, at Green Bay) they'll clinch a spot.  If they lose out, they can still get in if, over the next two weeks,  each of the following teams suffers a loss: Giants, Bears, Seahawks, and Cardinals...and the Seahawks and Cardinals play each other, the Seahawks other game is against San Francisco.  The Bears play Green Bay and the Giants play the Cowboys.

First and foremost, let me say this...For the first time in this century, the Lions will not have a losing season....those are big, big words....an amazing feat that the Lions should be proud of...they are officially taking that next step that people in Michigan have been asking for for a long, long time.

But they shouldn't have won yesterday...and not just because I picked them to lose...by a point...which is what they would have lost by if the refs had called one of the most obvious face mask penalties in recent years....but hey, much like a lot...and I mean A LOT of calls all day...the refs decided to overlook this one too.

The refs overlooked a ton of calls...both ways...so if everybody is cheating...then it's "fair."...I guess...I think...

Here are some other thoughts about this game...

1. On the long incompletion to Titus Young...a beautiful laser, put in just the right spot up the left sideline...the reason he didn't catch that ball was because the Vikings defender grabbed his outside arm and pulled it back, before the ball got there...that's called pass interference...

2. Any time that Matthew Stafford feels the pressure and pulls it down...he never seems to look downfield.  It's as if he panics early and then tries desperately to escape...these are the mistakes of a rookie qb with mobility...which Stafford isn't...he's not a rookie and he's definitely not mobile.  He needs to be coached out of this.

3. Why?  Why couldn't the Lions stop Toby Gerhart?  He's the reincarnation of Tommy Vardell...maybe Mike Alstot...not Earl Campbell.  He's not a speed back.  He's a power runner.  The strength of the Lions is supposed to be their defensive line and yet they couldn't stop Gerhart from averaging almost ten yards a carry. 

4. Why?  When the Vikings had only one viable receiver, Percy Harvin, were we completely unable to cover him?  How can the Vikings be smart enough to consistently find ways to get Harvin the ball and we can't get more catches for Calvin Johnson?  The Lions must be doing something really wrong.

5. The Lions really missed Ndamukong Suh and Nick Fairly this week.  They'll definitely get Suh back for this weeks road game against the Raiders...but you know that every eye in the stadium will be on him and he'll get flagged for anything that is remotely close to a foul.

6. Likewise, the Lions really miss a running game.  With Leshoure gone all season, Best now on the IR and Kevin Smith nursing a bad ankle, the Lions have been trying to scrape together some semblance of a rushing attack with Maurice Morris (who has been less than impressive), Keiland Williams (who has looked good at times, but not consistently) and reverses to Stefan Logan and Nate Burleson.  This is a team that cannot get one yard late in the game with their running attack.  This will not do.

7. Where has Alphonso Smith been all year?  I know he came to camp hurt, but last season he was the second best (some might say the best) corner on the team and this year the Lions have played an inexperienced and highly suspect Aaron Berry instead of Smith.  I hope to see Smith the rest of the year...at least in the Nickel if nothing else.

8. Are Houston and Delmas coming back?  The Lions need them badly.

9. Sure there were no stupid personal foul penalties, but...the Lions still gave up 10 penalties...that's pathetic.

10. In order to make the playoffs, the Lions have to win against both Oakland and San Diego...if they don't, they will not be playing in January.

Ndamukong Suh stomped and was given a two game suspension...so he appealed and because he really did stomp on the Green Bay offensive lineman, really did lie about whether or not he really meant to do it, and made himself sound like a thug and a moron later...even though he apologized via...Facebook...he is still suspended for two games.  Suh's play has been encouraging and team strengthening and nobody ever complained about it (except the other team) unless he got called for a penalty and hurt the team...but now he has REALLY hurt his team.  The Lions need these next two wins really bad...and he will not be able to help them.

So the Lions will be without their best defensive player on a week they are scheduled to travel down to New Orleans to fight the number one passing offense--which is pretty hard to believe after seeing how well the Packers throw it.  Not only will Suh be absent...but there's a pretty good chance that the Lions will also be without starting safety Louis Delmas and starting corner Chris Houston...that bodes well for them as they'll watch Drew Brees drop back fifty times and tear them apart.

Which is even worse as the Lions have almost fallen out of the playoff race and desperately need this win.  The Lions are currently 7-4 and behind a boat load of tie breakers held by Atlanta and Chicago. 

