ALLEN PARK >> While the Lions have won six of their last seven games, they have not played their best football yet.
With Detroit atop the NFC North, Sunday’s game at the New Orleans Saints and the next four could mean the difference between playing in the postseason and sitting home wondering just what happened.
MARVIN JONES, DEANDRE LEVY, TAHIR WHITEHEAD INACTIVE VS. SAINTS
Five things to watch when the Lions (7-4) play at the Saints (5-6):
1. Drew Brees can’t be totally shut down but the Saints quarterback must be contained. Lions defensive coordinator Teryl Austin admits it’s a tough task. “Obviously (Brees) understands. He’s been in the offense for however many years. He knows adjustments. There’s nothing you really can throw at him that’ll fool him. You might get him a little bit, but you probably won’t get him too often,” Austin said. “So what we’ve got to do is rely on playing sound defense, making sure we keep the ball in front, tackle, do those things and understand he’s going to complete some balls. What we can’t have is a ball completed and then all of a sudden a ball either goes over our head or it splits us and we give up a big gain. I think if we can keep the ball in front, make them go the long way, I think that helps us.”
2. Matthew Stafford must keep the offense rolling, convert third downs and milk the clock to keep the ball out of Brees’ hands. The run game must get close to 100 yards in production. In the win at the Superdome last year, the Lions have 150 yards on the ground. This will be a big task for the run game which has been inconsistent.
3. Stafford and the offense probably will need to score more than the 22.5 points per game that they average. “We go in every week trying to maximize our output offensively, but you always kind of want to be aware of what’s going on all over the field, don’t want to be blind to that, but we’re going to face really important battles in this league and right now we’re focused on their defense,” offensive coordinator Jim Bob Cooter said. “That’s going to give us some headaches all over the place and really give us something to worry about on their own.”
4. The defense must stop the run and make the Saints one-dimensional. It’s not just Brees, they also have to contain big running back Mark Ingram. “That’s why guys have big backs like that. Late in the season he wears you down. I tell you what, he’s running really well. Running hard, taking care of the football, sees the hole and gets down. It’s tough,” Austin said. “We’re going to have our work cut out because they have two big backs. (I) was with Tim Hightower at Arizona (Cardinals) and I know he’s a tough runner. They’re both positive yardage guys. You very rarely see negative yards on their resume. So I think we’ve got to do a great job of making sure. We know they might not get negative yards, but let’s not let him get a whole lot of positive yards and we’ve got to do a great job of fitting up the runs because they do a really good job of blocking.”
5. Getting off to a good start could be crucial. When the Lions beat the Saints at the Superdome in 2015, they jumped out to a 21-3 half-time lead and won 35-27. While the Lions have excelled at fourth-quarter comebacks at some point the magic could run out.
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