Author: Paula Pasche

ALLEN PARK —  Jim Caldwell owns a 3-0 record on Thanksgiving as head coach of the Lions.

For the second straight year Detroit will face division rival Minnesota at Ford Field, the 78th Lions game on Thanksgiving.

With the Vikings (8-2) atop the NFC North, it’s a bigger division game than usual with the Lions at 6-4.

With such a short week, the emphasis is on mental preparation.

“That would be accurate, I think without question, but I’m a believer in the mental is the physical 10-to-1 any day. This great majority of this game is won and lost with those six inches between your ears,’’ Caldwell said on Wednesday. “So, it’s the focus, concentration, what you believe is what counts. But also in this kind of a game where it comes around so quickly, that that’s a huge part of it, the mental part of it because you don’t get full speed reps as many as you’d like to get on.’’

Detroit won the first matchup, 14-7, on Oct. 1 at Minnesota with the defense forcing three fumbles and keeping the Vikings offense off the field. The Lions won the time of possession battle 36:27 to 23:33.

Here are five things to watch:

1. It bears repeating week after week after week, that the Lions need their run game to flourish. Ameer Abdullah had his best run game this season (94 rushing yards, one touchdown) at the Vikings. He needs that same kind of game or better and it will be tough. The Vikings’ defense is ranked second in the NFL against the run, giving up just 77.7 yards per game.

2. Also, the Lions defense must improve at stopping the run. Over the last two games (both somehow wins) they’ve given up 423 rushing yards. Running backs Latavius Murray (412 rushing yards, 3.7 yards per carry) and Jerick McKinnon (367, 3.9) carry the load for the Vikings. They miss defensive tackle Haloti Ngata but must find a way to compensate for his loss. He’s not coming back this season. Others must step up.

3. Matthew Stafford needs to continue to stay hot. In the past four games he’s passed for 1,332 yards with seven touchdowns and one interception. The offense could also help itself by getting off to a faster start. In the past two games, the Lions have been down 10-0 in the first quarter. Playing from behind is tougher and, as we’ve seen before, on a rare occasion there’s just no comeback in the comeback kid, AKA Stafford. Also, in the first game on Oct. 1, Stafford was sacked six times. He needs better protection like he’s had the past few games.

4. The defensive pass rush, which has been lacking (I’m being nice) needs to get to Case Keenum. This will be his ninth start and he’s performed well. Against the Bears last week they sacked rookie quarterback Mitchell Trubisky just once.

5. Expect an electric atmosphere at Ford Field, it’s always like that on Thanksgiving in front of a national TV audience. The Lions, inexplicably are 2-3 at Ford Field and 4-1 on the road. No one can complain about the road results, but winning at home should be easier. Both teams are coming off a short week, but Detroit has a bit of an advantage because they didn’t have to travel on Wednesday.

PREDICTION: Lions 24, Vikings 17

(That is Caldwell with a big smile after two beat writers called him out on his abacus remark from Monday. They brought one in on Wednesday to use while asking him a question.)

ALLEN PARK — If you’ve been paying attention, it should come as no surprise that Lions quarterback Matthew Stafford has the least run support of any of the top five NFL quarterbacks.

“I still believe that the running game is a quarterback’s best friend. I coached those guys enough to know, but I do think that there are sometimes when you look at the makeup of your team you know that your quarterback can carry you too, which he’s been able to do,’’ coach Jim Caldwell said on Tuesday. “Some quarterbacks you can’t depend on to carry you in times like that, so he’s shown that he can do so anyway was you present it to him, he can find a way to get it done and that’s helpful. But still, I still, I’m not backing down from the point that we still need to be able to run the ball where we’re respectable.”

Respectable does not  quite describe the Lions run game that average 3.4 yards per carry.

The run game needs to step up on Thanksgiving against the Minnesota Vikings (8-2) in a huge NFC North battle.

The Lions (6-4) won the first matchup at the Vikings on Oct. 1, 14-7. In that game Ameer Abdullah ran for a season-high 94 yards including a 3-yard touchdown scamper.

“I think our guys did a great job up front. Got downhill on those guys, and Ameer made some great runs if you remember. I mean, that touchdown run, he got hit in the back field and did a great job. There were a couple others where he had some big ones,’’ Stafford said. “… He bounced out on the left edge and got loose. So, those big runs help a lot too. So, you see those numbers, you can attain those kind of any way you want. They all count.”

Stafford ranks fifth in the NFL in passing yards with 2,760. The LIons run game ranks 28th with just 808 total rushing yards (3.4 yards per carry).