To further add to the Lions woes.  This past week they had to place RB Jahvid Best on the IR.  Kevin Smith, Best's temp stand in, had a high ankle sprain and could only practice for about twenty minutes this week...so they Lions went out and hot another old Lions castoff...which is a unique idea in and of it's own right...and signed Aaron Brown to take the reigns for the time being.

Now, it is really interesting that the Lions brought back another guy who couldn't make their team out of training camp...but it's even more disturbing that the Lions decided to go in that direction...None of the castoffs from the other 31 teams was worth a try?  Nobody on a practice squad anywhere?

Is the Lions offense so incredibly hard to learn that they thought only one of their old castoffs would be able to pick it up quick enough to contribute this week?  That must be a really complicated offense...

New Orleans Offense vs Detroit Defense

How much more do I have to say? The Lions' secondary was never exactly the Lions big strength to begin with, but without the pressure and attitude that Suh brings...it's even less of a strength.  Add to that the loss of two of their four starters...against Drew Brees...

Here's hoping that Nick Fairly can come through and apply some massive attitude and pressure of his own.  Otherwise...

Advantage: Saints (By an awful lot...)

New Orleans Defense vs Detroit Offense

This will be the first week that Matthew Stafford will stop wearing his glove.  He's been wearing the glove for the last month and the Lions have gone from 5-1 to 7-4...but the broken finger and protective glove had absolutely nothing to do with that...

New Orleans has the 24th ranked defense in the NFL...not all that impressive...but the Lions are playing with only a ghost of a running game and they will definitely be playing from behind all day...ie the Saints will be coming after our QB a ton on Sunday night.

I don't think they have anybody that can cover Calvin Johnson and as long as Stafford can regain his accuracy and occasionally remember that he has two other receivers and two tight ends beside Calvin, the Lions offense can move the ball on the Saints.

Advantage: Lions

Prediction

I'm sorry, but the Lions do not have enough on the defensive side of the ball this week to cope with Drew Brees and his pinball scoring offense.

New Orleans 41 Detroit 24

I've told this story before and I'm going to tell it again, because it's true and it's scary and it is, after all, Halloween.

It was late fall and the 5-2 Lions were playing the Denver Broncos.  The Lions crushed the Broncos, scoring more than 40 points and getting two defensive touchdowns in the rout. 

Was this yesterday?  Yes...but it was also November 4th 2007.  That day defensive end Dwayne White recovered a fumble and returned it for a touchdown.  That day, Shaun Rogers picked off a pass and rumbled 66 yards for another defensive score.

Yesterday, again, the Lions rolled on to a 6-2 record.  Yesterday, defensive end Cliff Avril recovered a fumble and returned it for a touchdown.  Yesterday, defensive back Chris Houston intercepted a pass and returned it a 103 yards for a second defensive score.

The score then, 44-7.  This was the pinnacle point of the Millen/Marinelli era.  The score yesterday, 45-10.  What did the Lions do then?  Won only one more game that season and followed it up with 0-16...what will these Lions do this time?

I've brought this game up a lot, mostly because it scares the crap out of me as a Lions fan.  I am very superstitious when it comes to the Lions.  There are a lot of things I like about the way the Mayhew/Schartz regime has rebuilt this franchise.  Granted, I being a fan and not a GM would have probably done things a lot differently. I love that the Dline is the heart of the team.

In 2007, the Dline was also, supposedly, the heart of the team too.  In 2007, the Lions built a 6-2 record on lesser opponents and a lot of turnovers...This week the Lions are currently first in turnover differential...

In the NFL, you cannot rely on turnovers.

I don't mean to be a downer, but I am seeing an awful lot of parallels in this scenario.  The hardest part of the schedule is coming up after the bye week.  There are still two games with the undefeated Packers and another at Chicago.

Now, do I think that Jon Kitna was better than Stafford is now?  No.  Would I take Roy Williams over Calvin Johnson?  Not on your life. And I'd take Ndamukong Suh, Corey Williams and Nick Fairley over anybody on that 2007 defense, including Shaun Rogers...But I might take a young healthy Kevin Jones over a sidelined Jahvid Best...

So do I think that history is going to repeat itself?  No...not really...but I am jittery about it and now I have two weeks to fret about it as the Lions go into their bye week...