Upcoming Schedule Provides Lions a Chance to Prove 2014 Team Is Different

The Detroit Lions are 6-2 coming out of the bye week, alone in first place in the NFC North and in possession of the No. 2 seed in the ultra-competitive NFC. 

At the midway point of the 2014 season, the Lions prowl the summit of the standings as bona fide contenders. But Detroit has been in this position of high ground before—the Lions were 6-3 and leading the division after 10 weeks just last season—and still crumbled down the stretch. 

We should know soon enough if this team is just a dressed-up version of 2013 or if a new page has been turned under head coach Jim Caldwell. 

"We've got a tough stretch ahead of us," Caldwell told reporters Monday. "Very difficult stretch. We're going to have our work cut out for us." 

The next month—which features the team's most difficult three-game stretch of the season and a division game on a short week—will provide a chance for the Lions to prove that the 2014 club is different than the Detroit teams of yesteryear. 

How the Lions fare at home against the 5-3 Miami Dolphins, on the road at the 7-1 Arizona Cardinals and 7-2 New England Patriots and back home again for the Thanksgiving Day matchup with the Chicago Bears may end up determining the course of Detroit's season.

Date	Opponent	Record
Nov. 9	vs. Miami Dolphins	5-3
Nov. 16	at Arizona Cardinals	7-1
Nov. 23	at New England Patriots	7-2
Nov. 27*	vs. Chicago Bears	3-5

Any record at or better than 2-2 over the next month could solidify confidence and galvanize the roster. The Lions would be at least 8-4 and in good shape for a playoff berth. However, there's understandable fear that winning one or fewer games in November could be the start of another late-season disintegration, although home games against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers and Minnesota Vikings do follow the gauntlet stretch. 

The Lions shouldn't approach the next four games as a test of survival. It's much more of a proving ground, providing a chance to erase past failures and write a new script for a new team.

These Lions certainly have a different feel. Caldwell hasn't made all the right moves week to week, but his unwavering ability to remain calm in any and all scenarios has trickled down to a roster that needed a calming influence.

Heading into the bye, Detroit won back-to-back games by erasing late deficits. The Lions stormed back from 13 down to stun the New Orleans Saints, and the Atlanta Falcons coughed up a 21-point half time lead across the pond in London. Do the Lions win those games under former head coach Jim Schwartz?

Historically an offense-first team since Matthew Stafford was selected as the franchise's No. 1 overall pick in 2009, the Lions are leading the league in fewest points (15.8) and yards allowed (290.4) per game. Detroit is on pace to allow just 252 points, which would be 124 less than last year's club. First-year defensive coordinator Teryl Austin has turned a group of many individual talents into arguably the best overall defense in the NFL over the first half of the season. 

USA TODAY Sports

Most importantly, the Lions have kept winning games despite a horde of injuries. 

Receiver Calvin Johnson has been visibly limited or ruled out in five of the team's first eight games. Running backs Reggie Bush and Joique Bell, tight ends Joseph Fauria, Eric Ebron and Brandon Pettigrew and tackle LaAdrian Waddle have all missed time. Middle linebacker Stephen Tulloch is out for the season. Take away that amount of firepower in recent years and the Lions likely would have folded. In 2014, Detroit has won three straight games and five of the last six. 

Eliminate one nightmare kicking situation against the Buffalo Bills in Week 5 and the Lions would likely be 7-1 and the talk of the NFL. 

"Halfway point means nothing," Caldwell said. "They don't give out any halfway trophies."

Everything we think we know about this team will be tested and retested over the next month. 

	Win Streak	Week 10 Result	2014 Differential
Dolphins	3	Win, 37-0 over SD	+60
Cardinals	4	Win, 28-17 over DAL	+36
Patriots	5	Win, 43-21 over DEN	+83

The next three teams on the schedule—the Dolphins, Cardinals and Patriots—have combined to win their last 12 games. Just how dominant have the three been lately? Here's a closer look:

• Miami has won three straight games, by an average margin of 21.3 points. 
• Arizona has won four straight, by an average of 8.5 points.
• New England has won five straight, by an average margin of 18.6 points. 
• Overall, the three have won 12 straight by 191 total points, or almost 16 points per game. 

The Dolphins beat New England in Week 1, and if not for Aaron Rodgers' late heroics in Week 6, Miami would be unbeaten since the bye week and 6-2 overall. The Dolphins rank ninth in scoring offense and third in scoring defense, with a plus-60 scoring differential that is fourth best in the NFL. 

This past Sunday, Miami took down the San Diego Chargers by a 37-0 scoreline. 

"I'm sure most of our guys saw Miami play (this past weekend), and that'll get your attention quickly," Caldwell said. "Because they are really, really good."