In comparison, here’s how it goes for the top four quarterbacks: Tom Brady has 3,146 passing yards while the Patriots’ run game has 1,060 yards (3.9 yards per carry); Russell Wilson has 2,801 passing yards with 1,042 rushing yards (4.0) from offense; Kirk Cousins is at 2,796 passing yards with 1,026 (3.9) rushing yards from offense; and Drew Brees with 2,783 passing yards and 1,440 (4.8)  from New Orleans’ run game.

Glaring statistics. It’s not like the Lions’ run game has not been a concern. It has been an issue all season and going back a few years.

The coaching staff was counting on good numbers with Abdullah and Theo Riddick both healthy but it hasn’t worked out that way.

Stafford said opposing defenses don’t do anything special to stuff the run game.

“I think, you see around the league, a lot of people run a lot of the same plays — both passing the ball and running the ball. Just certain weeks, teams have more success for one reason or another at passing or running,’’ Stafford said. “It’s the game of football. It’s an imperfect game. Everybody’s out there fighting tooth and nail for an inch, and sometimes it happens a little bit better for you than others.”

Stafford said he doesn’t think about the success the Lions could have with a consistent run game.

“I just go out there and play. Everybody on our team is trying to do the best job they can, myself included, and we’ll go from there,’’ Stafford said.

Let’s just call it a giant divide: The way coach Jim Caldwell and the Lions look at their upcoming schedule vs. how nearly everyone else sees the finals six weeks of the season.

Caldwell is all about one game at a time and has indoctrinated the players. They do not look ahead.

The coach wants total focus on beating the Minnesota Vikings on Thursday and nothing beyond that, except maybe how much pumpkin pie to consume at Thanksgiving dinner.

It doesn’t matter that the Vikings (8-2) lead the NFC North and that it’s a huge game for the second-place Lions (6-4). Detroit won the first meeting on the road, 14-7, on Oct. 1.

“We look at these guys for who they are. They’re a very good team. They’re on a roll. All we’re worried about — we’re not worried about ramifications. We’re not worried about all of the build-up and things of that nature,’’ Caldwell said. “We’re worried about how we play, and that’s what our goal is to get focused in on our preparation, and get ready to play a tough, hard-fought game.”

You might think the coach is lying, but he is not. This is who he is.

He is asked about it regularly and got hit up again at Monday’s press conference following the 27-24 win at the Chicago Bears on Sunday.

“I’m going to answer it the exact same way every single time because that’s part of my DNA, and it’s not going to change,’’  said Caldwell who has led the Lions to the playoffs in two of his three years.

To him, every game is big. There are no easy wins in the NFL.

Others don’t see it that way. They thought the Lions should have steamrolled over the winless Browns and the hapless Bears. Detroit beat them both. No steamroller in sight.

Caldwell always says the next game is the biggest because it’s next.

“They’re all big. They’re all big. Every single one of them is a factor in the grand scheme of things. They’re all big. And the most important one is the next one. That’s how we look at it. Someone else might not choose to do so. Someone else might have a different philosophy. That’s them,’’ Caldwell said emphatically.

“I don’t believe in functioning that way. My experience has been it can work against you more than it works for you when you start looking at the grand scheme of things and acting as if one game is going to make a complete difference in the entire season because you don’t know what’s going to happen the rest of the season,’’ he added.

After Thanksgiving, the Lions face five opponents and none have a winning record: At Baltimore Ravens (5-5), at Tampa Bay Bucs (4-6), Bears (3-7), at Cincinnati Bengals (4-6) and Green Bay Packers (5-5).

Looks fairly easy but …

“You have no idea. None of you know. You think you know. You think we might know how it plays out, but I don’t think anybody in here is omnipotent. At least I haven’t run into the omnipotent one yet,’’ Caldwell said. “So, I’m sure there’s some in here that think they are, but I’m not one of them. So, that’s why we just focus in on that particular ball game.”

Caldwell, who is in his 17th year of coaching in the NFL, has seen what happens when a team looks too far ahead. He doesn’t give examples because there are so many.

“That’s why I believe what I believe. It’s without question. It’s year after year after year of going through it and seeing it manifest itself,’’ Caldwell said.

The season before he arrived in Detroit, it happened to the Lions. They started 2013 with a 6-3 record. Green Bay’s Aaron Rodgers was injured and missed Weeks 10-16.

Lions players, under coach Jim Schwartz, thought they had an easy path to the NFC North title with Rodgers on the sidelines. They talked openly about it.

Then, boom.

The Lions finished the season losing six of the last seven to finish 7-9. The final three losses were by a total of 6 points.

The implosion cost Schwartz his job.

That’s when Caldwell was hired by the Lions.

Caldwell has seen it and the Lions have seen it — looking ahead can kill a season.

Just a handful of players are still around from 2013 — Matthew Stafford, Ziggy Ansah, Darius Slay, Glover Quin, Don Muhlbach and Sam Martin. They know what can happen if focus is lost. In fact, they know all too well.