"They were one of the surprise teams of the NFL this season, but the Lions didn't exceed everyone's expectations.

In August, a week or so into training camp, general manager Martin Mayhew said the team was at the point in its rebuilding process "where we expect to challenge for our division."

"That's what most good teams expect to do," Mayhew said.

You can quibble over whether the Lions were ever really in the NFC North race. The Packers were the best team in the NFL all regular season. They won 15 games, beat the Lions twice and looked most of the season like they would go undefeated.

But, for the first time in more than a decade, the Lions were a good team.

They won 10 games, one of nine teams to accomplish that this season. They made their first playoff appearance since 1999. And they developed maybe the game's most lethal passing combination in Matthew Stafford to Calvin Johnson."