The Cardinals might be the biggest surprise of the 2014 season. While a 10-game winner last season, Arizona has raced out to an out-of-nowhere 7-1 start, the club's best eight-game start since moving to Phoenix/Arizona. No team in football currently has a better mark entering Week 10. 

Arizona's only loss came in Denver. Among the Cardinals' seven wins are home victories against the Chargers, San Francisco 49ers and Philadelphia Eagles, and away triumphs over the New York Giants and Dallas Cowboys. At home, Arizona is 4-0 at home. 

The Cardinals are fifth in scoring defense and eighth in scoring differential. 

The Patriots are arguably the hottest team in football. Once written off after a 27-point loss to the Kansas City Chiefs in Week 4, New England has responded with a murderous vengeance that only Tom Brady and Bill Belichick could provide. In just the last five games, the Patriots have beaten the Cincinnati Bengals by 26, the Bills by 15, the Bears by 28 and the Denver Broncos by 22. 

New England is now second in scoring offense and first in scoring differential at plus-83. The Patriots are 5-0 at home, averaging 36.0 points per game. 

The demise of Brady and the Patriots was very much exaggerated. 

And what about the quarterbacks? 

	Cmp/Att	Yards	TD/INT	Passer Rating
R. Tannehill	24/34	288	3/0	125.6
C. Palmer	22/34	249	3/1	103.7
T. Brady	33/53	333	4/1	97.4

Miami's Ryan Tannehill has completed almost 69 percent of his passes with six touchdowns and one interception over the last three games. His passer rating over that stretch is 109.1. 

The Cardinals haven't lost in a game Carson Palmer has started this season (5-0). He's thrown 11 touchdowns against just two interceptions, and he doesn't yet have a game with a passer rating under 90.0. He's been a model of consistency in 2014. 

There aren't enough superlatives in the English language to describe the way Brady is playing since the loss in Kansas City. But here are the numbers for those five games: 1,601 yards, 18 touchdowns, one interception, 120.5 passer rating. He tossed four touchdowns and an interception against the Broncos Sunday and finished with his lowest passer rating (97.4) of the five-game stretch. 

The Lions are currently fifth in passing yards (216.4/game) and first in passing touchdowns (nine) allowed, and third in opposing passer rating (79.5). All three rankings will be greatly challenged over the next three games. 

A division game on a short week also can't be discounted. The Bears are 3-5 and nothing short of a mess coming out of the bye, but many believed Chicago could win 10 or more games and get into the postseason in 2014. By Nov. 27, the Bears will likely be fighting tooth and claw to remain in the playoff picture. 

Meanwhile, Detroit is 1-7 on Thanksgiving since 2006. 

The last thing the Lions want to do is start a slide that feels anything like that of last season. 

Detroit had every reason to feel good about itself around this time in 2013: A 6-3 record led the NFC North, Rodgers was nursing a broken collarbone, Jay Cutler was dealing with groin and ankle injuries and the Vikings were a sinking ship. The division was being gift-wrapped and delivered to Detroit. 

But then there was a loss in Pittsburgh, in which the Steelers scored the game's last 17 points to win by 10. A week later, the Lions threw away a home game against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, a team that would end up winning just four games in 2013.

The 40-10 Thanksgiving Day win over the Matt Flynn-led Packers only briefly stopped the bleeding. Detroit lost the final four games—including one at the horn and another in overtime—to finish 7-9. By Week 17, the Lions were not even a factor in the division race.

Blazing a new path will require winning more in the second half of the season. Since 2012, the Lions are 2-14 over the final eight games of the season. 

Then again, Detroit could look back to 2011—when it started 6-2 but lost three of four after the bye—and find hope that the the upcoming four-game gauntlet won't destroy the season. That year, the Lions lost difficult games to the Bears, Packers and Saints over a month's time but still rebounded to finish 10-6 and make the postseason. 

Leaders in the locker room ensure 2014 is a new year. 

"We're 6-2, but there's a lot of improvement that can happen, that's going to happen," Lions center Dominic Raiola told reporters. "Getting these guys that have been injured back, that's very encouraging. We'll get the best player in the world back (Calvin Johnson)." 

The Lions will need every available asset to handle the competition awaiting them in November. 

Many outsiders remain lying in wait, ready to scream "Look, it's the same ol' Lions!" from the rooftops. Optimism in Detroit is guarded, cautious optimism. And both realities are understandable given the recent past of the franchise. 

The 2014 Lions are a new team, led by different men and winning in different ways. The best time to re-write the script is always the present, and the next four games provides Detroit just the blank sheet everyone will be waiting to see. 
 

Zach Kruse covers the NFC North for Bleacher Report. 

Follow @zachkruse2