"Kicker Jason Hanson had to wait a little more than half of his career for the Lions to return to the playoffs. But his patience was rewarded with a dramatic season he thinks is the start of something big.

"I kind of started saying during the season, 'We're good, and we're going to find out how good.' We're pretty good, but it's not good enough, and I think everybody feels that way.

"So it was a good start after all we've been through, and you feel like there's a foundation there that we're going to be a team in the coming years that's going to stay like this. But, as we said this year, you have to prove it and so, here we go. Take a deep breath and another off-season of trying to get better.""