"The magical word "playoffs" and everything it promises and entails should be the Lions' call to battle as they restart the season after a week off with a bye.

They are playoff-worthy challengers with a 6-2 record, but it would be a mistake to believe that the job is half done in going to the postseason for the first time since 1999.

There is no such thing as the job being half done. It's either done or it isn't. There is nothing halfway about it.

Making the playoffs requires hard work, with no resting points in the 16-game season. It has nothing to do with the Lions' history and comments, good and bad, by outsiders.

The Lions' playoff march starts with Sunday's game against the Bears in Chicago. It starts again the next week at home against the Panthers and again on Thanksgiving Day against Green Bay."