(WXYZ) — The Detroit Lions are on a roll in the second half of the season. After starting 1-6, the team has won five of its last six games, with the only loss coming to the Buffalo Bills on Thanksgiving.
At the start of the season, many people were calling this team the "same old Lions," a name often thrown around when the Lions can't win games. But, we've learned over the past six games that it isn't the same old Lions anymore.
Why? Well, to start, they're putting up more points. Sunday's win over the Minnesota Vikings was the fifth straight game with more than 25 points scored, the team said. It's tied for the longest streak with 25+ points in franchise history.
This is also their seventh game of the season with 30 or more points, which is tied for the single-season franchise record.
"It’s hard when you get down in the dumps and you were where we were at, it’s easy to lose faith. But these guys never did and we stayed true to what we’re about and they knew, they believed we were one play away and that’s where we’ve been," Head Coach Dan Campbell said. "Our guys, they know they belong. They know they belong and they know when they play football like we’ve been playing the last six weeks we can play with anybody. That’s the truth.”
At the same time, the rookies are stepping up for Detroit, something that hasn't quite panned out in past drafts. GM Brad Holmes is not only finding success with his first-round pick in Aidan Hutchinson, but players picked in later rounds are having success this season.
James Houston has four sacks in three NFL games this season. He was a sixth-rounder and already set a franchise record for most sacks through three career games.
Kirby Joseph, who was drafted in the third round, recovered a fumble in Sunday's game. He's the first rookie in NFL history to have three interceptions, two forced fumbles and a fumble recovery in a season since 2007.
Then, there's Aidan Hutchinson, who finished Sunday's game with two solo tackles, two tackles for loss, a sack and two QB hits. He became the first player in franchise history to produce a season with seven sacks, two interceptions and a fumble recovery.
On the offensive side of the ball, Quarterback Jared Goff continues to shine at Ford Field. He completed 27 of 39 passes for 330 yards and three touchdowns on Sunday, the second straight game with 330 or more passing yards and multiple touchdowns. He has 20 touchdown passes at Ford Field, which ties the record set by Matthew Stafford in 2011.
The offense has 4,893 total net yards through 13 games, the fourth-most through 13 games and the most since 2013. Detroit also has 19 rushing touchdowns, the most through the first 13 games of the season since 1981. It's also the third-most rushing touchdowns in the league.
The Lions have the third-most touchdowns in the NFL with 42, just behind the Kansas City Chiefs with 46 and Philadelphia Eagles with 50.
Detroit is playing meaningful games in December. While their record is still below .500, they should have a chance to win the rest of the games this season, which could put them in the hunt for a playoff spot.
Campbell said playing meaningful December games is one of the reasons why he wanted to be here.
"I knew this could be a special place, man. This is one of those areas where you get a winner in here in Detroit and it’ll be something special. And it’s not like that everywhere, it’s not. And so, to get this place back on its feet, man, play winning football, something that hadn’t been done here in whatever that is – 20-something years or over," he said.
