5 Things the Lions Must Do to Win the Division

Usually the NFL is a major mystery until Thanksgiving, but we know what’s going on in the NFC North already. Green Bay and Detroit are undefeated, Chicago is .500, and Minnesota is hopeless. Just look at each team’s quarterback situation and that is a great indicator on how that team is doing. The main question is: who will win the division between the Packers and Lions?

The Lions will if they do the following:

Keep Stafford Healthy

This is Matthew Stafford’s third year in the NFL and in his first two years combined he played a total of 13 games (10 in 2009, 3 in 2010). This year he’s already played in five and been one of the most dominant quarterbacks in the league (Passer rating of 101.4, 6th in NFL). We've seen flashes of greatness when Stafford’s been healthy and if he stays healthy the Lions will succeed.

Keep Feeding Johnson

Calvin Johnson has 451 receiving yards this year which is fifth in the league…that’s nice. He has nine touchdowns, four more than second placers Wes Welker and Rob Gronkowski. Johnson is a total beast, at 6'5" he should be, plus he’s finally being thrown to by Matt Stafford. If both Johnson and Stafford can stay healthy and they can keep their magic going the Lions will go far.

Best Get Best Going

As a team the Lions are 24th in the league in rushing yards per game; that needs to be better and it all starts with getting Jahvid Best going. He only averages 70.6 yards per game, which is respectable but mid-80s would be much more comfortable. Calvin Johnson has nine touchdowns, which probably takes away from Best’s touches, but that’s no excuse to have only two touchdowns (Adrian Peterson had three in the first quarter last week).

Get to Thansgiving with One Loss or Less

There are five games between now and the Thanksgiving matinee against the Packers, and the Lions can only afford to lose one game within those five. Each game the Lions will be favored but games against Atlanta and Chicago may be tests. The objective is to keep pace with Green Bay whom also have five games before Thanksgiving which they’ll all be favored in (including two games against Minnesota).

Keep pace with Green Bay until Thanksgiving.

Beat Green Bay

This is the toughest one, Green Bay is good…Super Bowl good. In order to win the division, the Lions must beat Green Bay at least once this year either on Thanksgiving or New Year’s Day. I don’t see many losses for either of these teams; they may just beat up on each other so it’s crucial to beat the Pack at least once. For best effect have Ndamukong Suh hit Aaron Rodgers multiple times.