Why Detroit Lions Passing Game Is Hotter Than New Orleans Saints

Drew Brees and the New Orleans Saints may have the best passing attack in the NFL, but Matthew Stafford and the Detroit Lions are playing better right now.

New Orleans certainly deserves praise for their play down the stretch of the regular season.

The team won eight games in a row, Brees broke the single-season passing record and the offense scored at least 40 points in half of those games.

But are the Saints really flying higher than Matthew Stafford and the Lions offense?

After all, in the final five weeks, Stafford led the NFL with 1919 passing yards.

He threw only two interceptions in that time, slightly better than Brees' mark of three.

And Stafford's top receiving target, Calvin Johnson, has once again found the kind of production that took the league by storm in the early part of the season.

Johnson has 560 yards receiving in the last three games and five touchdown catches.

The top Saints receiver in that time?

Marques Colston, with 317 yards and three touchdowns.

Now, the argument can be made that Brees is a more balanced passer, throwing to an assortment of players, never focusing the attack solely on one receiver.

But the Lions signal caller does not revolve the entire passing game around Megatron. 

In fact, Johnson is one of four Detroit players with at least 80 targets and 600 yards receiving, along with Nate Burleson, Titus Young and Brandon Pettigrew.

The Saints have only three players (Marques Colston, Jimmy Graham, and Darren Sproles) who meet both of these criteria.

What this means is that the Detroit passing game is more balanced than it may appear, and is clicking just as much, if not more, than the aerial assault of New Orleans.

The passing game is likely to be a huge factor in this Wild Card showdown and the Lions are good enough to go score for score with the Saints.