Lions vs. Saints: Why Detroit Is NFC's Top Dark Horse Candidate

The Detroit Lions and New Orleans Saints square off tonight at the Mercedes-Benz Superdome in a wild card round rematch of a Week 13 game that the Saints won 31-17.

The game should feature plenty offense given that two of the National Football League's hottest signal-callers will face off in Matthew Stafford of the Lions and Drew Brees of the Saints.

The Lions have been installed as 10.5-point underdogs by oddsmakers in Las Vegas, but there are a couple of reasons to believe that not only do the Lions have a puncher's chance of knocking off the Saints, but that they are also likely the team in the NFC with the best shot of knocking off both the Saints and Green Bay Packers en route to a Cinderella Super Bowl run a la Green Bay's last season.

The first, and quite possibly most important reason, that Detroit could advance is that the Lions possess one of the more talented defensive fronts in the National Football League, with defensive ends Cliff Avril and Kyle Vanden Bosch and tackles Ndamukong Suh and Nick Fairley all capable of generating pressure on the opposing quarterback, an absolute necessity lest you be absolutely shredded by Brees or Green Bay quarterback Aaron Rodgers.

Second, Matthew Stafford is playing as well as any quarterback in the NFL right now after topping 5,000 passing yards and 40 touchdowns this season. With offensive weapons such as wide receiver Calvin Johnson and Brandon Pettigrew at his disposal, Stafford is capable of at least keeping the Lions in a shootout-type game, or posting a score that a defensively oriented team such as the San Francisco 49ers would be hard pressed to match.

I believe that the Detroit front four's play will go a long way toward determining how far the Lions advance into the playoffs. This isn't to say that I'm supremely confident that the Lions will emerge from tonight's tilt victorious, but the Detroit Lions have far too much talent on both sides of the ball to be discounted, and it's very possible that the long-suffering fans of the silver and blue may be in for more than a one-and-done playoff run.