Lions Lowdown

ALLEN PARK — If you listen to the Lions talk about the Cleveland Browns, you’d swear the Browns were a decent team, one that had actually won a game.

Instead, they are an ugly 0-8 heading into Sunday’s game against the Lions (4-4) at Ford Field.

Coach Jim Caldwell has his players believing in the concept of focusing on one game at a time. And from all indications, they do.

Still, they know the Browns haven’t figured out how to win a game halfway through the season and that’s after going 1-15 in 2016.

Cleveland would be the laughingstock of the NFL but the San Francisco 49ers are also winless at 0-9 and the N.Y. Giants are right behind at 1-7.

“I mean if you put the tape on, these guys jump off the screen to you, especially on the defensive side of the ball. They stop the run about as good as anybody in the NFL. They’ve got young, really talented guys in the secondary, some guys that are extremely talented,’’ quarterback Matthew Stafford said. “I mean they got a bunch of first and second-round picks. Guys that have obvious talent, have obvious skill. It jumps off the screen. So, from an offensive standpoint, what we look at is their defense, and you can definitely tell they’ve got a bunch of really nice, talented pieces.”

The Browns rank 31st in the NFL in points per game at 14.9 and 27th in overall offense. Their defense is better, ranked ninth allowing 313.5 yards per game.

Wide receiver Golden Tate says it’s easy to not pay attention to the 0-8 Brown’s record.

“It’s never about who we’re playing it’s always about us, what type of practice are we going to have, are we going to do our assignments correctly? if we do that it doesn’t matter who you’re playing our emotions are going to be pretty even,’’ Tate said. “… We’re not going to get caught up in what players they have, what type of production they have, their record or anything. We’re going to play Detroit Lions football back at home and we shouldn’t need to pump up or do anything other than what we’ve been doing.’’

The Lions are 1-3 at home though. They have not won at Ford Field since the opening win over the Cardinals on Sept. 10.

“Details, us doing the small things correctly I think that 1-3 record could be 4-0 if we do the small things wright. If we get 2, 3, 4, 5 plays back I think that story is a little different,’’ Tate said. “We understand that so we’re going to keep building.’’

(Photo: Golden Tate shows off new shirt depicting the Lions’ touchdown celebration on Monday night)

OK, so the season is half over, the Lions are 4-4 and 2-0 against NFC North opponents after Monday night’s 30-17 win at Green Bay.

From a schedule standpoint, the tough part of the season is behind them. From a realistic view, the season typically gets tougher after the midpoint.

The Lions have a legitimate chance to win the NFC North.

Here are a few things to know:

— Of the next eight opponents, the only one to have a winning record is the Vikings who are 6-2. Next up for the Lions are the Cleveland Browns (0-8) at Ford Field on Sunday. The Lions can’t afford a letdown. If there was such a thing as an easy win in the NFL this would be the opponent.

(Photo courtesy of Detroit Lions)

— Those Vikings are atop the NFC North but can they hold on? Four of their next five games are on the road. Their next five are tough: at the Redskins (4-4), home to the Rams (6-2), at the Lions on Thanksgiving, at Falcons (4-4) and at Panthers (6-3). They also will play at Lambeau on Dec. 23 when there’s a possibility that Aaron Rodgers will be back.

— At 4-4, the Lions are tied with the Packers for second in the NFC North while the Bears (3-5) are in the basement. The Lions still can catch the Vikings to win the NFC North, but they must maintain their focus and not overlook opponents like the Browns and the Bears.

— Left tackle Taylor Decker could be back on the field on Sunday. He practiced last week for the first time since his shoulder surgery in June. Brian Mihalik has done a solid job replacing him, but Decker is the real deal. The return of Decker could help (maybe) with the run game.

— Wide receiver Kenny Golladay (remember him?) also could return on Sunday after missing the last five games with a hamstring. The rookie gives the Lions another down-field option.

— The Lions have been a better team in the final eight games of the seasons (2014-16) since Jim Caldwell took over with a 16-8 record in those games. Now is no time for a letdown.

One last look behind the numbers for the Lions’ 30-17 impressive win over the Packers at Green Bay on Monday night.

— On the opening offensive drive of the game, Matthew Stafford connected with WR Marvin Jones, Jr. on a 25-yard touchdown that marked Stafford’s 200th career touchdown pass. By reaching 200 career pass TDs in his 117th game, Stafford accomplished this feat in the SIXTH-FEWEST games in NFL history, according to Elias Sports Bureau.

— On the touchdown to Jones Jr., Stafford became just the fourth player under 30 years old in NFL history to reach 200 career touchdowns. He’s in good company with Hall of Fame QB Dan Marino (245), QB Peyton Manning (244) and Hall of Fame QB Brett Favre (218) as the only passers to accomplish this before turning 30, according to the Elias Sports Bureau.

(Photo courtesy of Detroit Lions)

— Stafford earned the top mark for an NFL quarterback for the week at 88.4, according to Pro Football Focus. His pinpoint passing led to two receivers with more than 100 yards — Golden Tate with 113 yards and Marvin Jones with 107 yards and a pair of touchdowns. While under pressure last night Stafford produced a ridiculous passer rating of 131.5, per PFF.

— After the offensive line has struggled to protect Stafford in several games, they prevented the Packers defense from sacking the quarterback. They Perhaps the biggest story of the night is the Lions offensive line not giving up a single sack and just eight pressures on 35 drop-backs. The lone Packer sack came as a clean up on a broken trick play. Most surprising was the play of tackle Brian Mihalik who earned a game grade of 72.2, the second highest mark on the Lions offensive line.

— The run game continued to be ineffective. Ameer Abdullah received PFF’s lowest offensive game grade of 32.6. He had 21 carries for 48 yards, that’s an average of 2.3 yards per carry. His two fumbles were a concern.

— The Lions’ win at Lambeau represents Detroit’s fifth-straight Monday night game that has occurred on the road. Detroit now has a 3-2 record in those five road games. Overall this season Detroit is 3-1 on the road and 1-3 at home.

— The Lions didn’t punt once. The last time the Lions did not punt in a game was against Kansas City on Nov. 25, 1971. This was just the third game since 1950 that the Lions have not punted in a single game and it is the only game since 1950 that this was achieved on the road.

— In the first quarter, defensive tackle A’Shawn Robinson blocked a 38-yard field goal attempt by the Packers that kept them off the scoreboard. The blocked field goal was the first of Robinson’s career and the first by the Lions since Nov. 6, 2016, at Minnesota (DT Tyrunn Walker).