Matthew Stafford, Lions Heating Back Up at the Right Time

Around this time a season ago, the Detroit Lions had five turnovers—including four interceptions from quarterback Matthew Stafford—and lost a home game against a bad Tampa Bay Buccaneers team. Detroit would lose four of its next five games and miss the postseason. 

Fast-forward a year, and the result of another home game against the Buccaneers has the Lions trending in the other direction. 

Stafford threw three touchdowns and the Detroit defense forced three turnovers as the Lions rolled Tampa Bay by a 34-17 final Sunday at Ford Field. The win improves Detroit's record to 9-4 and plants the club back into the top six in the NFC after 14 weeks. 

The last month has been an interesting ride for the Lions. Back-to-back road losses to the New England Patriots and Arizona Cardinals—teams sitting in the top seed in their respective conferences—have been followed by home wins over the Chicago Bears and Buccaneers—two last-place clubs. Detroit was at times uncompetitive in the two road losses and mostly dominant during the two home wins. 

The Lions should apologize for nothing. Wins are wins, especially after what transpired a season ago. 

Maybe the 2013 club would have folded after falling behind 14-3 to Chicago on Thanksgiving Day or suffered a letdown Sunday against a Buccaneers team still fighting to stay alive in the dreadful NFC South. Instead, the Lions took care of business in both games. With every week that passes, it looks more and more likely that Detroit will be playing postseason football next month.

Outside of simply delivering two wins, getting Stafford back on track the last two weeks has been the biggest development. 

Before Thanksgiving, the Lions' streaky quarterback had gone seven straight games without a passer rating over 90.0. He threw eight touchdowns against seven interceptions over the stretch, and the Lions scored 17 or fewer points four times. It was reasonable to wonder if the Detroit offense would torpedo an otherwise promising season. 

Stafford has responded in a big way. 

	Cmp/Att	Yards	TD/INT	Rating
Previous 7 Games	149/267 (55.8%)	1767	8/7	75.2
Last 2 Games	60/79 (75.9%)	701	5/0	123.4

Against the Bears, Stafford completed 75.6 percent of his passes, threw for 390 yards and had two touchdowns and zero interceptions. His passer rating was 116.0. 

He was as good or better Sunday against Tampa Bay. Stafford averaged 9.2 yards per attempt, completed over 75 percent of his passes and tossed three scores without a turnover. His passer rating of 133.0 was a season high. 

Over the last two weeks, Stafford has completed 60 of 79 passes (75.9 percent) for 701 yards (8.9 yards per attempt), five touchdowns and no interceptions for a passer rating of 123.4. More importantly, the Lions scored 34 points in each game. 

Lions Head Coach Jim Caldwell said after the game, per Lions Insider Tim Twentyman:

"

I think the league leader is somewhere around 70 percent (completion percentage), I believe. But I do think there’s no question about it, he did a nice job of taking what they gave him, spread it around, got it to a number of different receivers. He played a very good game and he’s hitting his stride, I think. Hopefully, we can keep him heading in that direction.

"

As Twentyman pointed out, the Georgia product hasn't been this hot for years:

The numbers obviously come with a caveat. The Bears are a train-wreck defense, especially against the pass. Chicago has allowed the most passing touchdowns and third-most passing yards. The Buccaneers are only marginally better. The fact that the Lions offense played well at home against a pair of poor opposing defenses should have been the expectation. 

Then again, the Lions have no need to apologize after two performances that could provide the needed boost of confidence for the stretch run. 

Stafford has rarely played this well in back-to-back weeks. In fact, the last two games represent the first time Stafford has had a passer rating over 115.0 in consecutive games. A week after getting anything he pleased in beating up the Bears, Stafford was accurate, decisive, mobile and confident against the Buccaneers on Sunday.  

When the quarterback position is producing, the Lions are a difficult team to beat. Overall, Detroit is 4-0 this season when Stafford has a rating over 100.0. 

The Lions have also gotten receiver Calvin Johnson back on track.

Gregory Shamus/Getty Images

After catching only nine passes for 117 and no touchdowns against the Patriots and Cardinals, Johnson has hauled in 19 for 304 yards and three scores the past two weeks. He's finally healthy—or as close to healthy as any player can expect to be at this time of the season.

And the numbers are far from hollow. Johnson's two touchdowns helped spark the comeback against the Bears, and his first-quarter score Sunday gave the Lions a 7-0 lead. The Lions are a different offense when he's close to 100 percent and producing. 

It's also possible Joique Bell's 57-yard rumble—Detroit's longest of the season—will help spark a struggling run game. The Lions still only rushed for 113 yards and averaged 3.6 yards per carry, but Detroit stuck with it, calling 28 run plays and chewing up almost 37 minutes of the clock. Bell's long run came late in the game with the Tampa Bay defense gassed. The whole operation has work to do, but Sunday represented some semblance of progress. 

Now, the Lions have to continue taking steps forward over the next two weeks. 

	Team	Record
Week 15	vs. Minnesota Vikings	6-7
Week 16	at Chicago Bears	5-8
Week 17	at Green Bay Packers	9-3

Detroit will welcome the 6-7 Minnesota Vikings to Ford Field next Sunday before going on the road to take on last-place Chicago. The Lions will be favored in both games. Two wins would get Detroit to 11-4 while also likely setting up a winner-take-all finale at Lambeau Field in Week 17. The Lions can win three games and ensure a division title—and potentially a first-round bye in the postseason. 

The scenario was similar last year, but this is obviously a different club playing in Detroit in 2014. 

Good teams beat bad teams at home. The Lions would be unable to call themselves a legitimate contender had they lost to either Chicago or Tampa Bay in back-to-back weeks. A year ago, Detroit folded after losing games it should have won, including a bad loss to Tampa Bay. 

This season, Stafford and the Lions are heating back up by winning those games. 

Zach Kruse covers the NFC North for Bleacher Report. 

Follow @zachkruse2