The Lions traded for Haloti Ngata this offseason to help bolster their rushing defense after losing Ndamukong Suh to the Dolphins. Ngata will have some big shoes to fill. Before drafting Suh, the Lions were last in total defense 3 years in a row. Last season, with Suh, the Lions had the NFL's 2nd-best total and scoring defense. Since being drafted in 2010, Suh has more sacks than any other defensive tackle in the NFL (36.0), while Ngata has only 19.0.

Before he was making guest appearances on "The Tonight Show with Johnny Carson," Alex Karras was named to 4 Pro Bowls as a defensive tackle with the Detroit Lions and a member of the NFL's All Decade team of the 1960s. During his 12 NFL seasons (excluding the 1963 campaign in which he was suspended for gambling), Karras made the playoffs only once, losing 5-0 to the Cowboys in 1 of just 3 games that have ever ended with such a score.

The Lions are the only team in the NFC and one of four teams overall, along with the Browns, Jaguars, and Texans, to never reach the Super Bowl. The closest they came to playing in the big game was in 1991, going 12-4 and reaching the NFC Conference Championship led by Wayne Fontes, Barry Sanders and Chris Spielman. However, they were defeated 41-10 by the eventual Super Bowl champion Washington Redskins. In fact, 1991 is the only season in which the Lions have won a playoff game in the Super Bowl era. They are 1-11 in postseason play since 1967.

From 1930-2010, Herman Moore was the only Lion to finish with over 1,600 receiving yards in a season, gaining 1,686 yards in 1995. Calvin Johnson accomplished the feat in both 2011 and 2012, making him the only player in NFL history to have over 1,600 receiving yards in back-to-back seasons.

In 2011, Matthew Stafford threw for 5,038 yards and 41 TD, becoming the second-youngest QB (23 years, 10 months) in NFL history to throw for 4,000+ yards and 30+ TDs, behind Dan Marino (23 years, 2 months). In 2012, Stafford reached 10,000 career passing yards in his 37th career game – making him the 2nd-fastest to ever hit the milestone, behind only NFL Network's Kurt Warner (36 games). Stafford's passing yards have decreased in every season since his 5,000-yard campaign in 2011.

Kicker Jason Hanson retired in 2012 after spending 21 seasons with the Lions and playing in 327 games – 5th-most in NFL history. All 327 games Hanson played came as a member of the Lions – an NFL record for the most games played by one player with one team. Hanson is the only player in NFL history to play 300 games with one franchise.

Matthew Stafford attended Highland Park High School in Dallas (where one of his teammates was pitcher Clayton Kershaw), the same high school as Lions Hall of Fame quarterback Bobby Layne. Layne led the Lions to NFL Championships in 1952 and 1953 and was injured during their 1957 championship run (the Lions' last). After that season, Layne was traded to Pittsburgh, prompting the QB to declare that the Lions would not win again for 50 years. Fifty years later in 2008, the Lions went 0-16 before drafting Stafford first overall in 2009.

Barry Sanders rushed for 1,000+ yards in each of his 10 NFL seasons. The only other players to rush for at least 1,000 yards in each of their seasons are all youngsters at the beginning of their careers: Alfred Morris (3 seasons), Eddie Lacy (2 seasons) and Jeremy Hill (1).

The Lions have won back-to-back Thanksgiving Day games for the first time since the 1999 and 2000 seasons. The Lions' Thanksgiving Day win in 2013 was the team's first since 2003, when Joey Harrington defeated Brett Favre in Steve Mariucci's first season with the team (22-14). Shawn Bryson led the Lions in rushing with 50 yards and a TD, while Az-Zahir Hakim led the team in receiving with 65 yards. Jason Hanson converted 5 field goals in the game.

The last time the Lions won at Lambeau Field was on December 15, 1991. Since then, the team has lost 24-straight games, including playoffs. The 1991 Lions (led by starting QB Erik Kramer, RB Barry Sanders, and head coach Wayne Fontes) trailed the Packers 10-7 entering the 4th quarter, but a Robert Clark TD reception and Mel Gray's 78-yard punt return TD put the Lions ahead for good. The following season, the Packers transitioned to new QB Brett Favre and the streak was born. Favre went 14-0 at Lambeau Field vs the Lions (including playoffs).