Detroit Lions Proving to Be Comeback Kids of 2014 NFL Season

In a season in which the Detroit Lions are 7-2 for the first time since Bill Clinton's first year as President, the team has accomplished a rare feat also dating back to Clinton's early days in the White House. According to the Pro Football Hall of Fame, "The Lions became the first team since 1994 (New York Giants) to win three games in a row by scoring the game-winning points inside of the two-minute mark."

It's been a thrill ride worthy of Cedar Point, where multitudes of Michiganders flock for hair-raising, pulse-pounding excitement. These Lions are saving them the trip.

	Biggest deficit	Score at 2:00 of 4Q	Final
Week 7, New Orleans	23-10, 5:24 left	23-17	24-23
Week 8, Atlanta	21-0, 3:45 of 2Q	21-19	22-21
Week 10, Miami	16-13, 4:19 left	16-13	20-16

It might not be easy on the heart, but Detroit's ability to overcome late deficits and eke out exhilarating victories has them perched atop the NFC North and posited for a postseason run.

Growing up in the shadows of Cedar Point, one of the seminal football teams of my childhood was the Kardiac Kids, the 1980 Cleveland Browns. Those Browns went 11-5 by winning nine of 12 regular-season games which came down to the final possession, including five in which Cleveland trailed in the fourth quarter.  

Of course the Kardiac Kids lost a few to heartbreaking comebacks too, none more legendary than the Red Right 88 playoff loss to the Oakland Raiders in frozen conditions. That setback is one of the big reasons why this then-eight-year-old strayed from my strong family bond with the Browns and took up the Lions as my NFL team. 

My little heart just couldn't take it. 

Now that I'm older and 30-some years into life as a Lions backer, my heart has hardened. One playoff victory in the Super Bowl era will do that to anyone. This Detroit team, thankfully, feels a lot more like a team of positive destiny than the born-to-lose, destined-to-fail Lions. 

These Lions are providing fans with weekly stress tests. Fortunately the team keeps passing them with flying colors. 

There are a few key reasons why these Cardiac Cats keep coming back. 

Coaching

The most discernible change in the Lions winning games they perennially lost starts with head coach Jim Caldwell. He's the yin to deposed Jim Schwartz's brash yang. 

Former Lions wideout Nate Burleson saw the stark contrast in talking to his old mates while covering the Miami contest for NFL.com. 

"

I talked to some guys while I was in Detroit (last week). A vet of nine years, said, 'this is the first time I've ever felt like a professional football player,' talking about Jim Caldwell," Burleson said. "Another guy said, 'he is one coach that understands the temperament of this team, which means when we show up on Sunday we're going to give everything we've got because he's taking care of us during the week.

"

The players trust and respect the coach, and that goes a long way in building confidence in what has heretofore been an underachieving, undisciplined team. 

Don't mistake his cucumber-like coolness on the sidelines for a lack of aggressiveness, however. As Mike O'Hara of the Lions' official website notes, the Lions did not hesitate to go for the win instead of trying to merely tie the game up. 

Players love that mentality. It's why former players now serving as broadcasters constantly urge teams to throw caution to the wind and play to win instead of playing not to lose. Caldwell even got a little crazy against Miami in calling two fake punts, but the players appreciate his trust in their abilities. 

Matthew Stafford

Having a calm, cool and collected coach is great, but if the field general can't handle the orders the cavalry will ride over the edge of the cliff. The quarterback must also have those qualities in order to execute successful comebacks. 

Matthew Stafford is proving every week he's the right man for the job. He never panics in crunch time, consistently making good, quick choices with his rocket launcher of a right arm.

A dapper Stafford talked about the mindset and execution in his postgame comments.

From the video:

"

It's one of those unique situations in sports where everybody's kind of, your back's against the wall and it's a total team thing, it's not an individual thing. You got to rely on everybody and everybody stepped up. There's no better feeling than when you come out of that drive successful, as a team, as an offense. So obviously you fight tooth and nail for that feeling.

