Author: Paula Pasche

It’s early so no need to get too excited but with the 24-10 win at the N.Y. Giants on Monday night, the Lions are 2-0 for the first time to start a season since 2011. Also, at 2-0 they are atop the NFC North with the Packers and Vikings at 1-1 and the Bears at 0-2.

It was a big team win in the national spotlight on Monday night.

(Photo courtesy of Detroit Lions)

It was also a little unusual for this bunch because they held the lead wire to wire. No need for a fourth-quarter comeback

Here are five reasons the Lions won:

1. Matthew Stafford was more than solid and less than spectacular. Not only was he 15-21 for 122 yards and two touchdowns, he scrambled on key downs, gathering 23 rushing yards on three carries. ESPN’s Jon Gruden couldn’t say enough about him and rightfully so. Marvin Jones Jr., (27 yards) and Eric Ebron (seven yards) made great touchdown catches. Ebron had five total catches. Usually Stafford has more than 122 passing yards but the win is more important than his stats. He led the offense to convert 7 of 14 third downs.

2. Ziggy Ansah looks like he returned to his 2015 form, finishing with three sacks of Eli Manning. It was not a one-man show on the defensive line. They pressured Manning early and often. Haloti Ngata and rookie linebacker Jarrad Davis also had sacks.

3. Even though it wasn’t always pretty or effective, offensive coordinator Jim Bob Cooter stayed with the run. Ameer Abdullah ran 17 times for 86 yards while Theo Riddick picked up 20 rushing yards on nine carries.

4. The Lions secondary came up big for the second straight game. Nickel Quandre Diggs made a big stop on fourth down and Caldwell wisely challenged the spot and won. Cornerback Darius Slay and safety Miles Killebrew combined on coverage to prevent a possible touchdown pass to Brandon Marshall.

5. Rookie Jamal Agnew, a fifth-round pick, returned a punt 88 yards for a touchdown to give the Lions a 24-10 cushion early in the fourth quarter. Agnew made a few good moves and then let his speed carry him into the end zone. He is the first Lions rookie since Eddie Drummond in 2002 to return a punt for a touchdown.

BONUS: Taylor Decker can’t heal soon enough. Greg Robinson struggled at left tackle. Also, too many holding penalties on the offensive line.

ALLEN PARK >> The Lions have not started a season with two straight wins since 2011 when they opened with a 5-0 record.

With an opening win over the Cardinals, the Lions’ next big challenge will be the New York Giants (0-1) tonight at MetLife Stadium.

Matthew Stafford didn’t have his best game when the two teams met in December but he also had a finger injury on his throwing hand.

There are not your 2016 Lions. Same goes with the Giants who lost their opener at Dallas.

While the LIons are not the youngest team in the NFL — that distinction goes to the Cleveland Browns — they do have young players at key positions.

Here are five to watch:

1. Nickel Quandre Diggs had a good game going up against veteran wide receiver Larry Fitzgerald. It was no surprise with his camp and preseason play. “I thought Quandre had a good game. I think when you look back two years ago when he was a rookie, he played really well the second half of the year, and we kind of expected that last year and he tailed off a little bit. I think this was just more of him getting back to form and playing the way he’s capable of playing,’’ defensive coordinator Teryl Austin said. “So, it was good to see.”

2. Safety Miles Killebrew’s interception and return for a touchdown may help comprise the best game of his career. He was brought along slowly last year as a rookie. The more opportunities he was given, the more he took advantage of them. It paid off. “We can do a lot more things with Miles because he understands our system a lot better. Last year was kind of, ‘Boom, where am I going, what am I doing? I’ll get there and make some plays because I have some talent.’ This year he kind of understands really our defense and what he has to do within the defense,’’ Austin said. “Not perfect, again like all of us, still trying to get better, still got a ways to go, but you can see that he’s much better equipped this year to make more plays and to play more plays. So, I’m happy where he is but he’s still got a long way to go.”

—3. Running back Ameer Abdullah needs to find a way to gather more rushing yards. The run game needs work as coach Jim Caldwell put it. Abdullah had 15 carries for 30 yards against the Cardinals and two catches for 11 yards. It’s a work in progress but no one is panicking with Abdullah and Theo Riddick healthy to start the season. “That’s run game and pass game, just having those guys back, I’ve said it 100 times is really beneficial for us as an offense. We think those guys are productive in the run game and tough to cover in the pass game. Just adds an element, adds a guy they’ve got to be aware of and maybe make some adjustments for, so we’re glad they’re up and rolling,’’ offensive coordinator Jim Bob Cooter said.

4. Rookie wide receiver Kenny Golladay’s two touchdown catches got his Lions’ career off to an impressive start. He’s good, he’ll get better. While the Lions obviously like what they have in Golladay, a third-round pick, they have been cautious in not over-hyping him and setting expectations too high. “I doubt the guy gets two every week, so if fans are expecting that, that’d be a little bit of a tall order. But he’s doing better, he’s getting better,’’ Cooter said. “He’s got a good head on his shoulders, he’s going about things the right way working real hard, so we’re excited to have him, excited to continue watching him get better and seeing where that leads us.”

5. Defensive end Anthony Zettel, in his first career start, had the Lions only sack and played well throughout. “Zet had a good game. Plays hard, just like he always does. Same things that he’s been doing in the preseason,’’ Austin said. “He carried it over into the regular season which is good to see. He’s been really improved from last year. The big thing is let’s see if we can improve this week and that’s really our goal.”

ALLEN PARK — Most NFL rookies slowly work into their roles as starters.

Jarrad Davis, the Lions first-round pick, is not one of those rookies.

From the get-go, the starting middle linebacker has been a serious student of the game, a hard worker and has somehow in his short time with his teammates earned their respect.

“He’s not bashful about setting the defense, making calls, typically you have to prop them up to get it done. With him it comes naturally,’’ coach Jim Caldwell said. “It’s a nature versus nurture thing with him. This guy was born with it and he’s done a nice job so far.’’

Davis’ next challenge is at New York Giants on Monday Night Football. All eyes will be on the young linebacker.

Defensive coordinator Teryl Austin called Davis’ play in the win over the Cardinals “outstanding for a young guy.”

“He really flew around. Physical. Really he makes a difference in our defense in terms of our temperament and how we go, and that’s something that your middle linebacker should do because he’s really at the end of the day he’s the quarterback of your defense,’’ Austin said.

“He stands in front of our guys. He calls the defenses. No hesitation. He’s right up front. He’s right there, and our guys know he’s with them. And I thought he was productive,’’ Austin added. “Like all of us, there were things that we could do better last week, and that’s what our goal is this week. We want to be better than we were last week.”

Communication was not an issue for Davis which is a good thing since it is his job and if he doesn’t do it well the defense will flounder.

“He was fine. He was fine and he’s been working on that since Day One. I think that’s one of the reasons from Day One, we put him in front of the huddle. We knew this day would come, and so we wanted to make sure he was prepared and he was ready for it,’’ Austin said.

This is not an easy role for a rookie or any young player regardless of draft status.

Davis talked about leadership and how he works at it on the night in April that he was drafted by Detroit.

One of the reasons he was so desirable to the Lions is his maturity and work ethic. That has not changed since his arrival in Detroit.

“He’s really first one in, last-one-out type of guy and so, I think our veterans respect that type of work ethic, and they gravitate to a guy like that,’’ Austin said.