The Detroit Lions have made a mark on the National Football League's landscape this season with their play and their unyielding desire to perform to their personal expectations.
It's an attitude and a style of football that has made them accountable to their own lofty standards.
What we've learned from the rally that has put the Lions in playoff contention going into the final regular-season game against the Green Bay Packers is that the Lions expect what they have accomplished this season to be the framework as they continue to grow.
The bottom line: This is not a one-season anomaly. It's a season to build on.
"I think we've established a brand of football," veteran offensive tackle Taylor Decker said after Sunday's 41-10 win over the Chicago Bears.
Among the other things we've learned includes the following: Running back Jamaal Williams is only six yards short of achieving his first 1,000-yard rushing season, and his teammates want him to get it as much as he does; the Packers are good at home because they've been good everywhere.
We start with 'the standard of football' that Decker spoke of:
It has been a tale of two seasons for the Lions – the 1-6 record at the start, and 7-2 in the last nine games that has brought them to 8-8 overall going into Sunday's game at Green Bay.
The Lions have shown an ability to adapt. Sunday's game was an example of that. The offense ran for 255 yards, and the defense harassed Bears quarterback Justin Fields into seven sacks.
The Lions controlled the game on both sides of the ball.
"We want to go out there and perform at that standard every single week," Decker said. "It's a question of are we going to do that every single week? We have to do that every single week."
With few exceptions, the Lions recently have played like a team with a 7-2 record. They wanted to get the running game going, and they did just that.
"Recently, offensively we hadn't run the ball as well as we like to," Decker said. "There was a big emphasis on that coming into this week."
They did just that.
Race to 1,000: Williams has been a good, solid performer in his two seasons with the Lions, and he's been a strong leader on and off the field.
Because of those qualities, teammates want him to hit the 1,000-yard rushing mark.
Offensive linemen take pride in blocking for a running back who gains 1,000 yards, but it goes beyond that with Williams.
"He's one of the best teammates I've ever had in my life," Decker said. "He's an incredible person."
Lambeau legend: It really is a special place, but the idea that it possesses some mystic force over visiting teams is pure myth. The Packers dominate at home when they have good teams – which has often been the case – and they struggle when they don't.
The Packers are 8-8 overall with a 5-3 record at Lambeau going into Sunday's game with the Lions. In the previous four seasons, when they won 13 games three times and 12 once, they were 8-0 at home once and 7-1 three times.
And in 2017 they went 7-9 overall and 4-4 at home.
Lions vs. Packers: There is no reason for the Lions to fear the Packers, based on head-to-head competition.