"

This is an offense that clearly believes in its leader. To his unending credit, Stafford is often at his best when the Lions need him to be great. 

No. 1 overall picks in the draft are expected to elevate their performances in critical situations. Just as Andrew Luck earned mellifluous praise from national pundits for his clutch comebacks a year ago with the Colts, Stafford deserves the same—if not more—flowery treatment. 

In fact, Stafford has gone beyond Luck's late-game heroics.

"

This would be the 31st start Matthew Stafford has won in his career. 13 of them have been 4th-Q comebacks, per @pfref #Lions

— Kevin Seifert (@SeifertESPN) November 9, 2014"

To put it into perspective, Luck has 28 career wins. Per Pro Football Reference, 11 have been fourth-quarter comebacks. That would mean two of his next three wins would have to be comebacks to match Stafford. Considering Luck doesn't have any this year, it's tough to think he'll match that impressive feat. 

Snatching victory from the jaws of defeat is something of a Stafford specialty even as a rookie. Remember his last-minute touchdown pass to beat Cleveland while playing with a dislocated shoulder? Caldwell does...

"

Caldwell said he's seen all of Stafford's 4th-quarter comebacks. Was most impressed by the Browns game bc of the courage to play thru injury

— Kyle Meinke (@kmeinke) October 23, 2014"

It might keep cardiologists on speed dial, but Stafford's knack for pulling rabbits out of seemingly empty hats is no fluke. He's consistently at his best in those situations.  

A Little Luck

Each of the three recent comebacks has featured some unwitting help from the eventual victim or plain old divine intervention. Just as lions in the wild rely on a gazelle missing a step or a water buffalo getting stuck in the mud, these Lions are opportunistic in feasting on enemy misfortunes. 

Against New Orleans, it took a bad read by New Orleans Saints quarterback Drew Brees and a great play by safety Glover Quin to steal the ball back for the game-winning drive:

"

#Saints-#Lions: Did Brees read 2-Man on the INT? FS Glover Quin drops late in 1 "Robber." Great break on the ball. http://t.co/eMe8JkuNXm

— Matt Bowen (@MattBowen41) October 22, 2014"

The Saints also committed an iffy pass-interference penalty to breathe new life into Detroit's death gasp, too. 

In London against the Falcons, Atlanta coach Mike Smith infuriated Falcons faithful with some truly questionable game management. As Eric Edholm of Yahoo quipped, "Smith's coaching errors, almost too many to count, cost them this game."

Against the Miami Dolphins in Week 10, the visitors also helped dig their own graves. Dolphin tight end Charles Clay couldn't hold onto what would have been a touchdown pass (with an assist from Lions safety James Ihedigbo). Miami head coach Joe Philbin had some issues with clock management, too. 

"

Matt Stafford slings one to Theo Riddick for a TD! Might wanna thank Joe Philbin for using those timeouts. #MIAvsDET

— NFL Fantasy Football (@NFLfantasy) November 9, 2014"

The also fell prey to some strange (read: awful) officiating, notably a timeout Philbin insisted they did not call and a questionable spot on a Golden Tate reception. Still, this particular comeback was more about Detroit's strong execution and poised determination down the stretch. 

Good teams have the ability to make their own luck. The Lions are good at clawing around enough to stay within striking distance even when not playing their best. Defensive pressure, which consistently amps up when Detroit needs it, helps foster mistakes from the opposition too. 

As Bleacher Report colleague Zach Kruse sagely noted, these Cardiac Cats will need to play better offensively in an entire game if they want to beat better teams like Arizona or New England. Relying on unlikely comebacks in the playoffs is not easy, though Luck's Colts successfully did just that a year ago. 

It would be great to cruise to a comfortable win, like the 35-14 pasting of the Giants in Week 1. But it's nice knowing that these 2014 Detroit Lions have the potential to rally back from big deficits and deliver wins with late heroics. Heart-racing comeback wins are a lot better than the lifeless defeats that punctuated the second half of last season...or really most of the last 21 years since the Lions were last 7-2.